Not a lot obviously, as there is no chance in hell that football does less damage to a pitch from how I've seen Rugby League played, given similar game time and conditions. I'd be keen to see some of these repeated statements. Can you link to some of them for me please. I was of the opinion that the issue was how many matches were played on the KC and how the pitch was maintained, not what type of match is played on it. Last year the pitch went through the year with no real damage by either sports, which I put down to the pitch lights that were bought pre season last year.
Under UEFA rulings the new pitch is going to be 3 yards longer at either end than the old one. It also means that the football goal and rugby sticks will now be on different lines for the first time since the KC opened because of the rulings about the length of the in goal areas.
Rugby league actually doesn't do as much damage as you'd think. They don't compete for scrums and without rucks and mauls there isn't much driving involved to cut the pitch up. I wouldn't be surprise if all the slide tackles from football cause more damage, and of course, football is played in worse weather nowadays.
