The best and worst sports marketing campaigns of 2024 December 25, 2024 In the true Christmas spirit of judging others, I’ve looked at my favourite – and not so favourite – sports marketing campaigns of 2024. I had planned to hand out awards with categories based on the startling number of current football pundits who were in Graham Taylor’s Euro 92 England squad. The Gary Lineker Award [...]
Ref Coote won’t appeal contract termination December 24, 2024 David Coote will not appeal against the termination of his contract by referees’ body PGMOL, PA reports. Coote was sacked earlier this month after the emergence of a video in which he made derogatory remarks about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp. Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) said that a thorough investigation had [...]
Hit or miss? The best and worst football club Christmas adverts December 22, 2024 Creative type Steve Howell casts his critical eye over Christmas adverts produced by Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham and Celtic. Think of a Christmas advert and your mind may conjure memories of “A dog is for life…” or any number of classic John Lewis commercials that have become synonymous with this time of year. Whatever brand [...]
What to expect from sports law in 2025: Man City, Saudi and the ‘unlikely MVP’ December 21, 2024 What will the big talking points be in sports law in 2025? We asked the experts at one of the industry’s top firms. This year will be remembered as one in which key sporting decisions were made in the courtroom rather than the boardroom. With the Football Governance Bill, ongoing financial regulatory disputes, and the [...]
Everton takeover confirmed but Friedkin Group has warning for fans December 19, 2024 Everton’s new owner, the Friedkin Group, has warned “it will take time” to make them successful again after completing their long-awaited takeover. The deal will bring stability to the nine-time English champions following years of financial distress, new executive chairman Marc Watts said. But he added that turning Everton from relegation-threatened strugglers back into a [...]
Ed Warner: Why the anti-doping fight desperately needs a shot in the arm December 19, 2024 Confirmation that Mykhailo Mudryk has failed a routine anti-doping test must rightly trigger the usual essential caveats. Chelsea’s Ukrainian winger has only been provisionally suspended. This is simply the start of a process with the facts to be established and the outcome far from certain. What is clear is that Mudryk’s case will be another [...]
BBC Match of the Day decision to cost bookies a triple payout December 18, 2024 The BBC will bash the bookmakers if, as expected, it names Kelly Cates, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman as the successors to Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker. Multiple betting firms offered markets on which host would replace Lineker when he vacates the hotseat after a quarter of a century in the job at [...]
Red Bull: Leeds United minority owner set to increase football investment December 18, 2024 The energy drinks brand already has a minority stake in Leeds but has an option to increase it.
Chelsea star denies wrongdoing after club confirms failed drug test December 17, 2024 Chelsea’s £89m winger Mykhailo Mudryk has denied any wrongdoing after the Ukraine international tested positive for a banned substance. The Premier League confirmed on Tuesday that they had been notified by the Football Association of Mudryk’s test result, which could carry a ban of up to four years. “I can confirm that I have been [...]
Tory peer’s plan for English football ‘opens door to Kim Jong Un and Assad’ December 15, 2024 Dictators such as Kim Jong Un or Bashar al-Assad could be encouraged to buy English football clubs if “preposterous” proposals from Tory peers are passed, campaigners have warned. Lord Moynihan, a former sports minister under Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, has argued that anyone with diplomatic immunity should be exempt from the owners’ and directors’ test that [...]