Rhinos secure Grade A license with annual gradings

Leeds Rhinos have been ranked second in the RL Commercial Grading process, retaining a Grade A licence once again.

The table below sets out the Rhinos score across all five pillars, which results in the final grading of 17.03 out of 20. 

The first pillar of Fandom has seen a decrease for the Rhinos. This section was out of a possible total five marks with the Rhinos losing out on 0.55 marks across the eight criteria. Despite website visits of nearly 1.4m, the club fell short of the threshold of 1.5m for top marks. Both website visits and social following grew in excess of 5% but did not reach the 10% threshold for full marks. The Rhinos did get full marks for numbers and growth for social engagement with 40% growth in 2026, far surpassing the threshold at 10%. Leeds also lost 0.25 points for viewership.  

The Rhinos lost out on 1.7353 points on the Performance pillar. This was initially higher on the indicative gradings when the Rhinos were second in the table at the end of the season but the defeat to Warrington in the semi final, coupled with Wakefield's two victories meant Leeds dropped to fourth ranking in the final table.

As with previous years, the Rhinos have missed out on 0.25 points because of what is judged to be not having Primacy of Tenancy because the Rhinos can not play on any given day as the stadium has to work in co-operation with Yorkshire CCC, Sunrisers Leeds and international cricket. Because of the capacity of AMT Headingley, the Rhinos also lose points as Utilisation is judged on the percentage of the stadium that is used on average not just the average attendance across the season, eg a smaller stadium that sells out every week will achieve a much lower average but a higher score for utilisation.  Finally, Leeds only receives half the points available for our LEDs because they are 100mm shorter than the specification required. AMT Headingley was the first stadium to install LEDs across the stadium a number of years ago and before this specification was set however any future LEDs will meet the now required height.  

Last year, there were 1.5 points available for Catchment to ensure a spread of clubs across the competition, which the Rhinos got the full points for. This section has now been removed and Performance has increased from 5 to 6 points available and Finance has had an additional 0.5 points made available, which the Rhinos have secured.