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Hull FC learn IMG grade as full breakdown given and four areas of hurt explained

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


IMG's grading process has awarded Hull FC Grade B status, granting them entry into the 2025 Super League competition. The club has scored 14.51 points out of a total of 20, with all professional clubs judged on five criteria pillars: field performance, fandom, finance, stadium, and community.

The new score is a 0.54 point drop on the provisional Grade A status given to Hull last October, with the club hit by four areas. Three of those areas were reported by Hull Live last week, with Hull dropping to 11th on the performance table. They are also down on stadium utilisation, TV viewership, and on the MKM Stadium's LED screens, which, despite being UEFA standard, don't meet the criteria set by IMG.

Ranked 10th out of 36 professional clubs across the Super League, the Championship, and the League 1 competitions, the club will now play a 27th consecutive season in the topflight. They are the highest ranked Grade B club, with Grade A clubs given automatic entry to the Super League, while the clubs that scored the highest scoring B grades fill the remaining positions. Scores are based on the last three years, except for finance, which is judged on the period of 2021-2023.

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

READ MORE:Hull FC’s IMG grade decline makes mockery of criteria logic

The areas of hurt

Hull scored 15.05 points in the provisional grading process last year. Once again, this year's score of 14.51 has seen them drop by 0.54 points. This is due to four specific areas of scoring.

On-field performance
The club has dropped from 10th to 11th in the three-year average league position scoring system. Simply put, their on-field performance just hasn't been good enough.

TV viewership
The club's three-year average TV viewership figure has dropped below the top scoring threshold of 150,000. This isn't helped by every game now being on Sky Sports, with fixtures clashing throughout the season.

Stadium ultilisation
The club has seen a reduction in their three-year average after a 1,083 drop in crowds last season. This is calculated against the MKM Stadium's capacity. So in essence, Hull are being penalised for playing in an elite stadium, despite having the fourth highest attendance in the competition.

LED screens
Hull were awarded these points in 2023, but have now been told that the two MKM Stadium screens don't meet the IMG criteria, despite being UEFA technical specification standard. This is due to the pixel size on the screens (the distance between the screen’s individual pixels). The club has stated that the pizel screens at the MKM Stadium are 20mm apart, but IMG’s criteria in this category requires stadium big screens to have a pixel pitch of 5mm or less. The club has reinforced that this criteria is effectively impossible to achieve for permanent outdoor stadium screens of the MKM Stadium’s screen size.

The full grading breakdown: total 20 points

Performance: worth 5 points
Detail: league performance 4, trophies 1

Fandom: worth 5 points
Detail: attendance 2.5, viewership 1, digital 1.5 (social 0.2, website 0.8, engagements 0.5)

Finances: worth 4.5 points
Detail: non-centralised turnover 2.25, NCT as % of total turnover 0.75, adjusted profit 0.5, balance sheet strength 0.5, increase in owner investment 0.5

Stadium: worth 3 points
Detail: facilities score 1.5, utilisation 1, primacy of tenure 0.25, led 0.125, big screen 0.125

Community: worth 2.5 points
Detail: Area population 1.5, Foundation 1

Summary

The club has confirmed they have maintained positive scores across areas including 'digital following and engagement, finance, stadium facilities, and community.' They achieved the highest scoring threshold in total social media engagements and website visits, while they maintained their high score in average attendance over a three-year period.

They also confirmed that the highest threshold scores were also achieved in many areas of the finance category: non-centralised turnover, non-centralised turnover percentage, and adjusted profit. That is due to retail and commercial growth, not to mention having 8,400 members for the 2024 season.

They scored high in stadium facilities and LEDs board. However, they don't receive primary of tenure points due to the stadium being owned by Hull City Council and are marked down on utilisation due to its 25,000 capacity.

As for the community pillar, the club scores well in the foundation category, which includes their women's side, wheelchair side, and all various disciplines of rugby league, but fails to attain the highest score in catchment, with Hull KR also competing in the local authority catchment area.

The club has expressed their 'disappointment' at not being awarded a Grade A status, but they understand that an 'unacceptable campaign' on the field is the main contributing factor, with the last three years of performance falling below the required standard. That, not to mention, stadium utilisation, are the main contributing factors to the decrease in their IMG score.

The club has also expressed their frustration at the loss of points in led screens, having been incorrectly awarded the points in this category under the same criteria in 2023. However, they have insisted that work is 'already underway' to try and reclaim Grade A status for 2026, with the aim to improve their scores on all criteria within their control.

The full IMG scores for all professional clubs can be found here.

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