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ESPN could enter the market to televise Super League with Richard Lewis, the Rugby Football League's chairman, predicting "the most intense and competitive bidding process" for the right to broadcast both the flagship competition and the Challenge Cup from 2012.

The existing deals for both tournaments, with Sky and the BBC respectively, expire at the end of this season, in addition to Super League's title sponsorship with Engage Mutual Assurance, the Harrogate-based financial services company which has been involved since 2005.

The RFL secured a significant increase when the Super League television rights were last renegotiated in November 2007, with each club's annual share of the pot increasing from around £750,000 to more than £1m, reports The Guardian.

That deal was concluded when Setanta Sports was a serious player in the market but Lewis revealed that ESPN has already expressed an interest this time around and that the BBC is also facing competition from other terrestrial broadcasters for the cup.

"This is the third bidding process I've been involved with and there's more interest from more broadcasters than ever before," Lewis said.

"We put the tender document out for prospective bidders [last week] and it will be a couple of months I think before we have a clear sign of who's going to win the bidding. It's very competitive and it's all to play for, frankly.

"There's ESPN who are active in the marketplace and already showing rugby union, so I don't think I'm divulging any secrets by saying that it's no surprise that ESPN are looking at it very seriously. Once you throw in the mix that the Challenge Cup has become very interesting and attractive to other terrestrial broadcasters, I think that creates a new dynamic for the whole rights bidding process.

"I think the BBC's very vulnerable to losing the rights to the Challenge Cup. There's more interest than I've ever known and I think it's a real possibility the Challenge Cup could end up somewhere else."