The Jenga Effect: Why professional rugby’s collapse has already happened January 17, 2026 Professional rugby is not approaching collapse; it is recognising one that already occurred and mistaking that recognition for failure. What we are watching across leagues, unions and competitions is not chaos, bad luck or incompetence finally catching up, but the delayed visibility of a structural outcome that was locked in years ago. What feels sudden [...]
UK ready to mirror US with female athletes becoming investors January 17, 2026 For three consecutive years, not a single female athlete has appeared among the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes. The bar keeps rising. In 2025, the threshold jumped to $53.6m, up 19 per cent year on year. Coco Gauff, the highest-earning female athlete in the world, made $34.4m and still fell nearly $20m short. Meanwhile the global [...]
Why Battle of the Sexes tennis match fell short of One Point Slam January 16, 2026 Tennis recently revived the “Battle of the Sexes” concept as a way to generate attention, attract headlines and spark debate. In doing so, however, the sport risks overlooking a simple truth: women’s tennis no longer needs comparison to prove its value. Women’s tennis is a strong product in its own right, with four of the [...]
Express can give Size and McMonagle a Super day at Sha Tin January 16, 2026 TRAINER John Size is the man to follow when racing in Hong Kong gets underway on Sunday morning with an 11-race programme at Sha Tin. The 13-time champion trainer made his renowned slow start to the current campaign, with just a handful of winners in the first three months of the season, but the ball [...]
Purton to Patch up competitive handicap with Cosmo January 16, 2026 Serious-minded bettors will have spied champion jockey Zac Purton rides Manfred Man’s prolific winner PATCH OF COSMO for the first time in the Tennis 1600m Handicap (9:50am) over a mile. The Purton and Man combination have been one of the go-to partnerships this season, with an impressive 26 percent win strike-rate, and were successful last [...]
Swindon Town face expulsion for picking player who was serving seven-game ban January 16, 2026 Swindon Town face being thrown out of the EFL Trophy after the League Two club fielded two ineligible players – including one who was serving a seven-match ban. The Robins named captain Ollie Clarke in the starting line-up for Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Luton Town and brought on Aaron Drinan as a substitute at half [...]
English Investec Champions Cup winner good for franchise investment January 16, 2026 Despite Northampton Saints’ loss at the weekend to tournament favourites Bordeaux Begles, the Investec Champions Cup could see its first English winner in over five years. Phil Dowson’s team, as well as Bristol Bears and Bath Rugby, are flying high in the European competition while Harlequins and others have qualified for the next round with [...]
London role revealed for historic 2027 Tour de France Grand Departs January 15, 2026 London will play a key role when the Grand Departs of both the men’s and women’s editions of the Tour de France are held in the UK for the first time next year. The men’s Grand Depart – a short series of stages that begin the world’s most famous cycling race – will begin with [...]
SailGP: How series got on its foils, and away from Ellison’s wallet January 15, 2026 Ahead of its first season in 2019, the American billionaire Larry Ellison agreed to fund a new racing league on water called SailGP for five years. At the conclusion of its fifth season last year, when British entry Emirates GBR picked up a first title, that funding agreement came to an end. But the league [...]
Manchester United owner Ratcliffe cuts asking price in bid to offload club January 15, 2026 Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has cut his asking price for OGC Nice as he attempts to trim the French club from his shrinking Ineos sports portfolio. Ratcliffe bought the Ligue 1 outfit for €100m in 2019, two years after the side based on the French Riviera had finished third in the domestic league, [...]