2012–14 Super League licences

The 2012–14 Super League licences were awarded following the second round of licensing for the Super League rugby league competition. Successful applicants were given a three-year licence to compete in Super League, the premier rugby league competition in Europe.

Applications for licences were accepted from all Super League clubs and Championship clubs could apply if they met certain criteria:

The applicants were:

Applications were made in 2011, and the Rugby Football League, operators of Super League, announced that at least one applicant from the Co-operative Championship would be accepted.

Eligible applicants from the Championship were: Halifax, Barrow Raiders, Featherstone Rovers, Widnes Vikings and Batley Bulldogs. Of these, only Halifax, Widnes and Barrow applied.

Talking about the progress of some clubs towards fulfilling their commitments to either upgrade their stadium facilities and move to new ones during the 2009–11 three year licence period, Gary Tasker warned of "the potential implications [of] any failure to do so may have on their next application. Clubs need to be aware that we are raising the bar for the next licence period." "Showcasing Super League in high quality stadium facilities remains a key objective," he said.

In July 2009, the RFL was reported to have warned Salford City Reds, Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, of which none had started construction on a new stadium, that progress must be made in order to avoid jeopardising their chances of obtaining a second Super League licence. St Helens RLFC and Celtic Crusaders (later Crusaders Rugby League) were also warned, but were reported to have a likely chance of having a new stadium by 2012. The news came just over a week after Widnes Vikings, who already had a new stadium, won their Northern Rail Cup Final against Barrow Raiders; a key criterion for non-Super League clubs to obtain a first licence. Following this report, all of the named Super League teams made moves to address stadium concerns:

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