When Anthony Joshua posted an Instagram story suggesting he and Eddie Hearn should enter football not just as fans, but to help manage a player who could one day win England the World Cup, most assumed it was a throwaway comment. A dream scribbled in emojis.
They were wrong.
Behind the post lies a plan that’s been years in the making and is now rapidly accelerating. Meetings are happening. Talent is being scouted. Conversations are underway.
That there is substance is clear from a conversation with Hearn.
The sports impresario and driving force behind Matchroom Sport was clearly caught on the hop by Joshua, but he’s keen to expand on the vision.
And he ends our chat with a teasing line: ‘Let me leave you with this – Ronaldo hasn’t DM’d yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me.’
Eddie Hearn has revealed his blueprint for taking over football with Anthony Joshua
The Matchroom promoter and superstar Joshua will be starting a joint venture in football
The intent is there, but a timeline is hard to pin down. And the proposed venture seems to have come to light because Joshua is Zoom-happy and structure-obsessed while recovering from injury – which, Hearn jokes, is keeping everyone on their toes (or borderline driving them mad).
‘Normally, I’m the one with the big mouth,’ Hearn jokes. ‘I’m usually tweeting screenshots of Zoom calls, saying too much. But this time, I was keeping it quiet, just badgering away in the background. It was all AJ! He’s obviously very excited and it’s growing in momentum.
‘Right now, he’s not in camp. He’s on the phone every day – “Let’s have a Zoom, let’s talk structure”. But when he’s knackered after 12-round spars, he’s not going to be up for Zoom calls and talking about the structure of a new football agency.’
Two wealthy, high-profile sports stars indulging in a vanity play? No, Hearn and Joshua are building a high-level, all-service football agency. They are aiming for global reach, full commercial control, and entry at the very top of the game.
‘We’ve been talking about this for years and fine-tuning the plans behind the scenes over the past couple of months,’ says Hearn. ‘But, I hadn’t planned to speak about it publicly just yet. AJ’s gone and revealed the whole thing. I had no idea he was going to post about it (on Instagram) but once he did it went mental. Players, clubs, sponsors, media, everyone was coming to us.’
So what exactly are Hearn and Joshua building? Hearn stresses it is not just a football agency. It’s a ‘360-degree management business’ – one that doesn’t just do contracts and transfers, but handles sponsorships, brand deals, PR, endorsements, lifestyle, logistics, and long-term career strategy. Think ‘football agent meets player liaison officer’ – and then some.
‘It will be a 360-degree service for players,’ Hearn says. ‘From a commercial level, from a transfer level, from a concierge level, booking restaurants and sorting private jets – everything. We’re not just talking about moving you from one club to another. It’s about shaping your career and life on and off the pitch. We don’t expect to be a nine-to-five business, they can use us as they please to benefit their careers.’
It’s ambitious and disruptive. The football world is notoriously siloed. Players often have one agent for transfers, another for brand deals, a lawyer on the side and a business manager in the background. True one-stop-shop services are rare and the agencies that offer them (Wasserman, CAA Base, Roc Nation) don’t come cheap.
Hearn says they will be a powerful force ‘within the football’ sphere over the next few years
Hearn says AJ is able to get in front of footballers that others don’t know how to reach
But Hearn and Joshua think they can cut through. And their track record in other sports gives the pitch credibility. Under Matchroom’s guidance, darts went from beer halls to sold-out arenas, primetime TV and more than £19million in prize money in 2024 alone.
Snooker, too, has exploded in global reach, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, since Hearn and his father Barry began reformatting the calendar and turning it into a sponsor-friendly product.
Hearn adds: ‘This isn’t new to us. We’ve worked in athlete representation for 40 years. It’s what we do. We represent some of the biggest names in global sport, and this would be an extension of that through football.
‘We deliver comprehensive, elite commercial strategies that cover every angle. Most importantly, we provide thoughtful career guidance, something we’re renowned for, alongside elevating the player’s profile and market presence.’
When it comes to applying the Hearn model to football, the promoter and Joshua are thinking big.
‘I’m not interested in coming in, with all due respect, and representing a couple of lower league players’, Hearn says flatly. ‘I want to enter at the highest level. I want to leverage all of our contacts globally – particularly, perhaps, in the Middle East – to represent the biggest names in the sport.’
And this is about more than fanboy motives. Financially, the football agency market is substantial and growing. Global football-related player agency fees hit a record £700m in 2023, fuelled by soaring player salaries and transfer activity. Transfer fees alone reached approximately £5.67billion worldwide, reflecting the booming market.
Commercial deals and sponsorships add billions more. Top-tier agencies typically take a percentage of player earnings (between five and 10 per cent) and transfer fees, making representation of elite players highly lucrative.
Hearn with Jose Mourinho (left) and Brazilian Ronaldo at a Riyadh Season event in March 2024
Several players from the current England squad have reportedly spoken to Joshua
Hearn admits that discussions have started with scouts and potential targets in the game. He also knows that in order to conduct transfers, they’ll need licensed agents – a non-negotiable under FIFA and Premier League regulations that were reintroduced in 2022 and toughened in 2023 to curb unregulated activity in the market.
Obtaining this license isn’t easy. Candidates must pass rigorous exams that test their knowledge of transfer regulations, contract law, and ethical standards. The Premier League mirrors this strict approach, enforcing these licensing rules rigorously to ensure that clubs only engage with accredited agents, thereby protecting the integrity of the transfer process.
So, given neither Hearn nor Joshua currently hold licenses, they plan to bring in qualified intermediaries with major experience to cover that front.
‘When it comes to the intense football and transfer knowledge, we’ll bring in the right people,’ Hearn explains. ‘We’re not naive enough to think we’ll just handle that ourselves. So when this comes to fruition, it will be the real deal.
