Manchester United named top of the league for digital value generated by sports teams March 31, 2022 Manchester United generated the most digital value of any sports team in the world last year, according to a new report published today. The Digital Value of Fans 2022 report is based on social media performance and was created by audience platform Horizm, which works with leading teams in several sports. Despite a fourth consecutive [...]
Ed Warner: Commonwealth Games should consider dropping restrictive colonial ties March 31, 2022 This week, Ed Warner argues that the Commonwealth Games must adapt if it’s to survive, ponders English cricket’s leadership vacuum and hopes Russia remains in exile. Depending on your media outlet of choice, Wills and Kate’s Caribbean sojourn was either a triumph of charming diplomacy or another nail in the coffin of empire – as [...]
Government recruits Oliver Wyman consultants to craft new football regulator March 29, 2022 The government have drafted in top consultancy Oliver Wyman to help design a new independent body that will be charged with regulating English football. According to reports from Mark Kleinman, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has hired the New York-based firm to help build a response to Tracey Crouch’s contentious review of football’s [...]
Opinion: Crypto brands’ sporting land-grab is only just beginning March 29, 2022 As Lionel Messi and Fifa become the latest to do huge deals with cryptocurrency and blockchain-related brands, sports sponsorship expert Henry Nash of Octagon assesses the major new player in the market. I suspect I wasn’t alone in thinking the Nielsen 2022 Global Sports Marketing Report would be a story of Covid’s brutal impact on [...]
Spanish football’s LaLiga backs financial fair play shake-up as “major step forwards” March 29, 2022 Spanish football chiefs LaLiga have welcomed the proposed overhaul of European football’s financial fair play rules. New regulations set to be phased in from next year will see clubs’ spending on wages, transfers and agents’ fees capped at 70 per cent of their income but a greater tolerance for loss-making clubs. LaLiga, which represents the [...]
European football club chiefs defend controversial changes to Champions League qualification March 29, 2022 European football club chiefs have defended proposals to give more Champions League places to historically successful teams, saying they are “fair, add value and make sense”. The changes are set to take effect from 2024, when the competition’s group stage expands from 32 to a single 36-team league. Under plans approved by leading clubs, two [...]
Mystery surrounds Roman Abramovich poisoning in Kyiv but seen as ‘firm warning’ to Chelsea owner as fresh details emerge March 29, 2022 The suspected poisoning of Russian billionaire and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich was not intended to kill him and the two Ukrainian representatives, the lead Russia investigator with investigative news outlet Bellingcat has said. Christo Grozev told Times Radio the “most plausible” explanation for the alleged poisoning was that it was a warning to Abramovich. [...]
Jacksonville Jaguars returning to Wembley Stadium for three more years March 29, 2022 NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars have committed to playing a game at Wembley Stadium for the next three years. The Jags have played in London every year since 2013 except 2020, when fixtures were cancelled because of Covid-19. The Florida-based franchise switched to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year but will return to Wembley this [...]
Europe’s top football clubs back new spending cap in place of financial fair play March 28, 2022 The influential European Club Association (ECA) has backed the proposed scrapping of football’s controversial financial fair play (FFP) rules in favour of a new cost-control system based on a soft spending cap. Uefa’s planned shake-up is the biggest change to the financial regulation of European club competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League [...]
Chelsea’s bankers tell bidders to commit £1bn for club’s future March 26, 2022 Chelsea FC’s bankers have told those left in the race to acquire the team to commit at least £1bn to finance the club’s future. Former British Airways and Liverpool FC chairman Sir Martin Broughton as well as former Olympian Lord Coe feature among those making a play for the team. The bidders are expected to [...]