All Super League and lower-league clubs, including Hull FC, will receive their initial IMG grades this morning. The sport’s development under IMG, the RFL’s strategic partner for the next 12 years, is at a critical juncture at this time. This morning at 10 a.m., the grades will be announced.
Earning points on five key pillars – Fandom, Stadium, Performance, Finances, and Community – clubs are required to accumulate 15 points to gain the coveted Grade A license. This grants each awarded club automatic entry into the new-look Super League competition and ensures exemption from relegation.
Hull FC will be hopeful their hard work off the field will be enough to earn them a Grade A license despite recent league positions limiting their scoring potential. Analysing the IMG grading handbook in detail, it is clear the club may also be limited as to what points they could score due to not owning their own stadium and the ongoing financial challenges the sport is facing on the whole.
However, Hull FC do boast some of the best facilities in the competition, with the MKM Stadium recently used for the Super League Grand Final as well as the development of their highly-acclaimed Centre of Excellence. Senior figures at IMG will also have been impressed by the club’s capture of high-profile commercial partners at Castore and Ecostrad, both of which have been announced in recent weeks.
The club’s award-winning Community Foundation is also seen as one of the best in Super League which will no doubt contribute to their overall grading, and with the club’s media and fan engagement seen as some of the best in the competition on top of a large and dedicated fan base, with an average crowd of over 12,000 – the club’s highest since 2010 – will surely stand the club in good stead.
If Hull FC do achieve a Grade A license and maintain, or even improve, their score in 2024, then they would be guaranteed Super League status and reinforce their position as one of the sport’s biggest clubs. Overall, Hull Live expects the Black and Whites to receive top marks, with improvements also laid out between now and 2025.