The Week in Sportbiz: Premier League toasts beIN deal; banker set to buy Lille; breakaways boosted; Australian Open delay; and Griezmann bins Huawei December 17, 2020 Christmas cheer has arrived early at the Premier League after it agreed a new $500m deal with beIN Sports. The contract, which gives beIN exclusive broadcast rights in 24 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, is effectively a three-year extension to their deal for 2019-22. It comes as a boost to the Premier [...]
Rangers, Hummel and JD Sports probed by competition watchdog over replica kit pricing December 16, 2020 Scottish football club Rangers are being probed by the UK competition watchdog over the pricing of their replica kits. The Competition and Markets Authority is also investigating Rangers’ former kit maker Hummel and retailers JD Sports and Greaves Sports. The CMA said it’s probe centred on “suspected anti-competitive behaviour in relation to the price at [...]
What the tech happened to sport in 2020? December 16, 2020 Comparing the lack of sport with the other crises witnessed this year would be disingenuous. Still, an awful lot of people had large holes in their lives when live sport went off air in 2020. Some entities filled the gap fast, most notably motorsport, in no small part thanks to its embracing of esports. For [...]
The Best Fifa Football Awards 2020: Does Lionel Messi deserve to retain his Best Men’s Player crown? December 15, 2020 The Best Fifa Football Awards 2020 take place this week to honour the top performers of last season. Lionel Messi will be hoping to retain his Best Fifa Men’s Player title in the face of competition from his perennial rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski. So who really was the best in 2019-20? Using quantitative [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: Lor’s Runner looks sure to go well December 15, 2020 SCORES Of Fun, after two near misses at the Valley in the last month, is guaranteed to be popular with racegoers to make it third time lucky, especially with Joao Moreira aboard, in the Elgin Handicap (2.50pm) over six-furlongs. With Moreira’s arch-rival Zac Purton riding High Rise Soldier, another with a string of near misses [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: Bo Bo looks a Handsome bet December 15, 2020 DANNY Shum, fresh off a sparkling double at Sha Tin on Sunday, could be the trainer to follow at Happy Valley on Wednesday. Shum has been one of the most consistent handlers in the territory for many years, nearly always making the top six in the trainers’ championship table, and associated with the likes of [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: All Eyes on Purton again December 15, 2020 IT’S back to reality for racegoers in Hong Kong on Wednesday following Sunday’s global showpiece at Sha Tin as Happy Valley hosts a competitive eight-race programme. The good news for racing fans and bettors is champion jockey Zac Purton is back to his imperious best. The Zac-Man has found it tough going in the last [...]
Cricket stars Michael Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent given Freedom of the City of London December 15, 2020 Cricket stars Michael Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent have been awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Former West Indies fast bowler Holding, 66, and Rainford-Brent, 36, the first black woman to play for England, are being recognised for their anti-racism advocacy as well as their sporting achievements. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the pair will [...]
Sam Torrance: Incredible Lee Westwood deserves a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame December 14, 2020 The European Tour’s finale yesterday got the most exciting of conclusions and a delightful result. Both the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai went down to the wire, with the same three players — Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Patrick Reed — battling for both the tournament and order of merit titles. [...]
Rugby World Cup 2023 draw: England to face Japan and Argentina in pool stage December 14, 2020 England have been drawn to play Japan and Argentina in the pool stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. It is a relatively kind draw for Eddie Jones’s team, who were runners-up last year and were among the top seeds. Ireland and Scotland face a battle to escape from Pool B alongside holders [...]