Eddie Hearn says he has “a smell” that this is rugby union’s time to transform its finances and playing numbers off the back of his hook-up with Henry Pollock.
Hearn’s Matchroom agency has revolutionised the profile of niche sports such as darts and snooker, as well as having a big footprint in professional boxing.
Its first venture into rugby union by signing the 21-year-old Pollock will see Hearn chase commercial deals for the blond back-rower who has 10 caps for England, and also plays for Northampton Saints in the Premiership.
Hearn told The i Paper that Pollock will be “everywhere in the next three or four weeks”, including TV chat shows in the bracket of Graham Norton or Jonathan Ross.
Henry Pollock is still just 21 but already a rising star of the game (Photo: Getty)Some rugby devotees might point to little being wrong when more than 100,000 fans attended the three Premiership matches staged at football stadiums over the weekend, and millions tuned into the recent Six Nations on free-to-air TV, with big crowds at Twickenham, Cardiff, Paris and the other venues.
But Hearn is right to point out the untapped gap in promoting the game to different audiences, and the comparative dearth of awareness for the club game – although he knows better than anyone that effective promotion costs money, as well as new thinking.
Hearn played a bit of rugby in his youth but he said he watched a recent England match and wasn’t sure who the captain Maro Itoje was, which might surprise folk who imagine a bigger profile exists for last year’s British & Irish Lions skipper.
“I only knew one player in the England team, and it was Henry Pollock,” said Hearn – and it’s likely his lack of awareness is shared by casual sports fans around the UK.
WHO ELSE?! Henry Pollock scores again as Saints win on the road at Sale for the first time in EIGHT years.What a game! pic.twitter.com/irXO5GVKSM
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 24, 2026“I know that at the top end – the Six Nations, the big internationals, the Lions – commercially, they are monsters and they do very well,” Hearn added from a break in Antigua before he returns home for a boxing bill in Altrincham.
“But I feel like beneath that is a world not a lot of people understand or know about. And I think I’m the audience; I’m the casual fan. I’m the guy that you need to bring in to spend my money on the sport. But you’re not going to do that if you’re not communicating with me, you’re not telling me the story.”
To do that with Pollock, he will need to ride through a sniffy attitude to arguably putting one person above the team.
“I’ve got a good nose for a spike and certainly for individuals,” Hearn said, “and I think I smell a spike for rugby built around Pollock. Use me and abuse me as you wish, because me coming in should actually make rugby hotter, or people more interested and engaged. England Rugby should be saying … ‘wow, this guy is going to come in and do our job for us’.
Domestic attendances are dwindling in English rugby (Photo: Getty)“Henry is an aspirational figure to the next generation. I need to drive his commercial revenue, and I would expect within certainly 12 months, but maybe in six months, Henry will be making much more off the field than he’s making on the field – which, by the way, has to change as well in time.”
Red Bull’s sponsorship of Newcastle Falcons, and the plan for the Prem to become an expansion league, has piqued Hearn’s interest, although he is not interested in buying a club.
“You’re going to get powerful, wealthy people or organisations acquiring those teams,” he said. “They’ll have to look at the caps and the structures for [players] to earn more money.
“I speak at broadcast level with people that are paying the rights fees, and the perception is rugby, commercially and with the viewing figures, is dying. But it doesn’t take a lot for all of a sudden those same people to be saying ‘oh, Eddie’s having a look. Oh, Red Bull are coming in.’ Trust me when I say the momentum will move quickly.”
Hearn says he received direct messages from “30 or 40” other rugby players or their agents over the weekend.
"BE MYSELF""We've a great relationship"Henry Pollock reveals what Steve Borthwick said when he was told he was starting for England against Ireland @SixNationsRugby | @EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/R1fN1ktwVk
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 20, 2026If you had to pick a name the public might know, it would be a certain Bath, Scotland and Lions fly-half.
Hearn said: “There’s nothing signed or agreed with Finn Russell, but I’m also aware he’s one of the greatest players in the world, and he’s a fantastic ambassador and a great personality.
“At the moment, we’re focused on Pollock. We’re doing it with what I believe is the biggest star in the sport. Everything he’s doing across social media and digital media, he’s half doing the job on his own. He’s not going to be on Strictly Come Dancing next week, but over the next three or four weeks, he will be everywhere.
“The foundations of [rugby] are an unrivalled educator for the youth. It is very, very tough, and it’s built off discipline, respect, manners and humbleness in defeat, and celebrating your victories. You haven’t got to worry about Henry because the first thing I realised was how much he loves the sport.
“But let’s not clip his wings. Let him go. You’ve got a golden opportunity here for this guy to single-handedly revolutionise and drive participation for the next generation. We need to make it big again from a grassroots level.”
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