Trevor Steven: Marcus Rashford shows England’s youngsters are being held back by lack of game time September 12, 2018 Marcus Rashford scored both goals and was the stand-out player in England’s defeat by Spain and win over Switzerland, but his performances also served to underline a growing problem. Rashford is undoubtedly a talent, but he doesn’t get on the field enough. He’s in a difficult situation at Manchester United: he’s not going to get [...]
The economic answer behind superstar salaries September 12, 2018 Rugby Union’s Premiership season is underway again. This is yet another professional sport which operates on the principles of socialism: the money all ends up in the pockets of what we might call the “workers”. In a sport which was allegedly only played by amateurs until the mid-1990s, earnings have boomed. The average salary in the [...]
Chris Tremlett: Under-appreciated James Anderson has the skill, fitness and motivation to break even more records September 11, 2018 James Anderson taking the final wicket move past Australian legend Glenn McGrath as the most successful fast bowler in Test cricket was the perfect way for England to wrap the series up 4-1 against India at The Oval. Anderson bowled Mohammed Shami to complete the win after KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant had threatened in [...]
PSG announce first blockchain partnership to increase fan engagement September 11, 2018 Paris Saint-Germain has today announced a new partnership deal with a blockchain platform, the first of its kind in world football. They have agreed a contract with Socios.com, an online voting website that looks to increase supporter engagement in football clubs while offering teams a chance to monetize their fanbase. The deal is part of [...]
Sam Torrance: Europe’s big-hitters timing their form perfectly for the Ryder Cup September 10, 2018 The conclusion of the BMW Championship may have been delayed by heavy rain in Philadelphia on Sunday, but the weather didn’t stop Europe’s best from putting on a show. Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn will have been delighted watching on as Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari all played to their [...]
Day in the life: Freeride mountain biker Sam Pilgrim September 9, 2018 I don’t do anything like a typical athlete would. I get up, eat and then slowly decide what I’m going to do that day, as I make videos. I then head out to the woods in Essex, where I’m based, with whatever bike I’m using. I film YouTube videos, which can take all day, and [...]
Para-cycling: Discipline setting positive precedent for inclusivity in disability sport September 9, 2018 Disability sport is always fighting for something: more participants, more funding, more exposure. It’s been an ever-present, worthy battle – and one which has been making progress. The Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of the movement; a visible global competition with a wide reach. But by their very nature the Games have a limited impact. [...]
Amazon Prime’s US Open coverage represents a missed opportunity for streaming September 9, 2018 When Amazon purchased the UK television rights for the US Open earlier this year in a £30m five-year deal, the acquisition seemed like the next stage of streaming giants acting as great disruptors to the established media order. Potentially, Amazon could shape live sports broadcasting in ways that we can't yet imagine, much in the [...]
Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt at the V&A review: A fascinating deep dive into videogame design and culture September 7, 2018 Exhibitions about videogames frequently land wide of the mark. Either they’re bogged down in dusty arcade nostalgia – that decades old aesthetic of Pac-Man pixel art and bleepy chiptunes that just won’t go away – or they have the desperate air of a culturally sidelined medium crying out to be taken seriously by art critics. [...]
American Animals review: An audacious and twisting heist movie September 7, 2018 Director Bart Layton is the man behind 2012’s audacious docu-thriller The Imposter, about a French con artist who bamboozles a Texan family into believing he is their long lost son. The film braided fact and fiction into a chunky dramatic rope, drawing on talking head testimony from the real world players, interspersed with very credible [...]