England cricket chiefs refusing to let counties blow Hundred cash on wages
The England and Wales Cricket Board is at loggerheads with a number of counties who are growing increasingly frustrated at delays in accessing the proceeds from the £520m sale of stakes in the eight Hundred franchises last year.
While the ECB have already distributed tens of millions of pounds from the sale to counties with historic debts to pay off, most notably Yorkshire and Lancashire, the majority of the money is still being held in an escrow account by the governing body.
Under terms imposed by the ECB, the counties without debt must present a business case for a specific project, such as an investment proposal or infrastructure build, in order to access the Hundred funds, rather than being permitted to draw upon the money for ordinary running costs, which is creating tension.
An ECB source told City AM that there is concern at Lord’s that some counties have committed themselves to increased player and staffing costs during the winter in anticipation of receiving the money, which has not been forthcoming.
“There’s considerable anecdotal evidence of player costs rising and some counties getting rather giddy spending money they have not yet received,” they said.
“It’s been testing but we have to hold the line. We cannot allow the clubs to squander this money on player wages, and throw away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restabilise the sport.”
Tennis stars put ball back in Slams’ court
The tennis pay row has escalated further with the world’s top 10 male and female players opting to put talks with the Grand Slams on hold until tournament chiefs are ready to make formal proposals over increased pay and more say in scheduling.
The Slams had been keen to schedule another meeting following initial discussions at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, but it is understood that the players are unwilling to meet until they have a new offer to consider.
Following talks at the Australian Open in Melbourne last weekend, the players agreed to put the issue on hold until the start of the Masters season at Indian Wells in March.
The Slams’ negotiations with the leading players are taking place in parallel with their legal battle against the Professional Tennis Players Association, which has filed an antitrust claim in the New York District Court accusing the tournaments and the ATP and WTA tours of collaborating to reduce prize money and imposing a restrictive ranking system.
In a significant new filing made to the court last weekend the PTPA confirmed that it had removed the Australian Open from the claim, on the condition that Tennis Australia would cooperate in its case against the other Slams by providing confidential financial information.
Winter Olympics set for broadcasting first
TNT Sports will offer viewers the option of a multi-screen feed for the first time at an Olympics when the Winter Games at Milano-Cortina begin on 6 February.
Warner Bros Discovery has comprehensive exclusive live European rights for the Olympics and will broadcast more than 850 hours of coverage across its stable of channels, including Eurosport and streaming service Discovery+ as well as TNT, with the BBC having free-to-air rights in the UK which enables them to show live action on two channels.
The multi-screen option, as trialled by TNT in its FA Cup third-round coverage earlier this month, has also been used by Sky Sports for their 2pm Premier League Sunday kick-offs this season.
In another innovation WBD will also give viewers the option to listen to commentary in up to 20 different languages.
Nandy ducks out of NBA game early
Lisa Nandy was an interested spectator when the NBA returned to London for its first regular-season game for seven years on Sunday, but the Culture Secretary lacked the staying power of other big-name guests at the 02 Arena, who included actor Rosamund Pike and footballers Declan Rice and Virgil Van Dijk.
After watching a heckler interrupt Vanessa Williams’ rendition of the US national anthem with a shout of “leave Greenland alone”, Nandy left her seat following the first quarter and did not appear to return.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is also understood to have left the game early, which may have been just as well, as there were boos when he was pictured on the big screen in the fourth quarter, by which point he had already departed.
Kahn has been a big supporter of basketball in London, announcing £2m of funding from the Mayor’s office for grassroots and coaching development in the capital last weekend, and has already backed plans for a London team to join the proposed new NBA Europe.
Clubs eyed selling each other PSR headroom
An intriguing idea discussed at some clubs, but doomed by the Premier League decision to replace Profitability and Sustainability Rules with new financial regulations next season, is the notion of clubs selling so-called PSR headroom to their rivals.
While many clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester City and Brighton have always easily complied with PSR regulations, others like Newcastle and Aston Villa have struggled to avoid a breach, a situation which led to some theoretical discussions about whether those clubs in a strong financial position should be able to trade on their advantage.
In effect, such a scenario would work as a form of luxury tax, with overspending clubs buying the right from their rivals to continue investing in players. But with PSR having been on the way out for several years and now set to be replaced, discussions never progressed beyond the abstract.