Hull FC and Hull KR, along with all Super League clubs, will enter the Challenge Cup in the last 32 stage of the competition from the 2025 season. In effect, the top-flight clubs will now come in one round earlier and will meet a lower-league side.
Currently, all 12 Super League sides enter in the last 16 of the competition, joining four lower league sides. The change means top-flight clubs will now have to win five games to win the cup, instead of four as it currently stands.
Naturally, clubs from the Championship, League One, and even the community game will have a greater chance to secure a glamour tie at home to Super League opposition. In fact, the third round draw will be seeded to guarantee that each Super League club travels away to one of the 20 second round winners.
Super League teams will now participate in a seven-round competition starting with the third round. In order to increase anticipation for the June final, the draw will be made prior to the league season commencing.
Ten National Conference League clubs and twenty-two Community League clubs will compete in the first round in January. The second round, which takes place in January as well, will pit the 16 victors against 13 Championship clubs and 11 League One clubs. After that, the top 20 finishers will go to round three, where Super League teams will compete in February. However, that draw will be made concurrently with the second round.
The fourth round, which will feature 16 clubs, will take place in March, followed by the quarterfinals in April and the semifinals in May, all leading up to Wembley. A revamped prize fund structure and future talks regarding uniform ticket prices for all Challenge Cup ties are also planned.
“After extensive consultation with clubs and other stakeholders, we believe this new structure for the Challenge Cup will deliver a number of benefits to the competition and to the sport as a whole,” stated Rhodri Jones, Managing Director of RL Commercial.
“It was satisfying to report that 64,845 people attended the 2020 final at Wembley this month—a four-year increase since the game was held behind closed doors. However, we realized that in order to sustain that trend at Wembley in June of next year, we needed to revamp and revitalize the competition’s early rounds.
“The 2025 Challenge Cup will commence with a community game-based first round once more, but all League One and Championship clubs will compete in the second round, knowing that winning will guarantee a spot in the third round, which will include the 12 Super League clubs, who will be seeded to play away from home.
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