Robert Elstone says Super League must have its “eyes wide open” over the prospect of Trans-Atlantic clubs Toronto, New York and Ottawa joining the competition.
Toronto are currently top of the Championship while New York and Ottawa recently pitched their bids to join League One to clubs outside the top flight.
Chief executive Elstone is not opposed to them climbing the ladder and entering Super League but says certain measures must be in place.
Elstone said: “From my point of view I just need to make sure that all the homework has been done on these clubs.
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"I still think the jury is out on sustainability, intent, logistic capability, impact on the competition’s integrity, and the size and impact on the overall cake.
“That’s not to be negative about it - we need to be the opposite and be welcoming of it. But we need to have our eyes wide open over where it’s going to take us.
“The ultimate wraparound is not negative and it’s not anti-expansion and it’s important to say that. We need to protect the value in Super League and what we can’t be doing is diluting that value.
“If we’re not diluting that then absolutely tremendous, bring it on.”
Elstone says Super League must be wary of having too many non-UK clubs ahead of its crucial next TV deal, with Toulouse also vying for promotion and Catalans already at the top table.
A quota on the number of overseas clubs in the competition is currently being finalised, although Elstone says that will have some flexibility in it.
He explained: “We don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot by taking a competition to market that is not appealing to broadcasters. We would be wrong to allow that to happen without protection.
“If we can clearly stimulate interest from international broadcasters then that’s terrific and part of the work we need to do.
“The quota is something we’re looking at, but ultimately Super League has the right to override whatever the rules are.
“If club X comes along and we’re at the quota, but club X is outstanding and will come with a fan base and the opportunity of a new broadcast deal, then we have the right to admit them into Super League.”
Elstone is due to attend a match in Toulouse next month having visited Toronto last season, and says both clubs have a realistic chance of promotion this year.
He said: “I haven’t seen Toulouse first hand but I will in two or three weeks. They’re clearly performing reasonably well on the pitch.
“I came back from Toronto being impressed - young, confident and ambitious is what I said. If there’s a demonstration of that, then it was there and then in Toronto.
“But beyond that very superficial look I haven’t really satisfied myself on all the other conditions if I’m honest.
“However, if they win the Championship play-off, then subject to existing minimum standards they will be in Super League.
“There was a challenge around travel and logistics when I went out with the Hull KR team - we got back tired and exhausted unto Glasgow and had a bus ride back to Hull.
“This might be unfair on them, but you look at teams travelling to Toronto, part of me thinks if it’s 14 home games, they almost start with 28 points on the board because of the challenge of going out there and giving them a game.
“You’re challenging competitive integrity, and I’m not sure that creates a balanced competition, which is possibly the most fundamental point of all.
“What New York, Ottawa, Toronto have done is create talking points and interest. That’s promoted a lot of media attention and attention from fans.
“I think the immediate thought is wow, this looks exciting, but what it does do then is prompt a whole load of difficult questions.
“Is it sustainable, is it well intended, is it going to establish roots, can it be dealt with logistically, will it put any bias into the competition? Most fundamentally, does it grow the cake? Does it come with additional fans, sponsors, broadcast revenues?
“I’m not sure all those questions have been thought through and dealt with and I think they need to be.”
