Victory for Roman Abramovich as judge rules claim he bought Chelsea FC after order from Putin is defamatory November 24, 2021 The High Court has ruled that claims that Roman Abramovich acquired Chelsea FC on Vladimir Putin’s orders in order to gain influence in the West are defamatory. The 55-year-old billionaire is suing journalist Catherine Belton over her best-selling book Putin’s People: How The KGB Took Back Russia And Then Took On The West, which was [...]
Retired professional rugby players more likely to be depressed, anxious and irritable November 24, 2021 A new study has found that retired professional rugby players were more likely to be depressed, anxious and irritable compared to amateur players or non-contact athletes. The former top players who took part in the study had suffered more concussions on the pitch than those in the other groups, and the researchers believe this could [...]
Record £3.2bn in private equity deals for sports teams as funds target football, rugby and F1 November 22, 2021 The last twelve months saw a record £3.2bn of sports team acquisitions by private equity funds, almost treble last year’s total, as they targeted football, rugby and Formula 1 teams, according to new data shared with City A.M. this afternoon. Last year saw an all-time high of 11 PE purchases of stakes in sports teams [...]
NBC secures Premier League rights November 18, 2021 The Premier League yesterday signed a new six-year deal with NBC. The rights deal will start during the 2022/23 season and will last until 2028. Premier League chief Richard Masters said: “ We are delighted to announce our new US broadcast deal with NBC Sports, who have been brilliant partners for the Premier League.” The [...]
Premier League on rocky road with plans to regulate sponsorship deals in wake of Newcastle takeover November 18, 2021 The recent takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund created quite a storm – both in the media and, according to reports, the other Premier League clubs. Since the introduction of so-called financial fair play regulations at the start of season 2013-14 – known as the Profitability and Sustainability Rules in [...]
Ed Warner: Sewing ruling bodies together is not always the answer November 18, 2021 I’m a late adopter of LinkedIn, only joining this summer as a means of promoting Sport inc. Compiling my profile, I paused for just a second before deciding not to include my inglorious 52 days as interim chair of the British Basketball Federation back in 2018. On Sunday, as the T20 World Cup neared its [...]
Exclusive: Sportradar signs major new NBA betting data deal November 17, 2021 Sports data giant Sportradar has continued its spree of major deals by signing a new contract with the NBA until 2031, City A.M. can reveal. The agreement, announced today, will see the Swiss company provide betting data to the world-leading basketball competition on an exclusive basis. The eight-year deal extends Sportradar’s current arrangement with the [...]
Chelsea Digital Ventures: The tech business spun out of a football club November 17, 2021 Look closely next time Romelu Lukaku or Pernille Harder takes a mid-match drink and you may notice something that marks Chelsea out from other football clubs. Because instead of taking a swig from a bottle of Lucozade, or another well known sports hydration brand, players at the west London club have their own in-house product. [...]
Sam Torrance: DP World Tour Championship marks the end of an era – but also start of a new one November 15, 2021 This week’s DP World Tour Championship doesn’t just mark the end of the Race to Dubai and the European Tour season, it is also the end of an era. Following the news that the European Tour will rebrand as the DP World Tour next season – starting at the Joburg Open next week – these [...]
Premier League on the verge of £1.5bn US TV deal November 15, 2021 The Premier League is closing in on the sale of its US television rights for a record $2bn (£1.5bn).