Ed Warner: My memo to sport’s blazers? Stay out of the way March 6, 2025 Sport governing bodies should focus on organisational framework but professional activity can largely be left to the free market, argues Ed Warner. Who doesn’t love a badge, especially if having the right to flaunt it conveys status? Witness the urge to wear replica kit, even though the status this gives is simply identification as a [...]
MPs slam TNT Sports cycling subscription fee hike March 5, 2025 MPs have slammed TNT Sports over its plan to move the Tour de France behind a paywall that is more than four times the former subscription fee. Cycling has long been on Eurosport but as of last week the broadcaster ceased to exist in the UK and its assets were transferred over to TNT Sports, [...]
Fifa asks Coldplay to curate first ever World Cup final half-time show March 5, 2025 Fifa is introducing a half-time show for the 2026 World Cup final and has asked Coldplay singer Chris Martin to help curate a selection of artists to perform. The half-time show is a staple of NFL’s Super Bowl and, with the next World Cup final set to be held in the US, Fifa is importing [...]
TNT Sports leads UK TV deal race for Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track March 5, 2025 TNT Sports is set to bid for UK TV rights for Michael Johnson’s new Grand Slam Track league, which begins in Kingston, Jamaica next month. The four-time Olympic champion has signed 48 international athletes, including Team GB Olympic silver medalists Josh Kerr and Matthew Hudson-Smith, and sprinter Daryll Neita, for the inaugural season of Grand [...]
WNBA: Serena Williams joins ownership group of basketball franchise March 4, 2025 Tennis superstar Serena Williams has joined the ownership group for a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) expansion franchise. Toronto Tempo have welcomed the 43-year-old into their group alongside Larry Tanenbaum, who is the chairman of controllers Kilmer Sports Ventures and owns the likes of AS Saint-Étienne of Ligue 1. The WNBA has 13 teams but [...]
LaLiga launches UK free-to-air rights tender as ITV deal comes to end March 4, 2025 Spanish football’s LaLiga has launched a media rights tender for free-to-air coverage of games in the United Kingdom. Two packages are on offer to British and Irish broadcasters: the first for exclusive access to all LaLiga matches, and the second for free-to-air matches scheduled for 8pm on Sunday evenings. ITV Sport has been the host [...]
Aston Martin dealt blow after Ferrari F1 team wins key court battle March 4, 2025 Aston Martin and design guru Adrian Newey have been dealt a blow after rivals Ferrari won a case to keep a key employee on gardening leave for half of the new Formula 1 season. Former Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile left the Italian team to become the chief technical officer at Aston Martin last year, [...]
Newcastle United boost turnover by 30 per cent – but still make a loss March 4, 2025 Newcastle United’s return to the Champions League boosted turnover by almost 30 per cent last season, easing concerns over long-term compliance with the Premier League’s financial rules. The Magpies reported a loss of £11.1m but that still represented a £60m improvement on the previous year, thanks to revenue growing from £250.3m to £320.3m. Participation in [...]
Serie A looks to pip LaLiga to playing matches in the US March 4, 2025 Italy’s Serie A is hoping to beat Spain’s LaLiga to become the first major European football league to stage regular-season games in the US. LaLiga has been at the forefront of efforts to tap into the burgeoning North American market, going as far as announcing a fixture between Barcelona and Girona in Miami in 2019. [...]
Meet the British volunteers trying to get the Marshall Islands into a World Cup March 4, 2025 The Marshall Islands is the last country without a national football team but a clutch of enthusiastic Britons are trying to rectify that – and get them into a Fifa World Cup campaign. Exeter may not seem an obvious nerve centre for a mission to get a tiny Micronesian nation into Fifa, but then this [...]