Eddie Hearn believes Henry Pollock can “revolutionize” rugby as the most successful promoter predicts stardom is imminent.
Although Hearn is famous for his promotional work in boxing, snooker and darts, he is now taking his first step into rugby union after years of rejecting rugby league developments.
This, after he signed England and Northampton Saints ace Pollock to his new business, Matchroom Sport Agency, as only the second major athlete after MMA heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Hearn insists it is not his job to grow the game, as he will focus on marketing Pollock but believes the youngster could be at the forefront of the next race.
“In layman’s terms, our job is to use and drive the business value of Henry Pollock,” Hearn explained Big Jim Showexplained what his company would be doing for Pollock.
“That means making sure that we target his profile to more people outside of rugby and creating new business opportunities in terms of revenue, driving the naming rights, and within 6 to 12 months, Henry will be making more money than he is making. This will change over time because I know his contracts, and I think he will have more value over time.”
Rugby pitch
The businessman added that since the news of Pollock’s signing with Matchroom was confirmed, players have been clamoring to work with him.
“I’d say we’ve had over 30 players come up since signing Henry, saying, ‘This is what we really need. We’re not going into the rugby system. If there’s someone special, we can add one, you know, or two more. This is not about us being rugby representatives,'” he continued.
“It’s very smart because it’s like signing Aspinall at the MMA level, it allows us to immerse ourselves in the game to learn to watch, listen, and I’m sure it will create more business opportunities for Matchroom.”
As he has had his part in increasing the popularity of the game of marbles, darts and snooker, Hearn believes that he has the ability to know when the popularity of sports is about to grow.
He says the rugby spike is on the way.
“I’ve got a pretty good nose for a spike in the game, I think yours is coming. I’ve got one,” he continued.
“I look at Pollock, I look at the success of the Six Nations, the women’s game again. I think now might be the time, and I think he’s that guy. It’s really England Rugby, the RFU, you’ve got him in the palm of your hand to completely change the way this game looks.”
Henry Pollock’s “best player of all time” plan convinces Eddie Hearn to sign the England star.
To the Principality
Hearn said he was impressed by Wales’ performance against England at the Principality Stadium during the Six Nations, which led to the decision to enter rugby and sign Pollock to his club.
“Over the years, we’ve always looked at rugby, particularly on the league side, and we’ve had approaches from the RFL to maybe get into the game,” he explained.
“I went to the Six Nations game a few weeks ago, and people think I put that poster to organize the rugby Matchroom, but at the time, I hadn’t talked about Henry Pollock. And obviously from the business I want money to think and I put that poster and it went wrong.
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“I’ve probably had a dozen players contact me, clubs contact me, a lot of people in rugby contact me saying, ‘You’ve got to do it, you’ve got to get in.’
“I’m not sure at what level we can do that. But at the same time, Matt Hart from Stellar Rugby texted me and said, ‘Listen, you know, I’ve got loads and loads of players.’ I said, ‘I’m not sure, Matt’. He said, ‘But who is one player?’
“Henry then told me there was a lot of talk in the changing rooms about who the one player Eddie Hearn knows is. And I said to Matt Hart, Henry Pollock, and he went and stood up for him, I said you’re kidding. He said no.
I take my hat off to Matt because he said to me, ‘I’m a rugby guy, but I’ve got this guy who’s a business monster, and I need a powerhouse that’s going to be able to wear it and use it. Would you be interested?’
“I mean that if there is a player that I am going to play rugby with, if there is time, I should have this kid, because as soon as I watched him play, as soon as I saw the parties, I was like him.
“So he came in, gave me a good few hours’ seminar about rugby and clubs and problems with England and contracts and deals to boot, and I felt like an expert after this, and three or four days later, Henry came in and a few hours after that it was a done deal.”
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