Bradford Bulls Banked a Small Profit in the Championship. Then IMG Sent Them Back to Super League.

These accounts cover Bradford Bulls' 2024 season in the Championship, English rugby league's second tier, not Super League, despite the source data's league tag. Bradford finished 3rd in the regular season on 34 points, reached the play-off semi-finals and lost 21–20 away to Toulouse Olympique, and made the Challenge Cup's 4th round.

Financially, it was a rare bright spot in this dataset: a profit before tax of around £0.5m, positive net assets of roughly £1m, and minimal estimated borrowings of close to £0. Turnover and staff costs aren't disclosed in this filing, but the disclosed figures point to a well-run, sustainably-sized operation for its level, one of only a small handful of clubs in this dataset to post a profit at all.

That stability matters, because Bradford's Championship status wasn't the end of the story. Once one of Super League's biggest clubs, with four Grand Final wins between 1997 and 2005, the Bulls have spent a decade in the second tier since relegation in 2014.

Clean accounts and a genuine play-off run were a solid platform to build from, but promotion back to the top flight, when it finally arrived, came through a different door entirely: an independent grading panel assessing stadium, finances and fanbase, not a Championship Grand Final win.

Balance sheet snapshot

A small but clean balance sheet: modest assets, a positive net asset position, and next to no borrowing.