Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin has concerns about Huddersfield Giants’ long-term sustainability as a business moving forward.
The Giants brought what was a challenging Super League season to an end last week with the club finishing 10th in the league table. Luke Robinson’s side did pick up seven wins, but a damaging run of injuries to key men contributed to the club losing 20 league games this season and falling well below expectations.
Huddersfield’s on-field fate isn’t Wilkin’s major concern, though, with the pundit pointing to what he believes is currently an unsustainable business model. Huddersfield recorded an average attendance of 4,225 this year, which represents a drop off of 6.8 per cent from 2024.
The club will remain at the Accu Stadium next year having struggled to secure a new ground for 2026, but chairman Ken Davy is determined to secure a more suitably sized home for the Giants one way or the other down the line.
Davy continues to invest heavily in the Giants, but Wilkin has his concerns about the lack of solid and reliable revenue from elsewhere.
Jon Wilkin’s Huddersfield Giants concern
“My concern is that in 130 years of history, they’ve managed to amass 3,000 fans,” Wilkin told Sky Sports when assessing the West Yorkshire club’s situation. “Even in the last 30 years if you’d have targeted 50/100 fans a year, they’d double the amount of fans they have right now.
“With 3,000 fans it’s not sustainable and my fear is that Ken Davy is getting on and he’s tipping in an awful amount of money. That’s not sustainable, we’ve seen it at Salford and that needs to change.
“I’m not concerned about Huddersfield on the pitch. I don’t think they’ve had a great year, I think they can survive, I’m just concerned about their long-term longevity as a business.”
Sam Tomkins added: “My hope for Huddersfield is that they can create some atmosphere at their home ground. Playing a game at Huddersfield is pretty soulless. It’s not a great place to go and we see some teams growing massively, I want Huddersfield to do the same.”
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