The Guardian are reporting it now
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/mar/13/everton-ceo-robert-elstone-super-league-rugby
The Everton CEO, Robert Elstone, is set to return to rugby league after being approached to take up a role as the head of
Super League.
Elstone has been prioritised by the 12 clubs as the standout candidate to oversee the competition moving forward, after they were impressed by both his experience in rugby league and other sports. No deal has yet been signed, it is understood, but it is thought the clubs are confident of tempting Elstone away from
Everton and back to a sport with which he has had significant experience in the past.
Elstone has been heavily involved in Everton’s plans to relocate
to a new stadium at Bramley Moore dock and his departure would come at a delicate time with financing and planning for the stadium yet to be secured.
The 54-year-old has been at Everton since 2005, having previously held a position on the board of Super League side Castleford Tigers. He was also previously employed by the Rugby Football League, and is regarded as one of the key figures in the creation of Super League in the mid-1990s.
Elstone, though, would rejoin rugby league at an interesting time. The 12 clubs were successful in a quest for more power over the winter, having formed their own board which saw them in sole control of their own destiny - effectively breaking out from the RFL.
With the sport’s lucrative broadcast deal with Sky set to expire at the end of 2021, Elstone would play a key role in renegotiation discussions – which are likely to begin as early as this year – if his return to rugby league is, as expected, completed in the coming weeks.
His previous experience in the sport resulted in him being almost immediately linked to the chief executive’s role at the RFL, which is still vacant following the departure of Nigel Wood at the beginning of this year. Elstone could still potentially do both roles, though: as Wood himself was also on the Super League board before he stepped down.