After two years of 'Millennium Magic' in Cardiff, the RFL has struck a lucrative deal with the Scottish Rugby Union to switch the showpiece event north of the border.

The 14 Super League clubs will next year do battle over the weekend of May 2 and 3 in a city which proved hugely popular with the fans who travelled to Scotland's capital to watch the 2000 and 2002 Challenge Cup finals at Murrayfield.

The move to Edinburgh comes after concern at a lack of promotion of this year's 'Millennium Magic' by the Welsh RU and worries that the event was becoming a "boozy lads' weekend" on the streets of Cardiff rather than a family celebration of rugby league.

Three matches will be played on one day and four on another, details of which have yet to be finalised, although the RFL have acceded to requests by the Super League clubs to scrap the policy of making the fixtures local derbies.

Instead, the pairings will be decided by a seeded draw later this year when three matches will involve the competition's top six clubs with the remaining four matches featuring the eight other franchise holders.

The RFL have also taken note of the feedback from supporters who were unhappy at the poor public transport links between the sport's heartland and South Wales and the perceived profiteering of Cardiff's hoteliers, who doubled and in some cases trebled their room rates for 'Millennium Magic' weekend.

"After successfully introducing the concept in 2007 and 2008 and firmly establishing it in the rugby league calendar, we believe our plans for 2009 and beyond will take the event to the next level and offer supporters a unique family entertainment experience," said the RFL's director of events and projects, Sally Bolton.

"A number of cities had expressed an interest in hosting this event but we believe this new location has all the right ingredients to continue its development.

"The concept of the 'Magic Weekend' is all about taking the sport on the road and staging engage Super League in prestigious and exciting cities."

The RFL have refused to rule out the possibility that the 'Magic Weekend' could return to Cardiff in future years but it is clear that the city will have to be prove it intends to be more proactive in promoting the event – and less eager to fleece fans – if it is to win it back.

The SRU believe they can sell 20,000 tickets to the Scottish public and will today launch a publicity and awareness campaign, almost 10 months before the event is staged. The WRU's token promotion of 'Millennium Magic' kicked in with just four weeks to go this year when they sold fewer than 5,000 tickets to people in Wales.

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"We are thrilled to have secured another major sporting event for Murrayfield and Edinburgh, again underlining Scottish Rugby's commitment to hosting world-class premium events at the stadium," said Scottish Rugby chief executive Gordon McKie.

"We are very much looking forward to working in partnership with our key stakeholders to ensure the 'Magic Weekend' is a tremendous success."

Although Murrayfield is a brisk 15-minute walk from the city centre, the stadium's setting with playing fields on three sides will allow the RFL to stage family-friendly activities throughout the weekend, including a junior coaching clinic run by England coach Tony Smith.

Edinburgh is also better equipped to cater for a mass influx of rugby fans than Cardiff with a total of 6,074 rooms within two kilometres of the city centre, more than twice as many as the Welsh capital.

The city also has a wider variety of accommodation with dozens of small bed and breakfasts and boutique hotels, as well as a myriad of other attractions including 60 art galleries, five major theatres and 24 golf courses within a 10-mile radius of Murrayfield.

Murrayfield has a capacity of 67,788, which will be more than sufficient for an event which drew an aggregate crowd of 58,831 in 2007 and 61,000 earlier this year.

The RFL and the SRU have drawn up contingency plans should the stadium experience a repeat of the flooding in 2000 when the River Leith burst its banks, putting the Challenge Cup final between Bradford and Leeds in doubt.