Eddie Hearn is the Chairman of Matchroom Sport and the Professional Darts Corporation. Through promoting some of the biggest names in sport, Eddie Hearn has earned himself a net worth of £45 million as Matchroom Sport is worth an estimated £1 billion. The compamy makes £280.7 million in annual revenue through pay-per-view events, ticket sales and sponsorships.
Background
Hearn was born on June 8, 1979 into an affluent family in Essex, England. He’s the son of Barry Hearn, Matchroom Sport founder and former boxing promoter. His father is worth a reported £82 million.
Young Eddie attended Brentwood School, a private boarding school. Here he played sports like cricket and football but had poor grades. His father enticed him to study by offering him £1,000 if he received a C or above in his A-level studies.
Promotional Career
Once he finished school, he began his career working for a sports management firm that represented golfers. He later joined Matchroom, promoting online poker events.
At a poker game, he befriended Audley Harrison and helped him rebuild his career, resulting in Harrison fighting for the WBA heavyweight belt against David Haye.
The fight was a disaster for Audley but Hearn did an outstanding job promoting the event, and pay-per-view sales were substantial. This marked the beginning of Hearn’s Matchroom boxing ventures.
Matchroom Sport
Eddie Hearn’s entry into boxing took the British market by storm. And is undoubtedly the top boxing promoter in the UK and among the top five in the world.
In 2015, Hearn inked an exclusive television boxing deal with Sky Sports, showing up to 20 shows per year. Sky served as a huge platform to promote his boxers and Hearn signed up the best talent in the UK. The agreement lasted until 2021, when he signed a five-year deal with DAZN worth £100 million as reported by the Independent.co.uk.
With DAZN’s funding, Eddie broke into the American market and has secured big paydays in Saudi Arabia. Eddie has promoted the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, Usyk and Golovkin. According to Quora, Matchroom takes a 15% to 20% cut of the revenue generated by fighters such as Joshua.
He was also behind the KSI vs. Logan Paul bout, before the boxing influencer trend became popular. Matchroom Sport is worth £1 billion according to sportbusiness.com. RTE.ie reported that Matchroom makes an estimated £280.7 million in annual revenue with a net profit of £42.98 million.
Recent Promotions and Signings
Hearn continues to promote high-profile boxing matches. Notably, he co-promoted the Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which featured an £18 million purse split between the fighters.
Additionally, Hearn has signed promising talents like 18-year-old heavyweight Leo Atang, who is considered a future star in the division. He has also collaborated with other major boxing promoters, such as Frank Warren, to co-promote events, indicating a shift towards more unified efforts in boxing promotions .
Social Media Fame
Hearn is a famous personality on social media and has 1.1 million followers on Twitter. Hearn’s lively banter has resulted in someone creating an account called “NoContextHearn” which has broken into the mainstream media.
Personal Life
The acclaimed promoter is married to Chloe, and the couple have two daughters. Eddie owns multiple properties, but his house in LA stands out the most. Hearn revealed he was an amateur boxer but hung up the gloves to focus on the business side of the sport. Currently, he drives around in a Rolls-Royce Wraith and Range Rover.
