Salford Red Devils have been awarded an overall grade of 13.97 in IMG Grading, securing a place in next season’s Betfred Super League.
As a Club, we recognise the areas that require improvement and are actively working to address them, reinforced by the recent announcement of our leadership restructure. While we’re pleased to have secured our Betfred Super League status for 2025, we’re disappointed to rank 12th amongst our peers.
As a community-owned club, we are committed to representing the City of Salford at the elite level of Rugby League. We remain optimistic about the positive impact of our ongoing efforts, as we strive to build a sustainable and commercially viable organisation.
With the decision on the Stadium having taken some time, and the subsequent progress having tempered our expectations in terms of our projected grade, we can now look forward to an imminent stadium agreement with Salford City Council removing the limitations in both the Finance and Stadium criteria.
In the interest of transparency, our overall score is calculated based on the following criteria:
Performance (max score 5): – 3.5429
League performance: 3.5429 / 4.00
Bonus points: 0.00 / 1.00
Fandom (max score 5): – 4.20
Attendance: 2.00 / 2.50
Viewership: 0.75 / 1.00
Digital: 1.45 / 1.50 (Following 0.15, Website visits 0.5, Engagements 0.8)
Finance (max score 4.5): – 2.15
Non-centralised turnover £: 1.50 / 2.25
Non-centralised turnover %: 0.15 / 0.75
Adjusted profit: 0.25 / 0.5
Owner investment: 0.25 / 0.5
Balance sheet strength: 0.00 / 0.5
Stadium (max score 3): – 1.8226
Facilities: 1.50 / 1.50
Utilisation: 0.3226 / 1.00
Primacy: 0.00 / 0.25
LEDs: 0.00 / 0.125
Big Screen: 0.00 / 0.125
Community (max score 2.5): – 2.25
Catchment: 1.50 / 1.50
Foundation 0.75 / 1.00
IMG Grading was introduced to incentivise clubs to grow their fanbase, grow top-line non-centralised revenue, to better engage with fans, to be run in a best-in-class way, to invest both in their club and the sport in a sustainable manner, and to ensure strong governance.
However, we believe that additional due diligence within the reporting system may be necessary to maintain a level playing field. As a community-owned club, we cannot rely on private equity to improve certain criteria, therefore achieving a Grade A status is critical to the future of the Club, as well as the City of Salford.
Everyone at Salford Red Devils is fully committed to progressing and growing the Club and delivering for our community.
