2024 rugby league calendar: Super League, Championship & League 1 fixtures, Challenge Cup & 1895 Cup round dates, June Internationals

The 2024 rugby league calendar is now locked in, including the dates of the Challenge Cup & 1895 Cup rounds plus the mid-season international slot as well as the usual Super League, Championship & League 1 fixtures.

The 29th instalment of Super League will kick off on Thursday, February 15, 2024 as Hull FC host rivals Hull KR at the MKM Stadium with an 8pm kick-off.

A little over a month later, the Championship and League 1 then get underway, with the second tier’s opening fixture a heavyweight clash between newly-relegated Wakefield Trinity and West Yorkshire rivals Bradford Bulls on Friday, March 15 at Belle Vue.

Beforehand, clubs in the second and third tiers will have played out their 1895 Cup group stage fixtures along with quarter-final ties as that competition – won by Halifax Panthers this year – adopts a new format for 2024.

Dates of the Challenge Cup rounds have also been locked in, with Round Six – in which all 12 clubs from Super League enter the competition – coming over the weekend of March 22-24.

After the top flight’s ‘Rivals Round’ the following weekend, the cup then returns at the quarter-final stage over the weekend of April 12-14.

The following month, between May 18 and 19, the Challenge Cup semi-finals will then take place, with the final on Saturday, June 8 at Wembley. The final of the 1895 Cup will again take place on the same day under the Wembley arch.

Just two Super League rounds of games then come before a mid-season international break in the week commencing Monday, June 24. As has become the ‘norm’, England are expected to take on France that week, though nothing is concrete just yet.

That’s the last non-Super League event of the year, with the final 12 rounds of top tier action then following, including Round 22 which is when Magic Weekend comes around. As confirmed last month, the two-day event will take place at Elland Road in Leeds over the weekend of August 17 & 18.

Questions still to be answered on broadcasting rights

Below, we’ve laid out the schedule – as we understand it – for the upcoming season, including those Challenge Cup, 1895 Cup & mid-season international dates as well as those of each Super League, Championship and League 1 rounds.

Please be aware that through broadcast picks, some of these may move around ever so slightly.

As first reported by Love Rugby League back in July, it was confirmed in October that all Super League games would be broadcast live from 2024 and accordingly would have a video referee in place.

A press release sent around on the back of the Super League fixture release last month made a little bit clearer the details of how that will work, with Sky Sports ‘exclusively’ showing two games per Super League round, and the remaining four shown via a new streaming platform.

That’s the case up until Round 15, excluding ‘Rivals Round’ (Round Six) when all six games will be shown live on Sky. Full details of that streaming service are still to come in the New Year however.

In Round One, Sky‘s ‘exclusive’ picks are the already-mentioned Hull derby, and Leeds Rhinos‘ opener against Salford Red Devils at Headingley the following day.

The dates of the Super League play-offs are still to be confirmed, though we already know that the showpiece event that is the Grand Final will take place at Old Trafford on Saturday, October 12.

2024 Super League schedule locked in: Dates confirmed for Super League & Challenge Cup rounds along with June internationals

Challenge Cup R1: Saturday, January 13 – Sunday, January 14

Challenge Cup R2 / 1895 Cup Group Stage Game 1: Saturday, January 27 – Sunday, January 28

1895 Cup Group Stage Game 2: Sunday, February 4

Challenge Cup R3: Saturday, February 10 – Sunday, February 11

SL R1 / 1895 Cup Group Stage Game 3: Thursday, February 15 – Sunday, February 18

SL R2 / Challenge Cup R4: Thursday, February 22 – Sunday, February 25

World Club Challenge (Wigan Warriors v Penrith Panthers): Saturday, February 24

SL R3 / 1895 Cup Quarter-Finals: Friday, March 1 – Sunday, March 3

SL R4 / Challenge Cup R5: Thursday, March 7 – Sunday, March 10

SL R5 / Champ & L1 R1: Thursday, March 14 – Sunday, March 17

Challenge Cup R6 / L1 R2: Friday, March 22 – Sunday, March 24

SL R6 (Rivals Round) / Champ R2 / L1 R3: Thursday, March 28 – Sunday, March 31

SL R7 / Champ R3 / L1 R4: Thursday, April 4 – Sunday, April 7

Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals / Champ R4 / L1 R5: Friday, April 12 – Sunday, April 14

SL R8 / Champ R5 / L1 R6: Friday, April 19 – Sunday, April 21

SL R9 / Champ R6 / L1 R7: Thursday, April 25 – Sunday, April 28

SL R10 / Champ R7 / L1 R8: Thursday, May 2 – Sunday, May 5

SL R11 / 1895 Cup Semi-Finals: Thursday, May 9 – Sunday, May 12

Challenge Cup Semi-Finals / Champ R8 / L1 R9: Saturday, May 18 – Sunday, May 19

SL R12 / Champ R9 / L1 R10: Friday, May 24 – Sunday, May 26

SL R13 / Champ R10 / L1 R11: Friday, May 31 – Sunday, June 2

Challenge Cup Final / 1895 Cup Final: Saturday, June 8 – Wembley Stadium

SL R14 / Champ R11 / L1 R12: Friday, June 14 – Sunday, June 16

SL R15 / Champ R12 / L1 R13: Thursday, June 20 – Sunday, June 23

SL mid-season international break / Champ R13 / L1 R14: Monday, June 24 – Sunday, June 30

SL R16 / Champ R14 / L1 R15: Friday, July 5 – Sunday, July 7

SL R17 / Champ R15 / L1 R16: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 14

SL R18 / Champ R16 / L1 R17: Friday, July 19 – Sunday, July 21

SL R19 / Champ R17 / L1 R18: Friday, July 26 – Sunday, July 28

SL R20 / Champ R18 / L1 R19: Friday, August 2 – Sunday, August 4

SL R21 / Champ R19 / L1 R20: Friday, August 9 – Sunday, August 11

SL R22 (Magic Weekend – Elland Road) / Champ R20 / L1 R21: Friday, August 16 – Sunday, August 18

SL R23 / Champ R21 / L1 R22: Friday, August 23 – Sunday, August 25

SL R24 / Champ R22 / L1 R23 (Final Round): Friday, August 30 – Sunday, September 1

SL R25 / Champ R23: Friday, September 6 – Sunday, September 8

SL R26 / Champ R24: Friday, September 13 – Sunday, September 15

SL R27 (Final Round) / Champ R25: Friday, September 20 – Sunday, September 22

Champ R26 (Final Round): Saturday, September 28 – Sunday, September 29

Super League Grand Final: October 12, Old Trafford

READ NEXT: 2024 Super League fixtures – Every one of the 162 ‘regular season’ games next year listed