Super League: Magic Weekend could move to New York

St Helens beat Widnes Vikings in Newcastle on Saturday, one of seven games to be played at this year's Magic Weekend

The Rugby Football League has confirmed that New York is one of the options to host next year's Magic Weekend.

The annual Super League event was held for the 12th year this weekend and for the fourth time in a row in Newcastle.

The RFL is considering a new host city and, asked if one of them is New York, chief operating officer Ralph Rimmer said: "Yes, we have lots of offers.

"There is plenty of interest in it. Newcastle is a really good venue, but it could well move at some point."

The Magic Weekend sees a whole round of Super League fixtures held at the same stadium over the same weekend, Cardiff being the first host in 2007.

It has since been staged in Edinburgh and Manchester before moving to Newcastle's St James' Park in 2015, with the highest weekend attendance of 68,276 coming in 2016.

Following Toronto Wolfpack's formation in 2017, plans for a New York team have been submitted and England play New Zealand in Denver on 23 June.

• Newcastle's Magic Weekend generates £4.3m for economy

Rimmer told 5 live sport during this year's Magic Weekend: "Originally the vision was to put together a property that had some commercial value and also allowed us to spread the gospel, if you like.

"We've got some real value in the property so there are plenty of cities - and you'll be surprised at some of them - that contact us saying 'would we contemplate them?'

"They would offer some money for it because, in the end, you get a good-natured crowd that have a great time, probably eat and drink their own body weight and create a carnival atmosphere, and any city would want a property like that.

"It's important that we use it in the right way, we protect the property and use it to project the game forward.

"That means that, if you do move it, you have to make sure it joins up the dots with what you're trying to achieve strategically."