SA20 future in doubt as Big Bash sale process squeezes cricket investment Sport Business The SA20 franchise tournament is facing an uncertain financial future amid the threat of fresh competition for funding from Cricket Australia’s Big Bash, which is preparing to sell off stakes in its franchises to private investors later this year. All six SA20 franchises are owned by Indian Premier League teams, many of whom have expressed [...]
England Ashes win will trigger major windfall for ECB, says Nielsen Sports Sport Business England cricket chiefs can expect a major windfall if Bazball sweeps the men’s team to a first Ashes series victory in Australia for more than a decade. The England Wales Cricket Board is already riding high from reporting record turnover last year and has since boosted the coffers further by signing up Toyota as principal [...]
Wimbledon set to get exemption from anti-ticket touting law for debentures Sport Business Wimbledon chiefs are set to receive an exemption from legislation to be introduced in next year’s King’s Speech that would ban the resale of tickets above face value for sport and music events. The proposed new laws – designed to stamp out touting – would have a significant impact on the sale of debentures by [...]
The Hundred: New owners relax salary rules to attract top talent October 31, 2025 The Hundred’s new overseas investors have rung the changes for next year’s competition, confirming that an auction will replace the player draft and that franchises will have new maximum and minimum salary budgets. In moves designed to attract more top global talent to the summer white-ball cricket tournament, individual player salaries will be uncapped and [...]
In defence of sport’s blazers: Give them scrutiny, yes, but also empathy October 23, 2025 Spend a minute on social media during a major sporting event and you’ll find them: the keyboard warriors, the armchair pundits, the self-appointed arbiters of “what the fans really want”. Their target? The blazers in the boardroom perceived to be truffling for perks and who wouldn’t know how to find the nearest grassroots facility. While [...]
My dozen questions to get inside the minds of English cricket fans October 9, 2025 An invitation from the England and Wales Cricket Board arrives, forwarded by Middlesex Cricket. A survey no less, and one with a laudable aim – to find out what it would take to entice the respondent to take up or extend membership of their favoured cricket county. It starts with questions about age, gender and [...]
Hundred sees 600,000 tickets sold with TV audiences up September 1, 2025 Organisers of The Hundred sold nearly 600,000 tickets for this year’s competition, with viewing figures also up for the fifth edition of the controversial cricket format. The Northern Superchargers beat the Southern Brave in the women’s final on Sunday in a match that drew 22,000 fans at Lord’s in north London. The subsequent men’s final [...]
Ahead of the Game: Fifa eyes Morocco over Spain as 2030 World Cup HQ August 27, 2025 Fifa is in advanced discussions about basing the headquarters of the 2030 World Cup in the Moroccan capital Rabat. The centenary World Cup will be co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with the opening three games to be held in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay in a nod to the competition’s roots. The 2026 World Cup [...]
Hundred: ECB under fire over opt-out data transfer cut-off date August 15, 2025 Hundred organiser the ECB has come under fire for forcing fans to opt-out of having their data transferred to new franchise owners. At least 49 per cent of each of the eight Hundred franchises have been sold to overseas investors, with some teams selling a majority shareholding. And with it, as is common with ownership [...]
London Spirit captain hopes Hundred investment can close pay gap August 4, 2025 London Spirit captain Charlie Dean hopes that more investment into The Hundred can close the pay gap between the men’s and women’s competitions. Players in the women’s top bracket of this year’s edition of The Hundred are set to earn £65,000, a 30 per cent increase on last year, for a month of cricket. In [...]