Week in Sportbiz: Succession at Matchroom; PGA Tour’s $40m fame fund; taking knee banned at Tokyo 2020; India warms to The Hundred; NFL’s paint job April 23, 2021 It’s been a busy week for shifts in power at the top of sports organisations, splitting with old partners and signing megabucks new deals. Away from European football’s attempt to eat itself, Matchroom announced that founder Barry Hearn would be stepping down after 40 years at the helm. Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn is succeeding [...]
Captain Tom 100 to raise money on hero’s birthday – how to join April 23, 2021 City A.M. is proud to support the Captain Tom 100, a challenge to raise funds for charities over Captain Sir Tom Moore’s birthday weekend starting next Friday. The event, which will run until Bank Holiday Monday 3 May, will celebrate the remarkable achievements of Captain Tom, who walked 100 laps of his garden raising £38.9m [...]
A significant skirmish in an intensifying war: How player power helped bring the European Super League to its knees April 23, 2021 James Milner seemed to speak for many Premier League players and managers when he said on Monday: “I don’t like it and hopefully it doesn’t happen.” The Liverpool midfielder was referring to the European Super League, the audacious and ultimately short-lived breakaway launched by 12 of Europe’s richest football clubs just hours earlier – including [...]
Jose Mourinho: Would sacked Tottenham boss be entitled to unfair dismissal? April 22, 2021 As Gary Lineker pointed out this week, it has been a good time to hide bad news in football, with the announcement of the European Super League and the fallout which followed. And so, Jose Mourinho’s departure as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur has largely fallen under the radar. Mourinho would fail to meet the [...]
The Oscars 2021: Our predictions for the big winners April 22, 2021 Hollywood’s big, back slapping Oscar party arrives on Sunday, but as with other awards ceremonies, the film industry will have to congratulate itself from a distance. It will be a different kind of awards, with a rumoured additional venue in London, but the same amount of anticipation regarding who will take home a gold statuette. [...]
European Super League criticised for ‘unilaterally deciding future of women’s football’ without consultation April 22, 2021 Campaign group Women in Football has criticised the lack of consultation with the women’s game over the short-lived European Super League breakaway. Plans for the European Super League, the biggest shake-up in club football in living memory, stated that a corresponding women’s competition would follow but did not go into further details. The project unravelled [...]
Chick Fight review – lame comedy is far from a knockout April 22, 2021 In the absence of expensive promotion and cinema foyers, some films rely on a snappy title to stand out in streaming queues. Chick Fight might catch the eye for the wrong reasons, but a film will try anything to keep you from scrolling past. Sadly, most who see this film will wish they had. Malin [...]
Black Bear review – a meta tale of twists and turns April 22, 2021 Recently, we’ve been treated to big budget studio fare in the on-demand space, as Godzilla fought Kong, Eddie Murphy’s prince returned to America, and Zack Snyder re-assembled his Justice League. However, with cinema re-openings just a few weeks away, the larger blockbusters are holding off and, for the moment at least, the VOD space has [...]
Premiership Rugby chief executive Darren Childs to quit and become advisor to shareholder CVC Capital Partners April 21, 2021 Premiership Rugby chief executive Darren Childs is to step down and become an advisor to CVC Capital Partners, which owns a minority stake in England’s top division. Childs, who only took up the role two years ago, will leave in the next few weeks, Premiership Rugby said. Predecessor Mark McCafferty also went on to advise [...]
Arsenal and Liverpool say sorry for plotting European Super League but clubs’ defence of motivations shows wildly unpopular project is far from dead April 21, 2021 The English clubs among the “dirty dozen” behind plans for a European Super League have begun attempts to repair the damage caused by the failed breakaway. But while Arsenal and Liverpool apologised to supporters, they and the other English clubs to pull out – Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – stopped short [...]