Prem Rugby needs to switch up its calendar to stop final being banished to fringes Sport Business Ollie Phillips argues that on this super weekend for sport in the capital, Prem Rugby could do more to be noticed. London is on its very best form this weekend: some of the world’s most exciting male tennis players will contest the HSBC Championships semi-finals and final at The Queen’s Club in Baron’s Court; England [...]
Exclusive: RFU in talks over back of shirt and short sponsor deals Sport Business The question that hangs over rugby union always seems to be a financial one: how can a sport with successful World Cups, a strong women’s game and a generally affluent audience struggle so much to commercialise itself effectively? That doesn’t seem to be an issue for England and its governing body, the Rugby Football Union. [...]
England rugby chiefs axe bonus scheme that led to coup attempt on CEO Sweeney Sport Business The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has scrapped the controversial long-term incentive plan (LTIP) that led to a major rebellion against CEO Bill Sweeney earlier this year. Sweeney faced and survived a vote of no confidence in February after it emerged that he had been paid £1.1m in 2023-24 despite the RFU making a loss of [...]
England Rugby extends deal with O2 until 2031 November 20, 2025 England Rugby this morning penned a deal with O2, extending the partnership between the two organisations to 35 years. The extension will see O2 remain the front-of-shirt sponsor for England Rugby’s men’s and women’s teams in what the Rugby Football Union describes as “one of the longest standing shirt sponsorships in the world”. It is [...]
New Principality Stadium naming rights deal ‘challenging’, says former negotiator October 30, 2025 The timing of a new deal for the naming rights of Cardiff’s Principality Stadium has been described as “challenging for Welsh rugby” given the state of the game across the River Severn. The 73,931-capacity stadium on the banks of the Taff is the fourth largest in the UK and plays host to the Wales rugby [...]
England Rugby should buy London Stadium and flog Twickenham land October 17, 2025 How do you solve a problem like increasing the revenues for England Rugby? Up sticks and buy the London Stadium, suggests Ollie Phillips Given the obstacles being thrown towards Allianz Stadium and England Rugby from local residents relating to the number of concerts the home of rugby wants to stage, it is no surprise that [...]
Chelsea and Arsenal may face fight for Wembley relocation October 15, 2025 Chelsea and Arsenal could end up competing to play at Wembley if they pursue plans to redevelop their stadiums over the next few years. Arsenal are in the middle of a consultation process over whether to expand Emirates Stadium to as much as an 80,000 capacity, which would require the club to temporarily relocate if [...]
Allianz Stadium Twickenham can be hub for global overseas sport October 3, 2025 On Saturday Argentina and South Africa will play a regular season Rugby Championship match at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. But this is not out of the ordinary for the capital; next month the Springboks will take on Japan at Wembley and an All Blacks XV will face the Barbarians in Brentford. Looking back, too, there [...]
Surrey close £60m Oval Invincibles deal with Reliance after eight months October 1, 2025 Surrey have finally exchanged contracts with Reliance Industries over the shareholders’ agreement governing their new partnership in the Oval-based Hundred team after almost eight months of negotiations. The Mumbai Indians owners agreed to pay £60m for 49 per cent of the franchise in February, but talks over the finer details of the deal have been [...]
Women’s Rugby World Cup has shown ROI potential of women’s sport September 26, 2025 On Saturday afternoon 82,000 fans will pack into Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium for the Women’s Rugby World Cup final. A fully professional England Red Roses team will win their first title in a decade if they’re able to overcome a Canada side who were forced to crowdfund more than £500,000 just to get to the World [...]