Wigan Warriors to receive 'a third less' if new TV deal accepted

Club bosses met for their last meeting before Christmas and were informed the TV deal on the table has been drastically reduced on the existing deal.

Sky News, under the same stable as Sky Sports, had previously reported the offer is for £20m a year – around half the current amount. But as the proposed new deal would solely be for Super League, and not include funding for lower-league clubs, each top-flight club would

receive about two-thirds of the amount they currently get, according to trade paper League Express.

The deal has not been accepted but such a reduction would be a blow to Wigan and other top-flight clubs.

The Warriors, majority owned by chairman Ian Lenagan, has a turnover around £6.5m a year – of which the income from Sky Sports is close to £2m. A reduction of a third would cut that amount to near £1.3m.

Super League is about to enter the last year of its existing deal with Sky Sports.

During a major reshuffle at the end of 2018, the competition’s clubs took greater control of the top-flight and brought in Robert Elstone as executive chairman to try and secure a successful TV deal. He has also been looking at securing private equity funding.

The RFL recently extended its deal with the BBC for the Challenge Cup.

Read unlimited Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors stories for less than 70p a week by subscribing to our sports package here