Week in Sportbiz: Mexican stand-off over Club Necaxa NFT; press conferences overshadow French Open; English football in distress June 3, 2021 From NBA Top Shot to Christian Fuchs, the march of the NFT in sport has looked unstoppable. Until now, that is. Mexican football chiefs this week put the brakes on the plans of Club Necaxa to become the world’s first sports team to sell an ownership stake using blockchain technology. Club Necaxa, whose shareholders include [...]
Britain looks bound for swimming success at Tokyo 2020 Olympics – and that can get a generation that has been left behind back in the pool May 26, 2021 The British success at the European Championships in Budapest last week was amazing to see, with 26 medals – including 11 gold – picked up in swimming alone, and so many names stepping up ahead of Tokyo 2020. I’ve seen some great British swimming line-ups over the years, but I think this is the most [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Bitcoin plunge hits chess grandmasters; ‘Stamford Beach’ stunt recalls Chelsea row; and Hundred teams get new spinners May 20, 2021 When is a $100,000 bonus not worth $100,000? That is a conundrum for the chess grandmasters taking part in the FTX Crypto Cup. The tournament, which features world champion Magnus Carlsen and starts this weekend, is offering a $320,000 prize to the winner – a record for an online chess event. But $100,000 of that [...]
Olympic chief Bach promises ‘safe’ Tokyo 2020 as record Covid-19 deaths in Japan fuel opposition to the Games May 19, 2021 Olympic chiefs have attempted to calm an increasingly fretful Japanese public that the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games can take place safely this summer. Covid-19 deaths and serious cases continue to reach new daily highs in Japan, the country’s health ministry said on Wednesday. Tokyo and Osaka remain in a state of emergency, while the latest [...]
Steering clear of the cliff edge: Why it makes business sense for sport to put the human first May 11, 2021 We’ve seen a seismic shift in attitudes around athlete welfare but the sentiment ‘it’s only what happens on the pitch that counts’, albeit largely unspoken, is sadly still common in professional sport. With the global sports market expected to reach $600bn by 2025, there is no doubt about the pressure clubs are facing to deliver [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Ed Sheeran sponsors Ipswich Town; Javier Tebas blasts Gianni Infantino; Tokyo 2020 set for first transgender Olympian May 6, 2021 It has been a whirlwind few weeks at Ipswich Town. Fresh from welcoming new owners, the League One club now has an unlikely new shirt sponsor: Ed Sheeran. The Suffolk songsmith, a long-standing fan of the Tractor Boys, has agreed to sponsor the men’s and women’s team on a one-year deal that starts next season. [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Succession at Matchroom; PGA Tour’s $40m fame fund; taking knee banned at Tokyo 2020; India warms to The Hundred; NFL’s paint job April 23, 2021 It’s been a busy week for shifts in power at the top of sports organisations, splitting with old partners and signing megabucks new deals. Away from European football’s attempt to eat itself, Matchroom announced that founder Barry Hearn would be stepping down after 40 years at the helm. Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn is succeeding [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Amazon sign Serena Williams and Paul Pogba; Javier Tebas takes up league fight; Japan still cool on Tokyo 2020 with 100 days to go April 15, 2021 Amazon has continued its push into glossy sports documentaries by signing up Serena Williams and Paul Pogba. Both Williams and Pogba have committed to appearing in behind-the-scenes series about their personal and professional lives as part of wider deals with Amazon. Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Films is among the producers of the currently untitled Serena doc. [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Sports give qualified backing to Covid certification plan; US Beijing boycott talks escalates; Masters caught up in vote row April 8, 2021 British sport’s leading governing bodies have backed plans to use Covid certification if it means they can reopen stadiums in full later this summer. But they have called for urgent clarification on how and when social distancing will be relaxed, warning that partially full venues will not stem their financial losses. The Premier League, Football [...]
Rakuten chief revives calls to cancel Tokyo 2020 Olympics amid rising Covid-19 cases April 7, 2021 One of Japan’s most prominent businessmen, Rakuten chief executive Hiroshi Mikitani, has urged the country to reconsider staging the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this summer. The delayed Games are set to begin on 23 July despite widespread opposition among the population and rising Covid-19 cases in the capital. “Honestly, I feel that the Olympics this summer [...]