Super League XXI, known as the First Utility Super League XXI for sponsor reasons, was the 21st season of the Super League and 122nd season of rugby league in Britain for 2016.
Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend. Wigan Warriors were the Champions after successfully defeating Warrington Wolves 12âÂÂ6 at Old Trafford, while Leigh Centurions were promoted from the Championship via The Qualifiers while Hull KR were relegated after losing to Salford Red Devils in the Million Pound Game.
Super League XXI features twelve teams, the second year in which this number has taken part. This is also the second year since promotion and relegation was reintroduced into the competition although there has been no change in teams for 2016.
Eleven teams in Super League are from the North of England: five teams, Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan and Widnes, west of the Pennines in the historic county of Lancashire and six teams, Huddersfield, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers, to the east in Yorkshire. Catalans Dragons, in Perpignan, France, are the only team outside the North of England. St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos as the only teams to have played in every season of Super League since 1996.
Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:
2016 is the fifth and final year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season. The deal is worth ã90million.
Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights.
Regular commentators will be Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights on Sunday nights on Super League - Full Time at 10 p.m.
BBC Sport will broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme, the first to the BBC North West, Yorkshire, North East and Cumbria, and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35 p.m. on BBC One, while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30 p.m. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only. End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons.
Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on beIN Sports (France), Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Fox Sports (Australia) and Sportsnet World (Canada).
BBC Coverage:
Commercial Radio Coverage:
All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.