‘There have been a lot of meetings with people across the industry. Scouting as well. We’ve talked to people we want to bring in. Look, we know we came close to doing this a couple of years ago, and there were quite a few players at the time who we genuinely believe we could have signed. Players who have since gone on to become some of the highest earners in the Premier League.
‘So we’ve definitely been keeping our ear to the ground when it comes to players who might be seeking new representation or looking for something different. Because again, when we launch, we want to do so with players already on board – not launch the agency and then, a year later, people are asking, “So who have you actually signed?” So yeah, we believe we could move quite quickly when it comes to talent.’
It’s not hard to imagine players taking the call. Joshua’s reputation inside football circles is significant. A number of England internationals have spoken to him in the past about representation.
A source close to the former heavyweight champion told Mail Sport: ‘Anthony has been approached multiple times over the years on similar projects, a number of the current England team have discussed management with him in the past, but the timing has never been quite right. However, this is a project that really intrigues him and he is taking very seriously.’
Joshua has been seen chatting to Cristiano Ronaldo on multiple occasions in Saudi Arabia
Hearn and AJ have been working on the venture behind the scenes for the last couple of years
Hearn is clear on Joshua’s pulling power: ‘AJ can speak to any player he wants. One of the biggest challenges agencies face when recruiting players is simply getting in front of them. AJ can get in front of any player in the world tomorrow. In fact, players are already speaking to him.
‘He’s had discussions. They know what we do. How good Matchroom is and they know the power AJ has. AJ’s post certainly pricked up a few ears from those big names. A lot of people are interested already.
‘Ronaldo didn’t DM me, but let’s just say a few eye emojis popped up. Quite a few high-profile players sent them. They weren’t saying they were signing with us tomorrow, but they were definitely showing interest. There are conversations to be had, for sure.’
Hearn, however, made it clear that neither he nor Joshua will be calling agents or driving up and down the M1 to scout teenage full-backs. ‘Of course, I’ll be hands-on with AJ but this will work in conjunction with some powerful people who already represent top talent or have strong relationships within the sport.
‘I do have some knowledge myself – having been vice chairman at Leyton Orient for a long time, with my dad owning the club for 15 years. We dealt with agents constantly. I also work regularly with agents and managers in other sports. But yes, existing key industry leaders will be involved to make us extremely powerful and influential in the football space.’
Joshua’s energy has no doubt helped move things along but Hearn is quick to point out they’re still taking a measured approach.
‘We won’t move forward until we’re fully ready. We’re not putting a strict time frame on it, like “We are launching in September”. It could even end up being the start of 2026. The most important thing is that we feel confident we can go in and dominate. Once we reach that point, we’ll launch.
‘But, people are so focused on the launch date. There are actually lots of steps. Making your first transfer, signing your first player. The company will take time to build but that phase is already underway.
However, plans have accelerated over the last few months given AJ has been out of the ring
Hearn says progress will slow down when AJ recovers from his injury and returns to training
‘The business definitely hasn’t launched yet, but the planning, recruiting, and positioning absolutely has. So, if we are going to do it and we are comfortable doing it, we have no problem doing it this year. But, I don’t want to launch and then a year goes by and that’s when we are finally getting our teeth stuck into things.’
That timeline fits perfectly with Joshua’s career arc. With one, maybe two more big fights left, this looks like his long game. While AJ has no formal business experience, he has something arguably better: business acumen honed over a decade spent in rooms where million-pound deals are struck – learning, absorbing, and now putting that experience into practice.
Beyond the ring, he’s a seasoned entrepreneur, investing heavily in London and Hertfordshire real estate valued in the multi-millions, backing startups like Pulseroll (massage guns) and rapper Krept’s Nala’s Baby (skincare), which have raised venture capital rounds in the low millions, and even holding a stake in the Alpine Formula One team.
His luxury boxing gym, BXR, reportedly generates several million pounds annually, blending fitness and lifestyle, while his commercial partnerships with giants like Under Armour, JD Sports, Jaguar Land Rover, and Hugo Boss are estimated to bring in £3-5m a year. Add his own clothing line, AJBXNG, which is in the £1-3m sales range during its growth phase, and it’s clear Joshua is building a sporting empire far beyond boxing.
It’s still unclear whether the agency will operate under the Matchroom umbrella, Joshua’s 258 Management company, or a joint venture. But that distinction may be cosmetic. Joshua is a shareholder in Matchroom – the first non-family shareholder ever – and Hearn says they work together across multiple ventures already.
‘In terms of the look of the company, I think that’s still to be decided. Whether it sits under the Matchroom brand, under 258, or as a combination of the two. Ultimately, that’s what it will be: a joint venture between Matchroom and AJ, whether through 258 or directly through him as an individual.’
Hearn has experience in football, having been vice chairman at Leyton Orient under dad Barry (right)
Either way, the structure seems less important than the shared ambition and the sense that, whatever form this takes, it’s another chapter they’re determined to write together.
For a long time, the running joke was that once Joshua hung up his gloves, he and Hearn would finally slow down, maybe even retire together. But, there’s no chance of that happening any time soon.
‘We joke about sitting on a beach drinking cocktails,’ Hearn says. ‘But we’re suckers for it, aren’t we? What else are you going to do? You can only sit around so long. I’ve got a lot of work to do in boxing still. I’m not going anywhere. But we’re excited by this. We’re in.’
For now, the whispers have become conversations. Conversations may soon become signings. And if Hearn and Joshua follow through the way they have in every other sport they’ve touched – from boxing rings to snooker halls – football may be about to welcome a new and very serious player.
