THE Rugby Football League has revealed last year it dropped its valuation of Odsal Stadium - home of the Bradford Bulls - by £400,000.

The drop in value was one of the reasons cited by the governing body of rugby league for it posting a loss of more than £2 million in 2017.

The RFL bought the leasehold to Odsal from the Bulls in 2012 for £1.25 million to protect the ground from "predatory approaches".

Bradford Bulls have rented the ground from the RFL since the sale.

Last year, Odsal was rumoured to be a possible location for the new RFL headquarters, with the body contacting Bradford Council - which owns the freehold to the site - about the possible plan.

When the RFL bought Odsal, then-chair Richard Lewis said it was "safeguarding the future of one of the sport's most famous stadia", and had paid "market value" for the ground.

In the statement released today by the RFL, it reported a loss of £2.029 million for last year, but said the loss was budgeted for and approved by the RFL as it "recognised 2017 would be a difficult financial year but it would need to continue to invest in a number of areas".

The RFL added it expected to be in budget surplus in 2018 thanks to new commercial deals and a home series against New Zealand later this year.