Ed Warner: Challenge for women’s football is to create year-round interest July 14, 2022 Tournament organisers are learning to do right by women’s sport. But there’s a way to go yet. An Old Trafford sell-out for England’s opening match in the current Euros was widely and rightly applauded. Sticking Belgium and Iceland into the Academy Stadium at Manchester City’s Etihad Campus feels crass. We’ll never know how many might [...]
Open Championship: Prize money back on the rise in golf as all four majors boost payouts July 13, 2022 Top golfers are earning more than ever as the cream of the men’s game prepare to tee off at the Open Championship on Thursday. Prize money for the 150th edition of the oldest major has been raised to record levels, mirroring increases at the game’s other biggest events. Payouts on the PGA Tour are also [...]
777 Partners vice president: ‘We want BBL to be next best rival to NBA’ July 13, 2022 Investment firm 777 Partners is determined to make the British Basketball League (BBL) the second biggest domestic league in the sport, behind the NBA. Since the US company’s acquisition of 45 per cent in the BBL last year, the league has seen record crowds and will have its first team – the London Lions, who [...]
BBL ready to slam dunk its rival basketball competitions July 13, 2022 British basketball has only ever featured at the Olympics when the team has participated as the host nation and has never qualified for the Fiba World Cup. A Sport England survey estimates the number of those participating in the sport in England has dropped by 100,000 since 2016. In spite of this, however, the British [...]
Record kit sales, bumper crowds and rising TV figures as England gets Women’s Euro fever July 12, 2022 England is getting Women’s Euro 2022 fever after the Lionesses kick-started their campaign with a record-breaking 8-0 win over Norway on Tuesday night. The thrashing of the two-time European champions has raised hopes that hosts England could claim a first major title in the women’s game later this month. And patriotic football fans are throwing [...]
Competitive rugby and global calendar shouldn’t come at cost of player welfare July 12, 2022 If you were to assess the hopes of the Home Nations as they crossed the equator to play their annual summer rugby series, you’d have been forgiven for suggesting they weren’t too high. But two thirds of the way through each of the tours – Ireland in New Zealand, England in Australia, Wales in South [...]
Women’s Euro 2022 ads: Which campaigns are the best… and worst? July 11, 2022 One of the biggest propellants of any sport is when major brands begin sponsoring events, such as Women’s Euro 2022. Not only does the additional revenue help grow the game, but the extra eyeballs that a big brand campaign can bring help to cement the sport in the public consciousness. But with great publicity comes [...]
Manchester City sign up crypto app OKX as training kit partner in eight-figure deal July 11, 2022 Cryptocurrency trading app OKX is to become Manchester City’s new training kit partner in a deal understood to be worth tens of millions of pounds per season. The eight-figure agreement is initially for one season and will see OKX replace Expo 2020 Dubai on the training shirts of both the men’s and women’s team. The [...]
European Super League: Fight for future of football to play out in European Court of Justice July 10, 2022 Luxembourg may not be a football superpower but it is in the tiny state over the next two days where the future of the game, and potentially many other sports besides, will be decided. Fifteen months on from its launch and swift collapse, the European Super League is to be the subject of a hearing [...]
Eyes on Eugene as gamble on host could impact future of World Championships July 7, 2022 Next week, World Athletics will discover whether its bold gamble on the future of the World Championships might just pay off. A boutique venue in the third biggest city in the 27th largest state in the United States is a radical departure from the editions that have gone before. But it’s no coincidence that Eugene, [...]