Derek Beaumont reveals how Leigh Leopards exposed IMG system amid Super League expansion talk

Derek Beaumont maintains that the IMG system is 'completely wrong' despite his Leigh Leopards club getting Grade A status. The Leythers owner has been one of the biggest critics of the system and has stuck to his guns after Wednesday's grading reveal for the 2025 season.

Beaumont also declared his concern for any competition expansion, with some of the non-performance grading pillars potentially set to move to ensure only 12 clubs remain as Grade A outfits, rather than 14 or 16, as originally said at the launch of the IMG partnership. And as for Leigh's score, Beaumont admitted that he ultilised one area to his own advantage to secure their Super League status. They finished as the seventh-highest-ranked club, having been awarded 15.13 points.

Leigh achieved a 2.68 jump on their provisional score last October, with Beaumont revealing a huge 2.5-point increase in the club's finance pillar. That move was critical to ensuring Leigh's topflight status, who could have potentially ranked outside out of the top 12 positions.

He wrote: "At the launch of the IMG partnership and the grading system, it was stated that if 16 teams reach Grade A, then that’s what Super League would become. But we all know that the game’s cake can’t divide into more than 12 currently and feed those at the table enough, despite there being an obvious appetite to do so to eliminate loop fixtures, etc.

"This problem remains even under this structure should it continue, which I don’t believe it should. I can already sense the minds ticking on the alterations to the thresholds, some to deal with discrepancies like the zero points for a big screen with pixels too large equaling that of no screen at all, and a method of measuring the reach of a club rather than that of its population, something in which it has no ability to change its performance.

"However, I also sense there will be movements in pillars to lower club scores and make it less likely to get more than 12 clubs with a Grade A score to protect the current position, at least until a better deal is done that can expand the competition, something that can be done by introducing Grade B clubs anyway. I appreciate the pressure the RFL and RL Commercial are under concerning this situation.

"So why am I against or raising issues with a system that guarantees me a Super League place, ranked 7th with a year of Championship stats attached that next year will fall away and mean we can increase our score in at least three areas?

"Simple really. If you look at our transparent, published, individually broken-down pillars of our score, something I think all clubs should have to do, and how the information should be presented to gather increased trust in it from all clubs and the stakeholders in the game, its fans, then you will see our dramatic rise is down to an increase of 2.5 points on finance.

"If we remove that shift, we would be on 12.63 points and placed 14th. This is, in my opinion, completely wrong and exposes a system that just isn’t right. Call me biased or looking through rose-tinted glasses, but had I not been privileged enough to not only write off funds as sponsorship and make a further significant seven-figure sponsorship investment, then we would not have been able to remain in Super League.

"I don’t think that would give Super League its best representation, losing a club that got promoted off the back of a treble in 2022, then finished fifth in the play-offs in 2023, producing five members of the Dream Team and winning the Challenge Cup. Then in 2024, rising to make the semi-final in front of record crowds in a modern, quality facility with a great atmosphere and entertainment, providing a great experience for home and away fans and a good outlook to the broadcaster.

"How sad would today be for our club and the game that all the hard work and success of the rebrand would be cast away into the Championship and potentially leave an investor in the game fed up with trying and facing goals, giving up on the sport, leaving the game, something we have seen at London Broncos. In London, the sad loss of David Hughes to the game hasn’t been correctly acknowledged, in my opinion, given his commitment and significant investment over decades.

"That’s the harsh reality that some clubs are stuck with not having a benefactor. It shouldn’t be about who has a benefactor, of course; that will always have its benefits, but it shouldn’t be what determines us as a Super League club. That should be our performance, yet of our 15.13 points only 3.2 points count on performance after the three successful years referred to, yet finance counts for 3.8 points and fandom 4.2 points."

Beaumont has also praised the club's fourth-place finish on the performance table this year, helping to boost their score over the last three years while reaffirming the role the fans played with attendance and stadium utilisation. The Leigh owner also believes two tiers of ten could be the way to go in the future, with the sport needing to 'get a grip' and not 'continue in this guise.'

He added: "Whilst the finance amendment has ultimately secured our Super League status, it was the efforts of the players and fans that got us the magical grade A. The players achieved fourth place in Super League, improving our performance score, while the fans achieved our highest average league attendance for 69 years, thus boosting our utilisation score.

"Facilities that are part of the operational rules in terms of size of pitch are not a requirement of the facility pillar, which doesn’t make sense. That’s not right, and I would be amazed if anyone had the ability to demonstrate that it is.

"Many Grade B clubs bring so much value, as do other clubs, which is why I believe over time we need 2 x 10s to keep scores close and accommodate the depth of clubs with a Championship operating below it. In my opinion, we have gotten out of a pickle this year with it turning out how it would have. Had Toulouse won the Championship grand final, the winning team wouldn’t have been promoted, but yet the losing team (Wakefield) would still have been promoted.

"We need to use the space that is provided to get a grip as council members collectively across all facets of the game and grasp the mantle to ensure we don’t continue in this guise."

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