We need to talk about the BBC

On Saturday, any neutral who was committed enough to stick with it would have seen Warrington annihilate Castleford by 72-6 live on BBC2.

I consider myself a pretty devoted fan of the sport. I write a blog about it for goodness sake! But as a neutral viewer, I switched off at half time, went out for a walk and enjoyed the spring sunshine. If I wasn't minded to stick with this match, I imagine more casual viewers wouldn't have either.

Before I launch into the substance of this piece, I must stress that the purpose is not to have a go at the BBC.

It pays for Super League rights (unlike Channel 4 who paid for the rights with enthusiasm rather than pounds). It has extensive coverage of Super League and the Championship across local radio. Not just live matches, but midweek shows, interviews, phone-ins. etc.

They have covered the Challenge Cup for decades. They now show matches from round 1 of the competition. They have covered internationals, the women's game and the wheelchair game. BBC Radio Cumbria even sometimes carries coverage of matches at NCL level. 

Any suggestion that we do not get a fair crack of the whip from the BBC is wide of the mark, in my view. Of course, the coverage is not without flaw, but by and large, it's good and few sports of our size get the same level of coverage.

One point that I think we should look at for the next TV deal relates to free-to-air rights. Because at present, the BBC only gets the third choice pick on any given week, meaning the naturally more appealing matches are hid behind a paywall.

For even a couple of matches a season, would it really do any harm for the BBC to show a top pick? Or even a second choice pick?

Equally, there are occasions that the BBC does not help itself. For example, at the end of 2024, the BBC had not shown its full allocation of matches leading to us watching largely pointless matches between Huddersfield and St Helens, Catalans and London and Hull FC and Salford which had little consequence.

This error was avoided in 2025 but some of the matches chosen were pretty unappealing. At the stage the match was picked, Salford's financial woes were unknown but an 82-0 thrashing on the opening weekend of the season live on the BBC was unbecoming.

Matches such as Wigan v Salford and St Helens v Huddersfield were also spectacles hardly enticing to a casual viewer.

Yes, we had the 'third choice match' problem, but even when picking the third choice match, it seems like the best of the rest fixture was not picked.

In round 1 of 2026, Leigh v Leeds was a match involving two play off sides from last season, yet Castleford v Wigan was preferred. I do not think it is applying hindsight to say that Warrington v Castleford was not likely to be the 'best of the rest' pick from this weekend.

Having domestic competition matches on free to air television presents a massive exposure opportunity for Rugby League. At this moment in time, it feels as though we could do more to take advantage of that.