LeagueNews.co | Jess Malloy
London Broncos, the rugby league club, will need to make significant improvements across all aspects of their operations in order to have a chance of remaining in the Super League beyond next season, according to IMG.
The provisional gradings system, which was released on Wednesday, revealed that the Broncos scored significantly lower than expected and are now highly unlikely to secure a place in the top 12 clubs that will be in the Super League in 2025.
Despite winning promotion to the Super League by defeating Toulouse in the Championship Grand Final, the Broncos scored just 8.07 points out of a maximum of 20, finishing 24th out of the 35 professional clubs.
This makes it practically impossible for them to bridge the gap in rankings by the time the full effect of the gradings is realized at the end of next season.
The clubs are evaluated not only on their on-field performance, but also on factors such as attendance and social media metrics, which has led to a somewhat farcical situation where even if the Broncos were to win the Super League, it is unlikely they would score enough points to remain in the competition.
Matt Dwyer, IMG's vice-president of sports management, acknowledged the club's need for improvement, stating that "across all categories London need to be improving." While he did not predict the exact numbers for 2025, Dwyer emphasized that the club now has a clear understanding of where they need to make improvements.
Currently, seven Super League clubs have achieved the highest Grade A, with the next five highest-scoring teams set to join them in the Super League in 2025.
The provisional gradings also resulted in Castleford finishing 13th, but they have announced their intention to appeal against their grading.
Dwyer also noted that the higher number of clubs achieving Category A status increases the possibility of the Super League expanding from 12 to 14 clubs in the future.