Sports events must decide between purists and entertaining newbies June 26, 2025 With Britain in the height of its summer sporting season, Ed Warner debates how organisers must balance pleasing purists with enticing new fans. “Does anyone talk about The Season anymore? The social whirl of the Lord’s Test, Queen’s, Royal Ascot and then finally Wimbledon? I may have missed others…” I replied to this Sport inc. [...]
London Spirit: Tech titans eye speedy Hundred deal to beat Trump tax rises June 25, 2025 English cricket is set to be an unlikely beneficiary of US President Donald Trump’s tax changes, with the so-called “tech titans” who are buying into London Spirit eager to complete the transaction before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is rubber-stamped by Congress. One clause of the Republic-sponsored bill, now with the Senate having been [...]
ICC set to create cricket game to rival Fifa June 16, 2025 Cricket’s governing body the ICC and its 12 members – including England – have launched an expression of interest to develop a mobile game. The ICC hopes to use a cricket version of Fifa to change the way fans engage with the sport, encouraging a new form of fandom. The process is set to see [...]
Diageo mull $2bn sale of IPL side Royal Challengers Bengaluru June 10, 2025 Beverage giant Diageo is mulling a potential sale of its Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The reigning IPL champions – whose roster this year featured the likes of England’s Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell, as well as Australians Tim David and Josh Hazlewood – are owned by United Spirits, a [...]
WhatsApp, Google, Adobe, YouTube investor group buys into US cricket June 9, 2025 Silicon Valley figures from Adobe, YouTube, Google, WhatsApp and Dropbox are among those to have invested in Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise the San Francisco Unicorns. They join figures from TV show The Big Bang Theory, Yodlee, and Menlo Ventures in going into sports ownership. Shantanu Narayen, chairman and chief executive at Adobe, is among [...]
Ashes ticket hopefuls hit by glitches as Cricket Australia boast record sales June 3, 2025 Ticketing platform Ticketek has been forced to soft-pedal reports of major issues as fans try to access tickets to this winter’s Ashes series between England and Australia. Cricket Australia said on Tuesday that they were enjoying record ticket sales for the next edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry, where England and Australia fight for the [...]
Does cricket have Olympic future in Brisbane and, maybe, India? May 29, 2025 Team GB may put forward a cricket team for the LA 2028 Olympic Games, but with Australia and potentially India hosting next does the sport have a long-term future? Over a decade ago at the London 2012 Olympics Welshmen Ryan Giggs, Joe Allen, and Neil Taylor joined the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Micah Richards and [...]
Brighton owner Bloom looks to add French Ligue 1 club to portfolio May 28, 2025 In this week’s Ahead of the Game: Brighton owner Tony Bloom, football films, The Hundred sale, rugby rights and the National League. Brighton owner Tony Bloom is exploring a potential investment in a French club after completing his purchase of a 29 per cent stake in Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian this week. [...]
Cricketing star Ben Stokes takes stake in alcohol-free Cleanco May 18, 2025 Cricketing star Ben Stokes OBE has taken a stake in reality tv star Spencer Matthews’ alcohol-free spirits brand Cleanco. Stokes partnership with the firm comes as part of a $5m fundraising round for the brand as it hopes for its first year of cash-flow positivty. Cleanco is also gearing up for global expansion with ambitions [...]
India-Pakistan, England cricket chiefs and sport’s moral compass May 15, 2025 The ECB will be grateful that it has not yet had cause to reach for its moral compass in the India-Pakistan conflict, writes Ed Warner. I was in Paris at the 2022 Wheelchair Rugby Euros when Russia invaded Ukraine. The very next day’s results show Russia beating Poland 1-0. This in a sport in which [...]