Leeds were the first full time fully pro team, Wigan and Widnes then followed their lead.

Stop using facts, it confuses the knuckle draggers...

Come on.
We know that vCas have had a few very good years, on the back of a cup final and grand final appearance and very well done with that BUT, for how many seasons did Mr Fulton clear the slate for you, without which you may not have been alive as a club.
It's not too long ago that you sold arguably your best player (Clark) to Warrington so that you could stay alive.

Be careful what you wish for.

As for Hearn, if he can revive the fortunes of the sport then, why not ??
He's certainly got a decent track record and if it means increasing or abolishing the cap, it doesn't really matter.
We certainly need someone with some marketing expertise.

Right now the sport is taking Sky's money and losing fans on the back of their demands.
We have fixtures which prioritise TV requirements but to the detriment of actual supporters.


Bring on the revolution

So we scrap the salary cap and then what? Most clubs still won't be able to afford to attract the top NRL talent or retain what talent we have, and we'll still be stuck with the 12 Super League clubs who, by and large, aren't up to the job.

Said it before, but Hearn is the easy answer to the wrong question. We spend too much time asking "who can save us?", when the real solutions are well within the grasp of the clubs.

All of the clubs employ commercial, PR and marketing managers - it's their job to find new audiences, find sponsors, sell tickets and put the stars in the public eye. The first question to ask is why those people aren't earning their keep, rather than jumping into bed with a snake oil salesman who can spot a quick buck a mile off.

I don't particularly like how he comes across but he's elevated British boxing's profile and ticket sales big style.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Even I could sell out an Anthony Joshua fight.

They didn't do much with Leyton Orient thats for sure

Indeed. If what we want for this sport is for it to become s p-up in an arena preceded by staged "bust ups" at a press conference, he's our man.

If we want the sport to be relevant and credible, he's not the answer.

There's more to Hearn's success in boxing than Anthony Joshua. Boxing is now more popular and relevant in the UK than its been in 20 years. He's made average fighters like Tony Bellew, and Anthony Crolla into stars and has then selling out events,he made Carl Froch into one of the biggest draws in the world, and he's also just negotiated a billion dollar online TV deal in conjunction with his TV deal with sky.

I don't want to see him involved in a central capacity, but it'd be interesting to see him involved in promoting events like Magic and the CC final.

Maybe the quality of boxing has gone up in UK making his job easier. Froch was a quality boxer not average.

Not unlike cycling with Wiggins, Froome, Yeates etc The quality has to be there.

Hearn is not the answer

Spot on.
I'd fully expect Leeds to fill headingly every game next year or to have a new marketing department in place by 2020!

Leeds have more corporate capacity than ever before, and I’m fairly confident in saying have more corporate capacity than any other Super League club. These corporates pay big money and is how The Rhinos will rake in the cash. This is where the marketing department will be focused on to ensure it’s sold out at every game rather than the terracing.

No doubt it has the past 10 years or so. You only have to look at the amount of World Champs we have/had in that time and you can see that British boxing is at its absolute peak. It's been a bit of a knock on effect of the amount of money put into the amateur scene for the Olympics that has also brought about the upturn.

it isn't that long that we only had the likes of Hatton and Calzaghe as WC boxers and one or two others, now you can reel a list off of recent and present Champs.
Off the top of my head, there's AJ, Fury, Haye, Froch, Kell Brook, Khan, James DeGale, Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, Liam Smith, Rocky Fielding, Josh Warrington, Ryan Burnett, Khalid Yafai, Groves, Eubank Jr, Crolla & Ricky Burns.

Also, agree Froch was an excellent boxer. The only guy that really schooled him was Andre Ward and he was ranked as the P4P best by Ring magazine and others during his LHW career. You don't beat the likes of Kessler, Bute, Jean Pascal, Jermaine Taylor, Dirrell, Abraham & Groves unless you're WC

Indeed. I'm probably averaging an email from Rob Oates every month about Leeds' new corporate packages for next season.