The RFL’s satisfaction rating amongst Rugby League participants increased to 80.5 per cent in 2011, according to Sport England’s latest survey results.

The increase from 77.7 per cent in 2010 means that RFL meets another of the key agreements of the Sport England funding which is to maintain satisfaction ratings of 80 per cent or over amongst those involved in the game.

RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood said: “We are naturally delighted with the increase in satisfaction levels amongst people participating in Rugby League.

“This increase in satisfaction highlights the excellent work which is being done by RFL staff across the country, whether that is organising festivals, coaching teams, refereeing matches or any one of a number of other roles.

“Just as we have done throughout the Four Seasons debate which has led to a switch to a predominantly summer-based season structure, it’s important that we continue to listen to Rugby League participants to maintain this level of satisfaction.

“As we focus on delivering more customer-orientated products we hope to see this satisfaction rating increase further over the coming years as we deliver products which exactly fit the requirements of our Rugby League customers.”

The level of satisfaction for players in Rugby League’s talent pool was 84.8 per cent and the level for players at affiliated clubs was 82.2 per cent

The fieldwork for the 2011 survey across all the sports involved took place between March and May 2011 with 38,500 respondents completing the survey.

Sport England’s survey is now in its third year and provides a detailed picture of satisfaction among participants and provides insight into what drives sporting satisfaction.

The research provides a statistically robust measure of satisfaction with the quality of the sporting experience by individual sport, across 46 sports.

The research was developed in consultation with national governing bodies of sport, a review of previous studies in this area, scoping work undertaken by Ipsos MORI, and qualitative research which the Henley Centre carried out in 2008 on our behalf.

To see the Sport England satisfaction survey results visit http://www.sportengland.org/research/sport_satisfaction/headline_results_2011.aspx