Ed Warner: Rugby, boxing, netball, Para sport – what should Saudi Arabia buy next? June 22, 2023 Challenge accepted! A reader last week asked what the most investable sports worldwide are from the perspective of a sovereign wealth fund such as Saudi Arabia’s PIF. He had rugby union in mind, but wanted a long train journey to dredge up others. A return trip on Avanti West Coast to the first Ashes Test [...]
‘The WPL is out ahead but The Hundred can be next best thing in women’s cricket’ June 21, 2023 The Hundred may be approaching its third season this summer but it has been blown off course by the hurricane that is the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The WPL is the women’s equivalent to the Indian Premier League (IPL), cricket’s biggest global franchise product, and it has revolutionised the landscape of the women’s game. Players [...]
Ashes: Fifth day of first Test breaks broadcasting records for Sky Sports June 21, 2023 The final day of the pulsating first Ashes Test match between England and Australia broke broadcasting records for Sky Sports. A peak audience of 2.12m watched as Australia batted out the day and chased down 98 runs in the final session to take a 1-0 series lead. That’s the highest ever recorded peak audience figure [...]
Chelsea begin clear-out and raise almost £100m by selling Havertz and Kovacic June 21, 2023 Chelsea have begun a major squad clear-out and raised almost £100m by agreeing deals to sell Kai Havertz to Arsenal and Mateo Kovacic to Manchester City. Germany forward Havertz, who scored 32 goals in 139 goals during three seasons at Chelsea, is set to move across London to Arsenal for an initial fee of £60m, [...]
Q&A: Why Premier League gave Chelsea’s Paramount Plus sponsorship the red card June 20, 2023 Chelsea’s hunt for a new main shirt sponsor hit the news this week when it emerged that the Premier League had refused to sanction a potential deal with Paramount Plus. Here’s why the agreement was not allowed, why this situation isn’t unique to Chelsea or the top division of English football, and what it means [...]
What the TV rights fight means for the Fifa Women’s World Cup June 20, 2023 With just five weeks before the Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand, Fifa has finally reached a deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to air all 64 matches in Britain, Spain, France and Germany – ending the threat of a blackout in Europe’s top football nations. While ITV and BBC [...]
Roger Varian interview: ‘Will I enjoy Royal Ascot? Ask me at the end of the week’ June 19, 2023 Leading trainer Roger Varian on the importance of success at Royal Ascot this week, his ambitions to run Britain’s No1 stable and the future of the horse racing industry. Six days a week at 4:30am, just as the first sunlight is starting to bathe the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border, horse racing trainer Roger Varian gets up and [...]
Bournemouth hire Andoni Iraola as head coach after sacking Gary O’Neil June 19, 2023 Bournemouth have moved quickly to appoint Spaniard Andoni Iraola as their new head coach after ruthlessly sacking Gary O’Neil. Iraola, who rejected a move to Leeds United last season, joins after a three-year spell at Rayo Vallecano, who he led back into LaLiga and to an 11th-placed finish last term. The 40-year-old becomes the fifth [...]
European football chief Ceferin plays down fears of talent drain to Saudi Pro League June 19, 2023 Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin insists he is not worried about the Saudi Pro League’s ambitious transfer policy stripping European football of its top stars. Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Neves have already followed Cristian Ronaldo in moving to Saudi, where a major investment programme from the Public Investment Fund is also reported to be [...]
‘Tennis is asleep at the wheel. It needs a wake-up call’ – Dietloff von Arnim interview June 18, 2023 Dietloff von Arnim on why the International Tennis Federation needs change, the Davis Cup ‘failure’, and running for president. With Novak Djokovic still in record-breaking shape, Iga Swiatek underlining her status as one the sport’s new stars and focus turning to the pristine lawns of Wimbledon, it would be easy to assume that all is [...]