Ed Warner: English football of all levels penetrating hyper-commercial US sport November 3, 2022 Does anyone in England call the Premier League the EPL? I ask because I had a random encounter at Heathrow last week with one of a group of five Crystal Palace fans headed to Selhurst Park for their “first EPL game”. The Ted Lasso effect maybe? I only hope they made it to the Clifton [...]
Trevor Steven: Eddie Howe can lead Newcastle back into Champions League November 1, 2022 Next week marks a year since Eddie Howe took over as Newcastle United manager and what has happened since is bordering on the miraculous. When he arrived the Magpies were second bottom of the Premier League. Now they are fourth and have given themselves a chance of Champions League qualification. The only way you could [...]
Spotlight on Antonio Conte as Tottenham’s Champions League D-Day arrives October 31, 2022 Subplots abound in Tottenham Hotspur’s final Champions League group game at Marseille on Tuesday night. Among the most conspicuous is the potential for Spurs to be dumped out by opponents littered with former Arsenal players. But should the worst happen, the spotlight will rightly fall on the north Londoners and their manager Antonio Conte. Tottenham [...]
Premier League talking points: Arsenal hit Forest for five to return to the top October 30, 2022 Arsenal regained top spot in the Premier League in emphatic fashion and Marcus Rashford boosted his World Cup prospects as Manchester United beat West Ham on Sunday. It came at the end of an action-packed weekend which also saw Tottenham Hotspur snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Brighton burst Chelsea’s bubble and Liverpool slip [...]
Premier League eyes £30m NFT deal with Sorare October 28, 2022 The Premier League is weighing up £30m-a-year digital tokens deal with Sorare, as the sport pushes into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to reports from Mark Kleinman for Sky News, the top English clubs are set to meet with the French start-up later today to discuss a multi-year agreement. It is understood the deal [...]
Outrage grows as UK urges LGBT football fans to ‘compromise’ their sexuality during World Cup in Qatar October 28, 2022 James Cleverly, this week re-appointed as Foreign Secretary, is increasingly under fire for comments he made about how British LGBT football fans should behave while in Qatar for the World Cup. A range of celebrities and thousands of people have taken to social media to express their dismay about Cleverly’s stance. The Foreign Secretary urged [...]
Final Premier League games could be make or break for World Cup hopes October 28, 2022 The eyes of the footballing world are already beginning to look into their peripherals and see the opening day of the Fifa World Cup looking back at them. Because, in a little over three weeks, the first Middle Eastern World Cup, held in Qatar, will begin. It’s been a tournament shrouded in controversy since the [...]
Ed Warner: My advice to aspiring youngsters is to do your homework October 27, 2022 I never imagined I’d end up spending half my working week immersed in the world of sport. I stumbled into it via a serendipitous alignment of the stars in my mid 30s and have been privileged to parlay my enthusiasm for sport and my business knowledge into emotionally rewarding experiences for the past fifteen years. [...]
World Cup spells win for struggling advertising market October 27, 2022 The ad sector is set to score a much-needed goal this winter with the Qatar World Cup driving up advertising spend. According to new data from the Advertising Association (AA), ad spend for the final quarter is set to climb by 4.5 per cent from last year’s record high, to a total of £9.5bn. This [...]
Ad build-up to Qatar World Cup is ‘oh so quiet’ October 26, 2022 The World Cup is a little over three weeks away but it’s oh so quiet. At least when Björk sung those words, the accompanying music video by Spike Jonze showed people spontaneously spilling into the street in a Busby Berkeley-style choreographed celebration. But it’s increasingly hard to shake the feeling that there isn’t quite that [...]