2012–14 Super League licences

Applications

Applications for licences were accepted from all Super League clubs and Championship clubs could apply if they met certain criteria:

1. they competed in the 2009 or 2010 Grand Finals, or won the Northern Rail Cup
2. they had a stadium with a capacity of over 10,000
3. they had not been insolvent at any point since 2008
4. they had a turnover of at least £1 million in 2009 or 2010
5. they had an average attendance of over 2500 in 2009 or 2010

The applicants were:

Applications were made in 2011, and the Rugby Football League, operators of Super League, announced that at least one applicant from the Co-operative Championship would be accepted.

Eligible applicants from the Championship were: Halifax, Barrow Raiders, Featherstone Rovers, Widnes Vikings and Batley Bulldogs. Of these, only Halifax, Widnes and Barrow applied.

2009–11 commitments

Talking about the progress of some clubs towards fulfilling their commitments to either upgrade their stadium facilities and move to new ones during the 2009–11 three year licence period, Gary Tasker warned of "the potential implications [of] any failure to do so may have on their next application. Clubs need to be aware that we are raising the bar for the next licence period." "Showcasing Super League in high quality stadium facilities remains a key objective," he said.

In July 2009, the RFL was reported to have warned Salford City Reds, Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, of which none had started construction on a new stadium, that progress must be made in order to avoid jeopardising their chances of obtaining a second Super League licence. St Helens RLFC and Celtic Crusaders (later Crusaders Rugby League) were also warned, but were reported to have a likely chance of having a new stadium by 2012. The news came just over a week after Widnes Vikings, who already had a new stadium, won their Northern Rail Cup final against Barrow Raiders; a key criterion for non-Super League clubs to obtain a first licence. Following this report, all of the named Super League teams made moves to address stadium concerns:

Number of teams

No upper limit on the number of Super League licences awarded had initially been set by the RFL, the option remained open to expand again in the future. Increasing the number of teams in the competition without changing the competition's format would be at odds with recent RFL and Super League decisions and reports. The RFL's plan for international success, which was the result of an inquiry into England's poor performance at the 2008 World Cup, states an intention to work with clubs to limit the number of games top players can take part in. The Magic Weekend event has allowed for a reduction in the number of games each club plays to 27, from 28; although a reason for the desire to reduce games in this case was to reduce the number of times Super League sides played each other more than twice in the regular season.

RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood said, "The best performing [Championship] club will be guaranteed admission to Super League, either at the expense of the worst performing club or by expanding the competition," he said.

On 4 August 2010, the RFL announced that the number of licences would remain at 14. Once Widnes were granted a licence, the RFL's decision meant that at least one existing Super League club would be left out of the competition.

The final Super League lineup for the 2012–14 period was set on 26 July 2011, when Crusaders announced that they had withdrawn their application for a licence, believing that they were not financially able to sustain themselves in Super League in the near future. The club had gone into administration after the 2010 season, This decision provided a reprieve for Wakefield Trinity, who had been expected to be denied a licence after also going into administration in the 2010–11 close season. Crusaders' former place in Super League was filled by Widnes.

Outcome

A summary of licence applications was released with a grading of each club's application by the RFL on 8 September 2011. Clubs were graded as follows:

Using the RFL criteria, there has been an increase in the standard of Super League clubs on the previous licensing period. Wigan Warriors improved from a B to an A licence. Catalans Dragons, Hull KR and Huddersfield Giants improved from a C to a B licence. There were three additional applications, with only one not meeting minimum requirements.

On 31 March 2011, Widnes were granted a licence for the 2012-2014 Super League seasons. Halifax had also met the requirements for a licence, but were not awarded one. Barrow had failed with their licence bid.

The future: 2015–17 licences

Planning for the next licence period, 2015–17, began in 2009. The RFL is working with its members in Super League and the Championship to agree minimum standards in Business Management, Facilities, Finance, Commercial/Marketing/Community and Playing Strength/Performance.

Gary Tasker, the RFL's Director of Development, reiterated: "Clubs need to be aware that we are raising the bar for the next licence period and showcasing the Super League competition in high quality, 21st Century stadium facilities remains a key strategic objective."

This was, however, a complete waste of time as the RFL decided on a completely new structure for the 2015 Super League season which included bringing back promotion and relegation.