Will Formula 1 need to refund sponsors for cancelled Middle East races? August 2, 2026 Anna Sowerby dissects what happens with sponsorship agreements when events, such as Formula 1 Grands Prix, are cancelled As we enjoy yet another blockbuster summer of sport, the current global landscape is a stark reminder of just how quickly situations can change and put events at risk of being cancelled. The obvious example being the [...]
Fifa won’t fix itself – scrap it now and set up a World FA, led by Uefa and South America July 31, 2026 Football’s world governing body Fifa is beyond reform; a better idea is to abolish it and replace it with a new organisation, argues ethics expert Thomas Beschorner. The games are over, but the aftertaste remains. As wonderful as the matches on the pitch were, Fifa, as organiser of this summer’s World Cup, has once again [...]
Padel chief: A sport which succeeds in London gets noticed around the world July 31, 2026 Ahead of the London Premier Padel P1 in August Luigi Carraro makes the case for the capital and why sport loves the city. What I have always loved about London is that it knows a sport worth watching when it sees one. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was no better example of that [...]
Fifa want to sell the family silver but should World Rugby do the same? July 31, 2026 Selling stakes in commercial entities is like selling the family silver. So should World Rugby copy Fifa? Selling stakes in commercial entities – much like Fifa announced it wanted to do with the World Cup – is like selling the family silver. Global tournaments are pillars of sports with revenues and reach that soar during [...]
Uefa blocks Fifa’s World Cup sell-off if it stands up to Infantino again July 30, 2026 If Gianni Infantino’s plan to carve out the commercial rights to Fifa events including the World Cup is to be nipped in the bud, the rearguard action will – as it has in the recent past with similar power grabs – likely have to be led by Uefa. Here’s why. Uefa has repeatedly shown itself [...]
Cristiano Ronaldo on Mars: Where will sport take us in the next five years? July 30, 2026 Tech disruption, athlete power and new formats: sport has changed dramatically since Ed Warner started writing weekly about the industry in 2021. This column – based on my weekly newsletter, Sport Inc. – has just reached its fifth anniversary. The book of the same name is three years older. In this short span of time, [...]
Inside the untapped commercial potential of the Tour de France July 26, 2026 The Tour de France is the most attended annual sporting event with over 12m people attending roadside every year for the historic three-week race. Its UK audience is growing too, with the 2026 broadcast attaining 41 per cent more viewers than the previous year. Despite that scale, many brands still underestimate the breadth of commercial [...]
Sport documentaries muddle grey area of storytelling vs reality July 23, 2026 As every sport seemingly gets its own documentary, Matt Readman assesses whether they’re meddling with reality. There is a famous rule in nature documentary filmmaking: observe, but never intervene. The moment the camera changes the behaviour of its subject, it stops documenting reality and starts creating it. Earlier this month the International Cricket Council investigated [...]
Commonwealth Games must prove crises are thing of past July 23, 2026 There is no evidence of Commonwealth Games fever in downtown St Peter Port. Guernsey, an island of 65,000 people, is sending 22 athletes to Glasgow 2026, down from 38 to Birmingham 2022. Colleagues on the island report far less public interest than four years ago. There you have these slimmed-down Games which start today in [...]
A photography expert’s guide to the best images from the World Cup July 21, 2026 After a thrilling World Cup, City AM Picture Editor Andy Blackmore ranks his favourite images from the tournament. Aside from war, about the only other human experience that spans such a wide range of emotions is sport. Of all the sports, perhaps football is the most emotive, and photographers at the World Cup hold the [...]