Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn believes rugby league is "bang in trouble", doubling down on a previous claim that the sport is "beyond f***ed".
Matchroom has developed a reputation for revolutionising sports such as snooker and darts, while also enjoying great success promoting boxing. As a result, Hearn and dad Barry held discussions with the Rugby Football League (RFL) in 2018 about helping promote the sport.
However, talks broke down after the Hearns stated they needed to have full control, something the RFL were reluctant to give them. In a recent appearance on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, Hearn revisited those talks and explained the issues he feels the sport has.
"Rugby league is absolutely bang in trouble," he claimed. "They wanted us to come in and look at the Challenge Cup and a few different elements of the game and I said 'no, we need to control the game'.
"It has to be built and the problem is that both [rugby] codes aren't delivering numbers. Away from the big international stuff, the reality is that viewing figures are horrendous and the reason is because you don't have any stars.
"I'm a promoter of individuals really but to promote a sport essentially, you have to highlight those people and make them stars." It comes after Hearn told the Financial Times in 2020 he felt rugby league was "beyond f***ed".
He said: "[They said:] 'Would you come in, do what you've done for boxing and darts?' We can, but we have to own it all.
"'Ooh, f***ing hell, we can't do that.' I said, so then we're not interested. 'But can't you come in and promote the Challenge Cup?'
"F*** no. Either we rip up the script and we do it our way, or we don't bother. Cos it's f***ed, rugby league. Beyond f***ed."
