Cover story: How the Premier League ‘wrapped’ every stadium and hid the empty seats November 20, 2020 Football fans will by now be familiar with Premier League “stadium wraps” or “seat kills”, even if they don’t recognise the terminology. The vast seat coverings, typically emblazoned with club colours and slogans, have provided a backdrop to the action since English football returned to empty grounds in June. But who makes these displays and [...]
The City A.M. Punter Podcast EP:27 Haydock, Ascot & Hong Kong November 20, 2020 Olly Murphy talks to us about his chances of landing a winner or two this weekend. He has runners at both Haydock and Ascot. Racing editor Bill Esdaile looks at the best of the weekend jumps action, and Wally Pyrah talks us through Sunday’s big Hong Kong race meeting. Hosted by Chris Barnett The City [...]
The Mandalorian season 2 episode 4 review: S2E4 feels like classic Star Wars November 20, 2020 *** SPOILERS AHEAD: If you haven’t watched the most recent episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2, look away now*** In last week’s chapter, The Heiress, we were introduced to new characters who are likely to play a big role in this season at some point. This week, we go back to a relatively self-contained adventure, [...]
MPs threaten football regulation as they urge bosses to end funding ‘fiasco’ November 20, 2020 MPs have called on the bosses of England’s top football leagues to end the “fiasco” over emergency funding, warning they could introduce new regulation if the game failed to reform itself. The Premier League has been locked in fraught negotiations over a bailout deal for clubs in the English Football League (EFL), which have seen [...]
The Big Rebuild: Why sport must recognise importance of PR before it’s too late November 20, 2020 Covid-19 has ripped the sports industry to shreds, leaving a trail of bare-bones teams who are overworked and stretched. During a second lockdown it might seem hasty to think about rebuilding and planning for the coming months. But we know that one day sport’s fan ban will be lifted. Once it does, it will happen [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: Cricket meets hip-hop; Germany exports VAR; and the ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’ goes global November 19, 2020 Cricket and hip-hop aren’t obvious bedfellows but they cosied up this week when South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi joined Jay-Z’s talent stable Roc Nation. Ngidi, South Africa’s player of the year in one-day and T20 internationals, is the first cricketer to sign with Roc Nation Sports. Roc Nation has snapped up mostly American athletes, [...]
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula review – a zombie sequel with more bark than bite November 19, 2020 Train To Busan broke records around the world while bringing something new to the zombie craze. Four years later, the inevitable sequel arrives with grimly ironic timing for a world where infection rates and quarantine are now the norm. The reason for the ‘presents’ in the title is that it’s a sequel with little relation [...]
English sports clubs granted £300m emergency funding package November 19, 2020 The government has announced a £300m emergency funding package to help sports clubs in England survive ongoing coronavirus restrictions during the winter. Rugby League and Rugby Union, horse racing and the lower tiers of National League football are among the beneficiaries of the support. The funding, which is largely made up of loans, comes as [...]
Why Francis Warren is taking the family Queensberry empire to Poland November 18, 2020 Boxing promoter Francis Warren is hoping to expand his family’s Queensberry empire by mining an untapped Polish fight scene. The son of hall-of-fame promoter Frank Warren has launched Queensberry Poland, which is due to stage its first show on Saturday. Warren Jr, 36, hopes to groom future Polish world champions who buck the trend by [...]
You Cannot Kill David Arquette documentary film review November 18, 2020 Remember David Arquette? He played the lovable cop in the Scream movies, the lovable brother in Never Been Kissed, and for a brief time was the not-so-lovable World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Whether you’re aware of that last credit or not is likely to determine how interested you are in this new documentary that follows his [...]