At present the league consists of twelve teams, of which eleven are from Northern England, reflecting the sport's geographic heartland within the UK and one from southern France.

By the early 1990s the sport was still struggling with dwindling attendances, poor facilities and was dominated by one club, Wigan, who were the only full time professional team.

In an attempt to gain the upper hand, Murdoch, whose broadcasting company BSkyB already had the rights to the First Division, approached the RFL.

On Good Friday 1995 it was announced that Toulouse had pulled out and Widnes had their own place alongside Warrington, this as well as anti-merger campaigns and debates in parliament effectively killing any change of mergers happening.

Squad numbers were adopted, a video referee was at every televised game and the salary cap was introduced to stop clubs overspending and to allow for a more level playing field.

The inaugural Super League title was won by St Helens, breaking Wigan's stronghold for the first time since 1989 while Workington were relegated.

Oldham were relegated and PSG, who had finished 11th for the second consecutive time were dissolved after it was discovered some of their overseas players had tourist visas to avoid paying French tax.

[citation needed] Due to Oldham being relegated and PSG folding, two teams, Hull Sharks and Huddersfield Giants, were promoted.

The first Grand Final took place at Old Trafford in front of a sellout crowd of 40,000 who watched Wigan defeat Leeds 12–8, their first league title since the old First Division.

Gateshead weren't the only club struggling, Sheffield announced they could no longer continue and merged with Huddersfield and would be known as Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants.

[6] The RFL stated that clubs applying to compete in Super League would be assessed by criteria in four areas (stadium facilities, finance and business performance, commercial and marketing and playing strength, including junior production and development) with the final evaluations and decisions being taken by the RFL board of directors.

[13] By the end of the 2008 season, Salford and Celtic Crusaders finished 13th and 14th respectively and the Grand Final was won by the League Leaders, Leeds Rhinos for a fourth time.

[17] Crusaders CEO Rod Findlay stated that the club's finances were not in a good enough condition to justify their place in Super League.

2017 saw Castleford finish top of the league for the first time in their history although they eventually lost the Grand Final to Leeds who claimed their 8th title.

The Super League clubs were unhappy with the way the RFL was running the sport and wanted more control over future TV deals and sponsorship money.

On 22 March 2022, at a Special General Meeting it was announced the RFL and Super League were to officially realign after a majority of clubs voted in favour.

IMG announced that they planned to scrap traditional promotion and relegation in favour of a return to licensing, although it would be slightly different to how it was executed before.

IMG announced grading criteria in March 2023, with clubs being judged on fandom, on field performances, finances, stadium and catchment.

It is held annually at Old Trafford, with the exception of 2020 when it was hosted at the KCOM Stadium in Hull in front of no supporters due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wigan have lost the most Grand Finals being a total of six, however St Helens record of 5 consecutive years as runners up remains unchallenged.

The design was deliberately similar to new Rugby Football League (RFL) and England team logos, in order to maintain a ubiquity of public message.

In 2024 this was updated by the marketing firm 160/90 to three separate logos, to represent the three Super League competitions, teal for Mens', Purple for Women's and Green for Wheelchair.

Also, only ten teams have taken part in the Grand Final, Hull FC, Castleford Tigers, Warrington Wolves, Salford Red Devils, Catalans Dragons.

The last grand final to feature two sides other than Wigan, Leeds, St Helens or Bradford occurred in 1991 when Hull F.C.

This had led to the criticism that Super League is effectively uncompetitive, by perpetuating success in the hands of a small number of wealthy clubs.

[45] A salary cap was first introduced to the Super League in 1998, with clubs being allowed to spend up to 50 percent of their income on player wages.

The current deal lasts between 2024 until 2026, which will see, for the first time ever, Sky Sports producing all six matches per week, and each will be broadcast live in some form.

[51] The BBC obtained the same rights as Channel 4 had, beginning from the 2024 season, with the addition of extra matches shown on the Red Button and iPlayer.

[59] Each 3 hour programme is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and in addition to live commentary also includes interviews and debate.

Since 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports have also been available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand.