Stokes and Gakpo part of £4m funding round for AI wealth firm Prosper January 30, 2025 England cricket captain Ben Stokes and Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo are part of a £4m funding round for a wealth management platform leveraging AI. The sportsmen joined Fuel Ventures, who led the round with a £2m investment, in London-based FinTech Prosper. Olympians Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Dame Sarah Storey and Tim Podcock, and footballers Ben White [...]
2026 World Cup: Visa backlog could keep teams and fans locked out of US January 30, 2025 US officials have raised concerns that visa backlogs may prevent overseas football fans and even teams from attending the men’s 2026 World Cup. Wait times for interviews for business and tourism visas exceed 330 days at 18 US embassies and consulates, the LA Times reported. With tickets for the World Cup not expected to go [...]
It’s not the 90s, TNT deal for Six Nations wouldn’t hurt rugby January 30, 2025 On the eve of this year’s men’s Six Nations bursts forth news that TNT Sports is preparing a bid for broadcast rights to the tournament from 2026. Cue mild hysteria at the possibility of rugby’s premier annual competition “disappearing” behind a TV paywall. An accelerant to the decline in mass interest in the sport or [...]
Hundred: Sale of franchise stakes could value cricket league at £700m January 29, 2025 English cricket is set for a major financial boost with the Hundred sale, which enters its final round of bidding, expected to value the eight franchises at as much as £700m. That figure is double the sum the England and Wales Cricket Board rejected from Bridgepoint for the whole tournament in 2022 and would therefore [...]
EE: Home nations agree four-year contract extension with telco January 29, 2025 The Football Association (FA) will continue with EE as its lead partner after the telco signed a four-year contract extension. The agreement covers the England men’s and women’s senior teams, the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium and the other three home nations football associations up to the 2028 Euros, which Great Britain and Ireland will co-host [...]
British basketball at war: Clubs split from federation over new league plan January 29, 2025 Civil war has broken out in British basketball after furious Super League Basketball clubs vowed to break away from the British Basketball Federation over plans to impose a new league on them. Super League Basketball (SLB) teams say they were not consulted by the British Basketball Federation (BBF) before it announced former Portland Trail Blazers [...]
Manchester set to become ‘global capital of football’, says Burnham January 29, 2025 Manchester will become “the global capital of football” following a major regeneration project centred around a new Manchester United stadium, says the city’s mayor Andy Burnham. The government and Trafford Council have pledged to support the wider revamp of the area, which is set for a transformation like that catalysed in Stratford by the London [...]
Apple eyes MLS sell-off as even Messi can’t save £2bn deal January 29, 2025 Apple TV is considering selling off some of its international rights to Major League Soccer (MLS) just two years into a 10-year deal. The streaming company is paying $250m (£200m) a year for global MLS rights in a bet that interest in the American domestic league would grow significantly on the back of Lionel Messi’s [...]
Formula 1 team owner sponsors MotoGP outfit in new deal January 28, 2025 One of the 10 Formula 1 teams set to compete in the 2025 season has agreed a sponsorship agreement with MotoGP team Pramac Racing. Alpine – whose F1 outfit boasts Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan – will be a main sponsor of the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP team. The French manufacturer – whose Formula 1 [...]
Goodbye, Hilal: Saudi Pro League ends Neymar deal which cost £37m per game January 28, 2025 It will go down as one of the most expensive failed experiments in world football, with Neymar’s move to Al-Hilal reported to have cost the Saudi Pro League side more than £250m. But after 17 months, a meagre seven games and only one goal, the Brazil international, 32, looks bound for a return to his [...]