Following this morning’s Super League shareholders’ meeting, agreement has been reached in expanding the competition for a second successive year.

The competition leapt from 12 to 14 clubs in 2026, with Bradford Bulls, York Knights and Toulouse Olympique stepping up – while Salford dropped out.

Fourteen is the highest number to compete in one season in the summer era, but due process is now continuing to bring in a 15th side in 2027 – with the additional club widely expected to be London Broncos.

“Super League (Europe) Ltd has today held a shareholders’ meeting to determine how many clubs will take part in the competition in 2027,” says a Super League statement.

“Having agreed in favour of moving from 14 to 15 clubs, SLE has passed their decision on to the Rugby Football League Board.

“The RFL Board will now set out criteria and assemble a panel to run the process to judge against it.

“A recommendation will be made in due course.”

Championship-winning London Broncos’ place in a 15-team Super League in 2027 has long been widely mooted as being a condition in the NRL investing in Super League as part of a new partnership agreement, for which no announcement has yet been made.

How the fixture planning will play out as a result of the inclusion of a 15th team remains to be seen.

The regular fixture calendar of past seasons does not have room for each team to play 28 rounds and a Magic Weekend fixture, so some creative thinking and decision-making is expected.

For example, Magic Weekend may become a home game for one team in each match, or each team may not play every other team twice over the course of the league campaign.