Welsh Rugby Union enters into £55m debt refinancing agreement amid domestic turmoil January 21, 2026 The troubled Welsh Rugby Union has entered into a £55m debt refinancing agreement as the governing body eyes stadium developments amid domestic turmoil. The WRU has borrowed from Goldman Sachs and HSBC in order to pay off existing debts to NatWest and various government bodies in a refinancing package that will play out over a [...]
Did NBA in London prove to brands European basketball is viable? January 21, 2026 During one of the timeouts at the London NBA match between Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies, two fans played a game of tic-tac-toe. Only instead of noughts and crosses, the playing pieces were two basketball-themed Revolut cards. Onlookers shouldn’t have been surprised; sponsors rarely get the chance to show off to a London audience [...]
England cricket chiefs refusing to let counties blow Hundred cash on wages January 21, 2026 The England and Wales Cricket Board is at loggerheads with a number of counties who are growing increasingly frustrated at delays in accessing the proceeds from the £520m sale of stakes in the eight Hundred franchises last year. While the ECB have already distributed tens of millions of pounds from the sale to counties with [...]
Premier League boom ‘masking’ English football’s financial woes, says BDO January 21, 2026 The Premier League’s record revenues and transfer spending are masking deepening financial worries lower down the English football pyramid, according to a new report from BDO. The business advisory firm’s annual survey of finance directors at clubs in the top four divisions found that 90 per cent expected to report pre-tax trading losses for 2025. [...]
Boycott 2026 World Cup over Greenland, European countries told January 20, 2026 European countries should consider a boycott of the 2026 World Cup over US president Donald Trump’s attempts to seize Greenland, say senior football figures in Germany and France. The US is set to stage the lion’s share of this summer’s tournament, which it is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, including all knockout games from the [...]
Commonwealth Games chiefs defend move from BBC to TNT Sports January 20, 2026 Commonwealth Games chiefs have defended the multi-sport event’s move to TNT Sports, which ended a 70-year partnership with the BBC as chief broadcaster. The state broadcaster had held the rights to the coverage since the 1954 edition, then known as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, in Vancouver. But the BBC’s 18-Games run will come [...]
Manchester Basketball to rival Man City and United for NBA Europe franchise January 20, 2026 The owners of Manchester’s Super League Basketball team are in talks over a bid, backed by private equity or sovereign wealth, for the city’s planned NBA Europe franchise. President Ben Pierson told City AM that their experience in operating professional teams in Manchester and neutrality to its partisan football scene could be assets in the [...]
Australian Open’s One Point Slam shows that merit still makes the best stories January 20, 2026 The Australian Open officially got under way this week, but the most talked-about moment of the year’s opening tennis slam may already be behind us. Before a ball had been struck in the main draw, a little-known tennis coach from Sydney, Jordan Smith, walked away with A$1m after winning the One Point Slam — a [...]
NBA’s European show dazzles on and off court but new league is no slam dunk January 20, 2026 No one disputes that NBA Europe represents a big opportunity but the lack of detail around 18 months from launch is tempering excitement. The mascots for the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic descended from the O2’s ceiling, celebrities dotted the courtside seats, and the NBA reported a sell-out for its first game in London for [...]
Independent Football Regulator will use statutory powers to open club books January 20, 2026 The Independent Football Regulator says it will use statutory powers to open the books and assess the balance sheets of clubs across the English pyramid. The government quango, which has been up and running in its own right since November, has today published the proposed scope of its first in-depth analysis of men’s professional football [...]