Rochdale Hornets IMG grading confirmed

Below, supporters can see an explanation of how Rochdale Hornets scored in IMG’s 2024 club grading process, as part of the ‘Reimagining Rugby League’ strategy.

The Hornets achieved an overall score of 6.47, placing us 29th in IMG's official club grading table.

Fandom – we scored 2.25pts out of a possible 5 points

Our average attendance per league match over the last three years is 630. This results in 0.75pts from a possible 2.5pts.

To get 1.5pts, this figure needs to rise to 1,500, and for 2pts the threshold is 3,000. Our plan must be to try to get to 1,500 for an extra 0.75pts.

Our digital followers gave us 0.05pts from a possible 0.2pts.

In order to achieve 0.05pts, we had a social following above 10,000 across Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube. Above 50,000 followers would get 0.1pts, and above 100,000 would get 0.15pts. Our plan is the continue to grow our channels and hopefully get to 50,000 for an extra 0.05pts

Our social following engagement (comments, likes, shares etc) of over 700,000 gave us 0.4pts from a possible 0.8pts. In order to achieve 0.6pts, we would need to get to 2,500,000, and 0.8pts would need over 5,000,000. Our aim would be to yet again continue to grow our channels, but we are some way off the 2.5 million for an extra 0.2pts.

For website visits, we were awarded 0.5pts from a possible 0.5pts with over 60,000 unique visits. This criteria point we are very strong on, and we are way above the threshold. We need to maintain this website traffic.

For TV viewership, we scored 0.75pts from a possible 1.5pts.

If you had an average viewership above 150,000 you gained 1.5pts, and less than that number resulted in 0.75pts. With our league games not being streamed, it is impossible for the club to put a plan in place to improve this score.

Performance – we scored 0.4571pts out of a possible 5 points from a three-year average

Clubs are ranked from 1-35. Our ranking with positions of 30th (2024), 33rd (2023) and 29th (2022) gave us a ranking between 30th and 32nd overall, and therefore 0.4571pts.

Our aim must be to be a top-four League One club this year, and in the long-term establish our status in the Championship, consistently. 

The scores issued are over a period of three-years, therefore a position of second or higher in League One will be our only chance of improving this score next year. This would give us around an extra 0.12pts for every position higher we finish on our three-year average.

There is also a bonus of 0.1pts for winning League One and 0.1 for winning the 1895 Cup.

Finance – we scored 1.5pts out of a possible 4.5 points from a three-year average

We scored 0pts from a possible 2.25pts for having an average three-year non-centralised turnover below £500,000 (that is turnover discounting the monies given by the RFL from the TV deals).

If turnover increased to £1.25m, the points would increase to 1.5pts and above £2.5million to 2.25pts.

We need to increase attendances to generate more revenue to improve this score and reach the £500,000 average, to then increase our score by 1pt.

For non-centralised turnover as a % of total turnover, we scored the maximum 0.75pts, with a score above 70%. We should be able to continue this high % with all of our varied income streams.

For adjusted profit, which is profit with any investment in facilities or youth development added back, we scored the maximum 0.5pts for being profitable.

This could possibly go down to 0.25pts in future years, as we have endured a tougher year in 2022 and also the director loan write-off in 2021 will no longer be factored into the three-year average next year. 

For owner investment, we scored 0pts from a possible 0.5pts. 

This is due to the way significant funds and investment from our chairman and other shareholders is made into the club which is non refundable and not classified as loan or owner investment under IMG terms. However supporters should be aware that in excess of 100k per annum is currently being invested into the club by our owners.

For balance sheet strength, we scored 0.25pts from a possible 0.5pts for having net assets greater than £1.

In order to improve this score, the balance sheet strength needs to be greater than £100,000.

Stadium – we scored 0.57pts out of a possible 3 points

We scored 0.5pts for our stadium, with 1.5pts available for being Super League standard.

In 2024, new criteria has come into place for the stadium pillar, which wasn’t in place for the 2023 Gradings. We far exceed nine of the 10 criteria points for the stadium, with only a 15m Gantry being our rejected point for this criteria. We have listed the criteria points below for full transparency.

• Capacity – 5,000 Required – 9,547 Achieved - PASS
• Seats – 2,000 Required – 8,061 Achieved - PASS
• Corporate lounges – 200 Required – 616 Achieved - PASS
• Directors box – 40 seats Required – 52 Achieved - PASS
• Broadcasting area – 2,500m2 Required – 4,947m2 Achieved - PASS
• Studio space – 16m2 Required – 42m2 Achieved - PASS
• Media facilities – 50 seats total Required – 64 Achieved - PASS
• Photographer facilities – PASS
• TV gantry – 15m x 2m Required – 7.2m x 2m – FAIL

As a club, we believe we have an outstanding stadium that compliments rugby league and is fit for Super League standard. However, the criteria of not having a 15m gantry loses us one full point.

Utilisation of stadium is the average attendance over three years divided by capacity. With our capacity around 10,000, our utilisation is 5.659%, giving 0.0659pts.

