Bradford Bulls challenges if they want to make Super League

The third of those, while taking place entirely off the pitch, joins the ranks of the moments that have brought Bulls closest to Super League since their relegation from the competition in 2014.

IMG released their ‘indicative’ scores for clubs yesterday morning, and while many clubs, notably London Broncos and Keighley Cougars, have reason to be aggrieved, several will surely be happy with their lot.

That includes Bulls, who were ranked 14th of the 35 clubs in the top three tiers of rugby league.

The 12 clubs with the highest IMG score at the end of next season will be a guaranteed Super League club in 2025.

IMG have raised the possibility of Super League being expanded to 14 teams in the near future, even better news for Bradford, but for now, it looks likely to remain at 12.

Bulls, whose indicative score is 12.02, have a healthy gap to 15th placed Featherstone (10.65), so their main IMG rivals appear to be Wakefield (12.52), Leigh (12.45) and Castleford (12.16).

Cas are set to appeal their mark, believing they are half a point short due to an administrative error around finances.

But even if they jump up from 13th to 11th in the rankings with a score of 12.66, Bulls will still be only half-a-point behind Trinity in that all-important 12th spot.

So with what looks like a year to go until the final gradings are released, determining whether Bradford end up as a Super League or Championship team, what can they do to close that half-point gap?

PERFORMANCE

There had been rumours IMG were set to announce final grades next summer, but perhaps sensibly, it now looks as if they will wait until after the 2024 Grand Final, when the season is over.

Despite promotion and relegation being removed between the top two tiers, performance still makes up a strong proportion of a club’s final grade.

Bulls' performances let them down in 2022, but they were back on song in 2023. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

And with Wakefield being relegated to the Championship for next season, Bradford can directly affect Trinity’s score, while improving theirs.

To overtake Daryl Powell’s side, it feels imperative that Bulls finish above them, though both will be quietly hoping for Leigh and Cas to flop in Super League too.

Wakefield will be among the favourites to top the Championship next season, but with a mass player exodus already happening following their relegation, Bulls are among a clutch of teams who will feel they can finish above the beleaguered Belle Vue side.

FANDOM

Social media is becoming ever-more important for clubs to get their message across, and now it is becoming important for clubs wanting to become Super League sides.

IMG are looking at clubs’ activity on social media for their grades, with teams rewarded for numbers of followers.

It is not just Bulls' loyal in-person fanbase which is important under the IMG criteria. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Bulls are active on all of their social media channels, a good start, but to take Twitter as an example, Wakey have nearly 10,000 more than Bulls’ 38,400, while Cas boast nearly 60,000 followers.

That is the advantage of those two being established Super League sides, but interest in Trinity may subside after their relegation, and that gap to them is not insurmountable anyway.

Bulls have suffer with viewership figures too compared to the three clubs directly above them, given Super League games are regularly shown on Sky Sports (and some on Channel 4), compared to Championship ones being hidden away on the obscure Viaplay Sports.

But with Viaplay leaving the sport, Bulls will be hopefully of a new TV deal that gives them more exposure, plus they are at least now in the same boat as Wakefield regardless being in the same league for 2024.

Attendance wise, Bulls have to keep their average hovering above 3,000. Some home games dipped below that mark last season, and if that happens on a regular basis, it could cost them a valuable half a point.

STADIUM FACILITIES

Bulls’ stadium does not score well on the IMG indicative rankings, and has essentially stopped them being a "Top 12" side already.

The pitch size at Odsal fits the required minimum standards, so they will not lose out there, and ‘good looks’ is not part of the criteria.

Odsal has its faults, something Bulls are all too aware of. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

The club do actually tick several boxes on their stadium, including capacity, number of seats, as well as their corporate, sponsors and directors offerings.

But they are lacking on a lot of modern facilities in and around the ground and Odsal has not yet moved with the digital age, and they can gain a valuable 0.25 points just by installing LED advertising boards and a big screen.

A couple of quick fixes on that front, and Bulls can immediately gain ground on their rivals.

That becomes ever-more important when you consider there is one area which Bulls cannot do much about when it comes to Odsal.

Utilisation is worth a whole point under the criteria, which is calculated by dividing the club’s average attendance by the stadium capacity.

With a massive 26,000 fans legally able to fill Odsal stadium, Bulls will score comfortably less than 0.2 on that front, with an average attendance of 4,000 to 5,000 surely the absolute best they can hope for.