Adam Pearson reaffirms Hull FC's key focus and blasts two areas of IMG criteria

Hull FC chairman Adam Pearson has expressed discontent at some of IMG's criteria and has requested that some areas are changed for 2026. However, he has also reinforced the onus on the club to improve their on-field performance into 2025 and beyond, labelling it as the key factor for future growth.

The Black and Whites were awarded a Grade B score by IMG, guaranteeing their place in the Super League next season as the 10th highest-ranked club. However, they have dropped 0.54 points from their provisional Grade A score last October and have work to do to clinch the top grade back and secure automatic topflight status for 2026.

Unsurprisingly, the club's poor on-field performance has hurt their score after an 11th-place finish, with stadium utilisation and TV viewership also down. The MKM Stadium's LED screens have also been penalised, with Hull further hit on catchment due to sharing the city of Hull with local rivals Hull KR. And while acknowledging his frustrations with certain elements of IMG's criteria, Pearson admitted the buck stops with what they can control, and that's performance.

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Reacting to Hull's Grade B score, he said: "While we are naturally disappointed not to achieve Grade A status for 2025, we are clear that our poor performances on the field over recent seasons is the main contributing factor to this, and we have clearly identified this as our key focus area for the next grading period.

"A natural consequence of our on-field performances is the slight decrease in our stadium utilisation score; meanwhile, the decrease in our TV viewership figure due to the change of the broadcasting landscape in 2024 is a factor beyond the control of the club.

"We have also expressed our frustration in relation to not achieving the relevant points for our stadium big screens, being marked against unrealistic and unachievable criteria, despite having two of the sport’s best big screens, and being the only club to have two screens rather than one.

"As has been evident by the plethora of changes to our playing squad and performance department over recent months, work is already well underway to rectify our performances in 2025 in terms of on and off-field personnel, facilities, and player welfare and development.

"With the appointment of new head coach John Cartwright, as well as several new members of performance staff and a host of experienced signings to support and develop our young squad, all led by our new Director of Rugby, Richie Myler, we are confident the changes made will see an uplift in our fortunes in 2025."

Pearson also pointed out areas where the club scored well, including those within the fandom and finance categories. He continued: "Elsewhere, we are pleased to have maintained scores above the highest thresholds in several other areas, including relating to digital output and finance, thanks in part to the tireless work of our off-field departments across media and marketing, retail, and commercial—all posting impressive figures in 2024 despite our on-field performances.

"While we performed positively in those specific areas, we have identified clear pathways across all departments to ensure all figures continue to increase in the next grading period, regardless of being past the upper threshold or not, as we strive for improvements in all areas."

As for amendments to the criteria, Pearson pointed to utilisation, with Hull playing at arguably the best stadium in Super League, and catchment, with both Hull FC and Hull KR not able to include surrounding areas outside of the city boundary in their score.

He added: "We are also hopeful of seeing some alterations to some of the grading thresholds in 2025, which will see departments across the club have new, realistic targets to aim for and help drive further development across the club. Unfortunately this season, due to the current scoring thresholds in place, the club was not able to identify any other areas where the realistic possibility of increasing their score was feasible, outside of league performance and stadium utilisation.

"As well as changes to the big screen category, we also hope to see other positive changes to the stadium category, with the club effectively being deducted points for playing in one of the competition’s premier facilities and catchment, with the club not able to include the population of local areas including Hessle, Willerby, Cottingham, and Beverley within their figures, despite having a large out-of-town supporter base, while the city of Hull in general is marked down for having two professional teams."

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