Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont points out IMG flaw and explains two areas of focus
Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont believes that not enough IMG points are awarded for on-field performance.
Under the IMG criteria, just five points are available through performance, with four coming for league position over a three-year period before bonus points are awarded for winning the Super League, Challenge Cup, Championship, and 1895 Cup trophies. The remaining 15 points are distributed through four other pillars - fandom, finance, stadium, and community.
In Beaumont’s view, that is not enough with the owner using his own club Leigh as an example. The Leythers score 3.2 points on performance over the last three years but can pick up high points on other pillars of the grading.
Explaining why the system is wrong, Beaumont, speaking on the Super League Raw podcast, said: "We’re marginally over 15 points but of that, only 3.2 points comes from performance, and that in my book is wrong.
"We’re ranked as the eighth-best team in Super League. That is worth 3.2 points, and I just don’t think that is enough when I can score 3.8 on finances and 4.2 on fandom."
And while reaffirming that the performance criteria needs to be higher, Beaumont also confirmed that Leigh have worked on other pillars this year in order to improve their provisional score from last season.
He continued: "If you’re going to measure IMG then there are a couple of things that I would say. Driving standards is critical so I’m fully supportive of any model that wants us to drive our standards and be better.
"We knew we would lose the Challenge Cup (0.25 bonus points from 2023) and we knew we could not get our attendance above the 7,500 threshold due to our season in the Championship (2022). For us, it was about boosting the utilisation score and then the massive shift came from my financial manoeuvres.
"We undoubtedly did things that improved our club and the numbers that came through the door off the back of the pressure associated with IMG. That’s a positive."