Let Eddie Hearn take over. That's my opinion on anything rugby league
Let Eddie Hearn take over. That's my opinion on anything rugby league
They do boxing as well
There was one line in the interview where Eddie mentions being approached by the RFL where he's talking about boxing and he complains that Boxers now want more control over their careers. I think clubs would need to allow the Hearns to dictate rule changes, fixtures and all other regulation of the game.
God knows the game needs a kick up the behind, but I would be very wary of handing over complete control of it to the Hearns. I find the presentation of the darts and the WWE-style nonsense in the boxing unbearable.
One other thing about them is that all of the sports they have had great successes with share something in common: they have a number of events at which the whole sport basically descends upon one venue for a night, weekend or couple of weeks, and therefore it's possible for them to exert complete control on the presentation, and have a very clear grasp of the costs, appropriate size of venue and so on. I imagine that makes it possible to run their enterprise very efficiently. Running a competition which takes place in various venues - not all of which are ideally suited to the level of demand - simultaneously over thirty odd consecutive weekends a year is a different proposition and would be uncharted territory for them. Giving them an event like the CC Final to promote might make more sense, but clearly they're not interested in that.
Everyone gives them credit for ‘revamping’ darts, but from what I can see it’s the players prize money that has improved whilst everything around it has become a really tacky sideshow. The viewing figures are decent for Sky but only a fraction of what old World Finals used to get at Frimley Green in front of 200 old fellas supping bitter. Now we have the glitz and glamour of the Premier League and the World Finals at Ally Pally, but in the main they’ve become giant ups for groups of lads with two fellas playing darts hundreds of yards away which none of them really care about. It’s a spectacle for TV viewers, but it spells out quite starkly that if you’re a purist of a sport they won’t care. If you want to actually go to the World Darts and watch it live because you’re really into darts and want to watch the game, good luck because you’ll have to put up with a thousand drunks singing about Yaya Toure all night. Not sure I want RL to become a side show in the same vein.
I'm not thinking of darts.
Im thinking of boxing.. But I get what you mean St the type of events.
And I get what you mean about the different proposition in rugby league.
I can't think of anything more boring to watch than darts.
So imagine what they could do with rugby league.
It's never gonna happen. But I think something radical needs to happen