Eddie Hearn: Rugby league is “in the wrong hands”

FAMED sports promoter Eddie Hearn says he and father Barry can turn around rugby league, a sport he contends is “in the wrong hands”.
In a new YouTube interview with IFL TV, Hearn is asked about rugby league fans calling on social media for him to become involved in the sport.
He hints there has already been some contact or association of some type, answering: “We’ve had a couple …
“People sometimes look at sports that are struggling and think that we can walk in and give it the Matchroom touch which is a little bit of magic sprinkle that really revolutionises and turns sport around. And we’ve done it in snooker, we’ve done it in darts of course and we’ve done it in boxing.
“People in the rugby league infrastructure look at us and say we’ve got an unbelievable relationship with Sky, ‘they’ve turned sports around that have been flat’. Could we do that in rugby league? Yeah. I believe I can do it in all sports but maybe that’s just me being arrogant.”
Chief executive Nigel Wood recently left the Rugby Football League and Super League and the search is on for his replacement
Hearn, the 38-year-old boxing promoter who is also on the board of the Professional Darts Association, continued: “But I believe our infrastructure, our brains, our ability to sell and promote … if we have the right product … it doesn’t mean we could walk into a sport that’s not … we’re talking about rugby league.
“Rugby League is a great sport, rugby league has a huge fanbase. It’s just in the wrong hands, that’s all. The world’s changed. The way that you promote sport has changed completely and anybody that doesn’t embrace the new age, is finished.
“That’s why it’s so difficult for older promoters now. My dad couldn’t come into boxing now and have the same effect that I’m having it.”