EDDIE HEARN has given a brutal assessment of the state of rugby league in the UK, insisting that it is “dying” as a sport.
Eddie, and his father Barry, have helped transform the popularity of sports including boxing, snooker and darts in the last two decades through their Matchroom company.
And, a few years ago, the Hearns were approached by rugby league in a bid to help the sport – but Eddie has revealed that they were only approached to publicise flagship events such as the Challenge Cup.
Speaking to the Australian Bloke in a Bar podcast, Eddie said: “I was approached a couple of years ago by the rugby league guys to help the sport, because it’s a dying sport (in the UK). It’s struggling, rugby league in the UK – bad,” Hearn said.
“And the reason it’s struggling are there is no stars in my opinion.And they’re not being pushed and enhanced in the right way.
“If you told me to name a rugby league player I’d go Jamie Peacock, Ellery Hanley, but all these guys from the ’90s.
“Because they were on mainstream TV and they were celebrities. They were stars, and now we don’t have any of that.
“So the game is dying, the TV contracts are whimpering out. The value of those contracts are really dying and commercially the sport is dying.
“They asked me to get involved in a couple of the bigger events and I said the only way we’d get involved is if we had an overhaul.
“And we were in charge of that, not this event, the Challenge Cup and that kinda stuff. It’s the whole sport needs to be revamped from grass roots to the elite level.
“It’s a great sport and a brutal sport, but over here (in Australia) it’s a different sport. It’s obviously a huge sport over here and globally.”
View this post on Instagram
