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Leigh Centurions owner Derek Beaumont doesn’t ‘see any value’ in Toulouse Olympique or Catalans Dragons being in Super League

Leigh Centurions owner Derek Beaumont is well known for his vocal opinions within the sport of rugby league.

Love him or hate him, the Mancunian is one of the most active owners in the sport, regularly conversing with fans and people on social media, especially Twitter where he has gained a big following.

Aside from his outspoken nature, Beaumont has also been heavily involved in fundraising activities to raise money for incredible charities.

Having said that, the Leigh man is sure to ruffle a few feathers with his current comments about the worth of having both Toulouse Olympique and Catalans Dragons in Super League.

“I’d be interested to see what IMG sees with the French aspect. Apart from a good day out, I don’t see any value,” Beaumont told the Dockhouse Rugby Show

“There is no TV deal from them, as a business man I am successful in what I do – I commercially don’t see any value in that.”

Beaumont also spoke up about giving the French teams their own competition and then potentially playing them at the end of the season in a new ‘World Club Challenge’ format.

“IMG might walk in and say why is there two clubs in Hull? Why is there Wigan and Leigh? Why is there Fev, Wakey and Ca? We should have a Newcastle and Cumbria but that’s not how the game works.

“There is rooms for two clubs in Hull because they are well supported and the rest are well supported but it can’t be looked at purely commercially so I might be missing something on the French thing and these guys might look at it differently.

“I think they should build their own competition to Super League standard and then at the end of the season we could meet in a play-off with the NRL, French, PNG all sorts.”

It remains to be seen just what IMG will do to the sport, but it’s set to be a very interesting period of time for rugby league.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Jay

    July 20, 2022 at 11:29 am

    Someone interested only in themselves, The Championship needs restrictions, how many players can be signed, and especially on loan. This season, this has been abused! We need a Level Playing Field. Also time to bring in, if any, Super League club, signs a player from The Championship, a Transfer fee has to be paid, if only £25K to support that club in development.

  2. Frank Atherton

    July 20, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    Well said Derek. I have been saying the same since Catalan,Toulouse and Toronto were allowed to join the the English Leagues.

  3. Dan

    July 21, 2022 at 5:22 am

    If English Rugby League had managed to break out of the M62 corridor in England, then he’d have a point. But frankly the failure to get any real traction in the South – particularly in a massive city like London – means the game is exposed right now due to its reliance on declining deindustrialising towns. Therefore, the potential TV revenue from a new market like France can’t be ignored. If France get big enough to justify their own competition, that is brilliant, but it’s useful for the SL to help foster that.

  4. Philip Halstead

    July 21, 2022 at 8:04 am

    Regarding IMG, I am regrettably old enough to remember the Cane Report which the RL commissioned in the 1960s. Costing a fortune it was heralded as the start of Brave New World. Cane told the RL exactly what they didn’t want to hear. That the management was dictatorial, short-sighted and inept. The RL responded by blaming everybody but themselves and made the BBC and Eddie Waring in particular as the reason for the game’s ills. Once the dust settled it was all swept under the carpet and nothing much ever happened. I suspect this will happen to IMG! Too many vested interests among the big clubs who really control the game.

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