The gap between the football brand behemoths and the rest is likely to grow February 23, 2023 The bidders for football club Manchester United are now in a virtual data room, filling their spreadsheets and compiling their questions. The job of the Glazer family’s investment banking advisors, Raine Group, is now to find ways to squeeze every possible dollar out of this football asset. One trick of the bankers’ trade is to [...]
Government publish white paper on plans for football regulator February 22, 2023 The UK government will today publish a long-awaited white paper on its plans for an independent regulator for English football. The policy document will propose the introduction of a regulator tasked with stopping financial failings from occurring lower down in the pyramid, as well as a stronger owners’ and directors’ test. Fans will be given [...]
Football regulator may help deliver long-term sustainability for beautiful game February 22, 2023 This paper of free markets and liberal economics may not, you might think, be in favour of a new regulator. But a new referee for the business side of the beautiful game is not one to be dismissed out of hand. In fact, it has plenty going for it. At first principles, the best results [...]
Premier League: ‘Regulator can’t damage success of competition’ February 22, 2023 Premier League chiefs have warned that the proposed independent regulator for English football must not damage its success. The UK government will today publish its white paper on plans to install a regulator to ensure clubs are financially sound and implement more stringent owners’ and directors’ tests to deter what the government describe as “unscrupulous” [...]
Worcester and Wasps’ future in doubt as councillors plot to seize Sixways from owners February 22, 2023 The Mayor of Worcester wants the Atlas consortium to be stripped of the Sixways stadium site, plunging the futures of Worcester Warriors and Wasps into fresh uncertainty. Worcester Warriors are set to return to Sixways next year in a controversial deal with Stourbridge RFC, while the club’s new owners say Wasps have agreed to play [...]
Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Call of Duty: The perfect storm that drove UK broadband traffic to record levels February 22, 2023 The top-of-the-table Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City pushed UK broadband traffic to record levels last week, City A.M can reveal. The eagerly anticipated fixture, which was only available to stream, helped traffic on the country’s biggest broadband network to reach a new peak of 29.1 terabits per second (Tb/s). BT and EE [...]
Why teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva could now be facing a four-year ban February 22, 2023 Teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva could face a four-year ban after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to reconsider her case. A 15-year-old Valieva helped Russia to win team gold at the Winter Olympics in Beijing a year ago, but the medals have still not been awarded as [...]
How has Ukraine’s Premier League held up after a year of war with Russia? February 22, 2023 Friday marks a year since Vladimir Putin’s Russian troops invaded the east of Ukraine, an act that would have ramifications on how so many would live their lives. And while, looking on from afar, the West can appreciate the basics of what is unfolding in the country, few understand the true impact the war has [...]
3pm blackout: Broadcasters open to talks over scrapping UK’s ban on showing live football on Saturday afternoon February 21, 2023 English football’s 3pm blackout could come under further pressure after broadcasters indicated a willingness to discuss scrapping the ban on televising live games on a Saturday afternoon. Executives in charge of TNT Sports, the new joint venture between BT Group and Warner Bros Discovery, say they will consider showing Saturday afternoon fixtures if league chiefs [...]
BT Sport to become TNT Sports: Here’s what it means for price, programming and existing customers February 21, 2023 BT Sport is to be rebranded as TNT Sports in the first major development of the joint venture between BT Group and Warner Bros Discovery. Under the rebrand, which will take place in July, programming will stay largely the same, with TNT Sports remaining centred around live Premier League and Champions League football, domestic and [...]