‘IMG could be game-changing for us’: Wakefield chairman John Minards

BY JOHN DAVIDSON

Wakefield Trinity chairman John Minards is optimistic about what changes global marketing giant IMG can bring to UK rugby league, but admits it is “difficult times” for the sport.

IMG have been brought in to reimagine and restructure the sport in England. Minards is a part-owner of Wakefield and has been chairman of the club since 2018.

A former partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, he has been involved in the realignment of the RFL and Super League in 2022, which has resulted in the 12-year strategic partnership with IMG.

“We’ve been through a lot in realigning the RFL and Super League, I hope for good,” he told rugbyleauehub.com Long Reads. 

“I hope we’re now in a place where we’ve got a structure where some good people have joined the game from outside. 

“There’s a real changing of the guard at the RFL and Super League, and IMG I think can be game-changing for us. 

“If you say sports marketing, the first name you come up with is IMG and they are professionals. They’ve impressed me.

“Nobody’s going to like all of it, but I’ve broadly liked what they’re saying. 

“I like the fact they’re independent and I hope they stay that way. I think that will be for the good of the game, but it’s a tough gig. 

“A really tough gig.”

The UK is set for a recession and is currently battling a cost of living crisis. With the last broadcasting deal with Sky also reduced, and now up for negotiation, Minards concedes it is a difficult time for rugby league in general.

“Apart from the fact that it’s a really tough time at the moment for everybody and money’s right everywhere, leaving that aside, the competitive landscape within sport is tough for us at the moment,” he said. 

“There are more sports competing for a declining dollar of marketing spend. 

“TV, well, it’s easy to say that broadcast monies are down, which they are, and it’s going to be down and down. 

“You also have to recognise that it’s changed and it’s not going to happen in the same way. 

“The days of buying a subscription… just as it changed when BSKyB came in and BBC went digital channels. That changed, and it’s going to change again.

“I suppose my faith would be is that we know we have a great product. 

“We know when the whistle goes and these two teams go at each other, it’s a fantastic spectacle. 

“That’s why we keep coming back. 

“We have great content – it’s all the challenge of how we get that across to other people and give them a chance to see it.”

While IMG are looking to transport the entire sport across Britain and all its competitions, Minards believes Super League has to remain a key focus.

“All the focus goes on Super League and how that’s going to be configured, promotion and relegation – it’s more than that, it’s absolutely more than that. 

“But that is important because, what I do know about business is it’s all about money in and money out and we’re not attracting enough money into the game and we mustn’t take our eye off that. 

“We’ve got to recognise that it’s the Super League clubs, whoever they are at a point in time, are generating a spectacle which at the moment the broadcasters are willing to pay multi-millions for. 

“Nowhere else are multi-millions coming into this game. 

“So it’s still really important, for all it’s changing… so we have to protect that and keep enough teams competitive. 

“It’s difficult times.”

Clubs have yet to be informed of the criteria of IMG’s new grading system, but Minards says Wakefield are focusing on being a Category A club.

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