Newcastle Red Bulls, Dupont and ITV: Top rugby business stories of 2025 Sport Business This year really has been a 12 months where the business of rugby became a major talking point in ovalball discourse. We have always seen the odd deal here or investment there but 2025 has seen a step change across the sport, and it remains to be seen how it will pan out. So here [...]
R360 or Ultimate Sevens: Which rugby project would I invest in? Sport Business Everyone is an investment expert these days, with a proposal they say will save rugby and a project that will see a return on that backing. Whether it is the Prem Rugby franchising project, a developing league in the United States or South America, the delayed R360 proposal or the Ultimate Sevens project; there’s an [...]
R360 chiefs hit back at NRL 10-year ban ‘threats’ to rugby players Sport Business R360 chiefs have hit back at “threats” made to players after the NRL said it would ban those who engage with the rebel league for 10 years. A number of rugby unions came out last week insisting players who ditched their clubs for the start-up Formula 1-style globetrotting league would not be picked for their [...]
Exclusive: R360 want season launch at Barcelona FC’s Camp Nou October 14, 2025 R360 organisers want to launch the first edition of their new global rugby franchise competition next year at the redeveloped Camp Nou in Barcelona. 2 October 2026 has been penciled in as R360’s launch date – despite setbacks in recent weeks which have seen the eight biggest unions announce that any players who join the [...]
Rugby unions vs R360 spat is the sport’s failures in a nutshell October 10, 2025 When I look from the outside at the recent statement spat between many of the leading rugby unions and the rebel R360 start-up, I cannot help but hark back to the 2020 election for chairman of World Rugby. In the blue corner was the incumbent Sir Bill Beaumont, backing the status quo but wanting to [...]
Revolut chair Gilbert backs R360 rebel rugby league October 1, 2025 City grandee and Revolut chairman Martin Gilbert has emerged as an investor in the rebel R360 rugby union league. Gilbert, formerly of Aberdeen Asset Management, is named on Companies House as a director of AOTG Sport Ltd alongside former Bath Rugby captain Stuart Hooper and former agent Mark Spoors, who are founders of the R360 [...]
Gianni Infantino, Jay Shah and the rise of sport’s super-execs August 5, 2025 Infantino at Fifa and Shah at the ICC are styling themselves as super-execs like Musk and Zuckerberg but it won’t end well, warns Matt Readman. In sport, the best referees go unnoticed. They quietly manage the game, letting play flow and leaving the athletes to shine. Occasionally they must enforce the law, but they are [...]
Global sports market forecast to be worth $600bn by 2030 July 1, 2025 Growth of the global sports market is forecast to accelerate, making it worth $600bn (£438bn) by 2030, according to a report published today by consultancy Kearney. The market has grown an average of five per cent annually since 2020 but that rate is expected to increase to eight per cent, the report says. “Sport is [...]
Exclusive: R360 rugby breakaway will have a player draft and be free-to-air June 11, 2025 The R360 global rugby breakaway plans to be broadcast free-to-air, beginning with a draft of big-name male and female players where club owners are mic’d up, City AM has learned. The franchise-based project is slated to launch next year and – if successful – promises to fix the loss-making club game and change the face [...]
R360 rugby project fully funded and profitable after a year, say insiders June 9, 2025 The breakaway R360 global club rugby competition has already secured the funding to launch in 2026 and is targeting a profit in its second year, sources close to the ambitious project have told City AM. Organisers of R360 intend to change the face of the sport through franchise ownership, attracting brands not traditionally associated with [...]