British rugby league clubs have voted in favour of New York and Ottawa joining the domestic league structure next season: another significant step for the game’s expansion into North America. Consortia representing the two cities presented their cases at a meeting of clubs in Salford on Thursday, with both keen on emulating Toronto Wolfpack, who became the first transatlantic team to join the league in 2017.

The franchises made their case for admission into League 1, the lowest professional tier, from the start of next season and the Rugby Football League confirmed that a significant majority of clubs were keen for them to join in time for the 2020 season.

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“It was a good meeting and, at the end of it, I called for an indicative vote,” said the RFL’s non-executive director, Simon Johnson. “The clubs were in principle supportive by a comfortable majority of the proposals for both Ottawa and New York to join the competitions.”

It is a significant hurdle for both franchises to clear, though not a definitive one.

The final decision rests with the RFL, who will meet in the coming weeks to make a verdict. However, with the governing body saying on Wednesday that the mood of the clubs would influence their decision, it is now likely both will enter. “We will give the clubs the opportunity to come back again before the board makes its decision,” Johnson said. “This is an important hurdle, though.”

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The franchises said they are supportive of one another, with Ricky Wilby, the Huddersfield-based entrepreneur who is leading the New York bid, revealing a number of commercial partnerships have been agreed. Virgin Atlantic will be the club’s official travel partner and will fly visiting teams out to New York free of charge. Deals with Hilton Hotels, Macron and Mastercard are also in place. New York have also held early-stage discussions with ESPN+ about broadcasting their games. “We’ve got to be confident after today,” Wilby said. “We’re pleased with how it went.”

Ottawa’s bid is led by Eric Perez, who founded Toronto. He is aiming to relocate the former League 1 side Hemel Stags to Canada after purchasing their licence late last year and says he has the support of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, who already own several sporting franchises in the Canadian capital.