Six Nations permutations: What England, Ireland and France need to win the title October 29, 2020 Eight months after it kicked off back in February, the Six Nations Championship will finally conclude on Saturday evening in Paris. Ireland, England and France are all in contention for the title as the decisive final weekend approaches. And drama is assured until the end: the very last fixture is guaranteed to be pivotal, no [...]
‘Netflix of sports’ DAZN to launch in UK in December at cut-price £1.99 per month October 28, 2020 Sports streaming service DAZN has rescheduled its UK launch for December and slashed the price to £1.99 a month. DAZN has spent big on boxing rights and its first major live event for UK viewers will be British lightweight Luke Campbell’s fight with American Ryan Garcia on 5 December. The self-styled ‘Netflix of sports’ is [...]
‘Cultural relevance’ is the key to brands connecting with Generation Z sport fans October 28, 2020 ‘Cultural relevance’ is a phrase increasingly being discussed in boardrooms of brands and advertising agencies across the world. As reaching Gen Z becomes more important every year, the need to go beyond traditional marketing and connect with the values and beliefs of this audience is now vital. At Ear to the Ground, we know that [...]
Will Tao Geoghegan Hart’s Giro d’Italia win get more people in Britain cycling? October 27, 2020 Tao Geoghegan Hart’s surprise victory at the Giro d’Italia on Sunday was just the latest success story in a golden era for British cycling. Coinciding with the unprecedented Olympic medal tallies of Team GB and the Grand Tours won by Sir Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas has been a surge in people picking [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: Doesn’t take a Leap Of Faith to back Size’s contender October 27, 2020 IT’S GOOD to see the prolific winning partnership of trainer John Size and jockey Joao Moreira back in the winners’ circle on a regular basis, recently. Size, the former 11-time champion trainer, suffered a hiccup last season, finishing sixth in the championship with only 46 winners. With ten winners already this term, and Saturday’s impressive [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: Lor can reign Supreme at the Valley again October 27, 2020 TRAINER Caspar Fownes maybe heading the trainers’ championship race at present, but hot on his heels is trainer Frankie Lor, who is in the middle of a purple patch. Lor has saddled five winners and five places from just 26 runners in the last fortnight and completed a hat-trick at the Valley last week. The [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: There could be a Storm brewing October 27, 2020 PUNTERS have the bonus of an extra race when Happy Valley hosts a nine-race programme on the notorious ‘C+3’ track on Wednesday. It’s always worth highlighting the ‘C+3’ track, which is just over 21 yards in width, and has a short sharp straight over one-and-half furlongs. It’s easy to appreciate that horses with double-figure draws have [...]
Champions League trends in six charts: Goals, possession, set-pieces and most effective goalkeepers and forwards October 27, 2020 How many goals per game do you get in the Champions League? How are those goals being scored? And is it all changing? Uefa’s technical report on last season’s Champions League answers all those questions and more. It’s a goldmine of insights that reveals how football is subtly shifting at the very highest level. The [...]
It may not feel like it but the greatest year of sport is almost upon us October 26, 2020 As we fast approach the end of the year we should all allow ourselves to look forward to crawling out of the dark cloud of Covid-19 and into 2021, the greatest year of sport ever. Euro 2020, the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Twenty20 cricket World Cups, the Women’s Euros, a Ryder Cup, a Rugby League World [...]
Drop in drama comes at bad time for Premier League’s pay-per-view push October 26, 2020 Who remembers the good old days of a few weeks ago, when the Premier League was all goals and madcap scorelines? Leicester smashing five at Manchester City was soon eclipsed by Tottenham’s six-goal romp at Manchester United and then, giddily, Aston Villa putting seven past champions Liverpool. Gameweek Two had set the tone, ushering in [...]