Our League set to cover five Summer Bash fixtures this weekend

The Rugby Football League’s Our League will cover five matches from this weekend’s Summer Bash at the LNER Community Stadium. 

Five of the seven fixtures will be made available for pay-per-view streaming on Our League, in addition to the two matches already confirmed for Viaplay coverage.

London Broncos’ clash with Toulouse on the Saturday at 5:15pm and Featherstone’s fixture with York have already been selected for Viaplay coverage.

The first two games on Saturday – Widnes Vikings versus Swinton Lions from 12:45pm, followed by the Cumbrian clash between Whitehaven and Barrow Raiders at 3pm – will be shown on Our League, before coverage switches to Viaplay.

Sunday’s action opens with the Women’s Super League clash between York Valkyrie and Warrington Wolves, which will be made available on Our League for no charge for members. 

The three remaining Championship games will all be pay-per-view on the Sunday.

Newcastle Thunder continue the action against Sheffield at 1:45pm, followed by Halifax against Batley Bulldogs (4pm) and the weekend closed by Keighley versus Bradford at 6:15pm.

Days and kick-off times for the Championship Summer Bash 2023

Saturday May 27

Widnes Vikings v Swinton Lions (12.45pm, Our League)

Whitehaven v Barrow Raiders (3pm, Our League)

London Broncos v Toulouse Olympique (5.15pm, Viaplay)

Featherstone Rovers v York Knights (7.30pm, Viaplay)

Sunday May 28

York Valkyrie v Warrington Women (11.30am, Our League)

Newcastle Thunder v Sheffield Eagles (1.45pm, Our League)

Halifax Panthers v Batley Bulldogs (4pm, Our League)

Keighley Cougars v Bradford Bulls (6.15pm, Our League)

Why is Summer Bash not in Blackpool this year?

Blackpool hasn’t hosted a Summer Bash since 2019, when a total attendance of 15,070 watched seven games over the weekend.

The 2020 event was scheduled to be held at Bloomfield Road, the event’s traditional home, but the season was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

Coronavirus also put paid to a full league programme in 2021, with the Summer Bash one of the victims, as a shortened league season played out.

When Summer Bash returned in 2022, it clashed with the start of the new Football League season, rendering Blackpool unavailable.

It was also unavailable for 2023 too, thought to be due to ground maintenance work being undertaken at the stadium following the end of the current EFL season.

What is the record Summer Bash attendance?

The best aggregate weekend attendance for a Summer Bash was registered in 2017, when 16,444 turned up to Bloomfield Road.

The highest single day attendance was that one in 2017, when 11,557 packed the stadium for a big day of fixtures.

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