If we can get our average crowds to 1,500, then this would rise to around 0.16pts - an extra 0.1pts.

We scored 0pts for not having primacy of tenure (not owning our ground and unable to dictate when fixtures are played).

We scored 0pts from 0.125pts for not having digital perimeter advertising.

We scored 0pts from 0.125pts for not having a suitable big screen. We did score full points on this in 2023, however this has now been deemed under criteria and has now scored 0pts.

Community – we scored 1.5pts out of a possible 2.5 points

We scored 1pt from 1.5pts for having a catchment between 130,000 and 260,000 divided by number of teams in the area.

This was calculated using the 2021 population census for our local authority area.

To get to 1.5pts, we need a population above 260,000 within the Rochdale Borough, which is a factor out of our control.

We scored 0.5pts from a possible 1pt for the turnover of our foundation, averaging above £50k for the last three years. This rises to 0.75pts for £250k turnover and 1pt for £1 million turnover.

We have a decent chance of expanding our community provision as long as we continue to receive the backing of grant providers and sponsors to take us to £250k turnover and another 0.25pts.

In addition to the points on offer there are minimum standards:

• Grade A and B clubs must have a talent pathway which includes a women’s team. Non-achievement results in a 0.25 deduction in year 1, 0.5pts in year 2 and a full grade deduction for subsequent years
• Grade A and B clubs must have a foundation registered with the charity commission and a Community Rugby League Development Plan. Non-achievement results in a 0.25 deduction in year 1, 0.5pts in year 2 and a full grade deduction for subsequent years.
• Breaches of Operational Rules, Breaches of other regulations and Insolvency all also result in deductions.
• Grade A and B clubs must submit an Equality, Inclusivity and Diversity action plan. Non-achievement results in a 0.25 deduction in year 1, 0.5pts in year 2 and a full grade deduction for subsequent years.
• Grade A and B clubs must not have 3 anti-doping violations in one year or face a 0.25pts deduction.
• Grade A and B clubs must have an Environmental Sustainability audit and action plan. Non-achievement results in a 0.25 deduction in year 1, 0.5pts in year 2 and a full grade deduction for subsequent years.

Overall comments

General manager Matt Rigby would like to provide the following summary and statement on the IMG Gradings for 2024:

We appreciate there is a drop in the score and rank in 2024. However, we cannot let that overshadow the enormous improvement in and around the club and town, for what has been a very successful season.

If we analyse the data and scoring in depth, we know that all of the controllable elements we have either maintained or improved. With increased scores for Fandom, Finance & Performance, we have achieved an extra 0.5671pts in 2024.

However, the uncontrollable element of the stadium, has lost us 1.1241pts, due to the criteria change under IMG. 

We know that under the 2023 Criteria, we would have scored 7.60pts and been Grade B this year, so it is disappointing that the amount of hard work and efforts from all involved with the club has been punished by the goalposts being moved. 

The Crown Oil Arena is unlikely to meet minimum standards due to not having a gantry of 15 metres. Despite the stadium hosting six different broadcast companies in recent years including the National League, FA Cup, EFL League One & Rugby League World Cup, it is deemed not suitable for rugby league.

Myself and Andy Mazey worked together to submit a comprehensive document explaining the capability of our stadium, working in partnership with Rochdale AFC. However, due to the gantry size, this has been ineffective.

Despite us remaining upbeat on the situation and proud of our achievements, there is still much more work to be done. 

The number one priority for the club now must be to grow the attendances. If we want to be rising to an official B Grade and be in Championship, we all need to pull together and help to get the attendances up. 

We need to be striving for 1,500 average attendance over a regular three-year period. We know this won’t happen over night, but we must make active change to ensure the club doesn’t stagnate.

If we review the scoring above, then there is probably an extra 0.9pts that we could achieve just with the increased attendance. 

With extra attendances, we can continue to financially back the squad and achieve Championship status. With a consistent three-year presence in the Championship, we would score a minimum of 1.6pts on performance.

The first piece of this is to go and get your season tickets for next season.

We need each and every rugby league or sports fan in Rochdale to be getting behind the club to make a difference. 

If supporters can do more, we actively encourage it – if you’re a regular season ticket holder, why not upgrade to Platinum? If you follow the team regularly, why not sponsor a player? If you’re a local business that wants to get involved, we have plenty of opportunities for all budgets.

The board of directors want our club to be something that our fans and sponsors can be proud of. 

Sometimes we will do promotions and cheaper tickets to ultimately get more supporters into the ground. This is to help with the growth of our community game, the growth of our club and our town.

We want to be a club that plays in front of thousands of people with all supporters and sponsors having a sense of belonging and pride that they are able to play their part in having such a vital and iconic club in our local area of Rochdale.

We want to thank every supporter and sponsor who is invested in the club, and hopefully we can put plans in place to continue our upward trajectory.

Join the Buzz in 2025 – season tickets are on sale now!