Week in Sportbiz: Formula 1 takes the pain; Budweiser buys NBA rights; watch every PGA Tour shot; World Rugby’s bad timing; squash, the great survivor March 4, 2021 “Our goal was to try and take the pain in 2020,” Greg Maffei, president of Formula 1 owners Liberty Media, told investors this week. Maffei can consider that mission accomplished after Liberty laid bare the devastating effect of the pandemic on F1’s finances last year. F1 slipped from a $17m profit in 2019 to a [...]
Barcelona and Real Madrid handed multi-million tax bills as European Court of Justice issues ‘definitive’ verdict in state aid case March 4, 2021 Barcelona and Real Madrid must pay millions of Euros in extra tax after the European Court of Justice found they benefited from state aid. The verdict from the European Union’s top court settles a long-running legal battle involving four of Spain’s leading football clubs. Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna are the other teams facing bills for [...]
The Dissident examines Saudi murder of Jamal Khashoggi March 4, 2021 On 2 October 2018, Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by agents of the Saudi Arabian government at their consulate in Istanbul. The assassination sent shockwaves around the world, as it came to discover the unthinkable act of a government brazenly killing a writer known for his criticisms of them. What this meant for [...]
Should you pay-per-view £20 for Raya and The Last Dragon? March 4, 2021 The pandemic has forced movie studios to think differently. Paramount sold many films in its 2020 slate to streaming services, while Warner Bros threw everything on to HBO Max. Disney has been more cautious, preserving its mega blockbusters for the big screen while also testing the waters with a pay per view offering of Mulan, [...]
Cazoo, Dettol and Tik Tok: How the pandemic has changed the sport sponsorship landscape March 3, 2021 The pandemic may have halted the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but in the world of sport sponsorship it has sparked some dramatic moves. New entrants are making major investments while more established sponsors have moved aside to make way. A combination of enforced changes of habit and the uneven nature of Covid-19’s [...]
Cricket, horse racing, tennis and women’s football set to benefit from £300m summer sport aid package March 3, 2021 Sport is to receive a £300m recovery package as part of the Budget announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak today. Cricket, horse racing, tennis, women’s football and rugby league are expected to be among the sports to benefit from the financial support. It follows similar aid granted to winter sports in November to mitigate the cost [...]
beIN Sports wins legal battle to prevent Fenerbahce manipulating the broadcaster’s logo for ‘beFAIR’ protest campaign March 2, 2021 beIN Sports has succeeded in its legal bid to stop Fenerbahce using the beIN logo for the club’s “beFAIR” campaign against the broadcaster. The network lodged an application for an emergency injunction against Fenerbahce for breach of intellectual property last week – as revealed by City A.M. On Friday Turkish courts ruled in beIN Sports’ [...]
Doing good is now part of doing business: Why every sports brand and athlete needs to help society in order to find commercial success March 2, 2021 The influence and social media reach of sports women and men is incredible – and growing. But who is using it to greatest effect, both for their own benefit and that of society? Cristiano Ronaldo has 263m followers on Instagram and Lionel Messi has over 100m on Facebook. Manchester United, widely regarded as the biggest [...]
Boris Johnson backs Britain to host Euro 2020 and 2030 World Cup March 2, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has thrown his weight behind British efforts to host Euro 2020 and the 2030 World Cup. Johnson said Britain was “certainly on for” staging more games at this summer’s delayed European Championship, if required. And the PM confirmed government support – expected to be £2.8m – for a joint bid from [...]
Sam Torrance: Megastar Collin Morikawa sharpening his game with saw grip; plus Viktor Hovland, Branden Grace and Tiger Woods March 2, 2021 I remember one of the first times I saw Collin Morikawa play, he was going head to head down the stretch with Matthew Wolff. Both were fresh out of college – this was Morikawa’s fourth start on the PGA Tour and Wolff’s third – so it was fairytale stuff. And although Wolff won the 3M [...]