The

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

's Magic Round is a weekend where all fixtures are played at one venue. The concept is derived from

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

Magic Weekend The Magic Weekend (known as the Dacia Magic Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League in which an entire round of Super League matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium to promote the s ...

. The first Magic Round, in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, was held at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Lang Park Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

, in the ninth round of the season, from 9 to 12 May. The

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

paid approximately $2.1 million per year for the event to be held in the city in 2019 and 2020.

History

England's

first held its

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales, in 2007, in part as a bid to promote rugby league there. The event has been repeated on an annual basis, staged also in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. The second-tier

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

followed in 2015 with the

Summer Bash The Summer Bash is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League. An entire round of Championship matches are played in a city to showcase the sport of rugby league. It has been held at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool since 2015. Concept ...

, a full round of fixtures that in that year and each subsequent year have been played in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. The NRL first announced a Magic Round in 2018, for the 2019 season. It selected

as the host for 2019 and 2021, with the NRL having the option to continue to hold the event there in 2022 and 2023. The hosting arrangements included an investment from the

. The NRL declared the 2019 event, held from 9 to 12 May, to be a success; the total attendance for the weekend was 134,677. The second Magic Round was scheduled to be held in May 2020, but was cancelled due to the ongoing

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic As of 2022, the COVID‑19 pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV‑2). Its impact has been broad, affecting general society, the ...

which affected the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

. After the success of the second Magic Round in 2021, it was announced that the event would be returning to Brisbane in 2022.

2019: Brisbane

2021: Brisbane

2022: Brisbane

2023: Brisbane

Bye:

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

Yearly Attendances

References

External links

* https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/06/17/nrl-brisbane-magic-round-to-be-staged-in-2019-at-suncorp-stadium/ * https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/10/25/sunday-derbies-magic-weekend-headline-2019-draw/ * https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/04/01/magic-acts-for-nrl-magic-round-brisbane/ * https://www.nrl.com/travel/magic-round/ * https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-to-stage-magic-round-in-2019/news-story/ff125411f0a80e100cd6cfc4143b4867 * https://suncorpstadium.com.au/The-Venue/Latest-News/NRL-Brisbane-Magic-Round.aspx {{Special NRL fixtures National Rugby League Rugby league club matches Rugby league in Brisbane