Exclusive: Rugby World Champions Cup set to be mothballed Sport Business Plans for a rugby World Champions Cup are this week expected to be mothballed over calendar constraints and costs, City AM can reveal. Plans for a World Champions Cup – akin to the Fifa Club World Cup – were announced in 2025 with an inaugural competition set to be held in 2028. But a board [...]
SailGP, rugby and PJL: Inside the new £50m budget sporting asset class Sport Business With big money tickets ever harder to find, investors are looking far and wide for their next affordable investment. Big-money takeovers will always catch the eye; whether that be the multi-billion-pound purchase of Chelsea by a Todd Boehly-fronted consortium from Roman Abramovich, the £1.3bn takeover of Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bengaluru by a [...]
Gloucester Rugby warn of risk to future as losses jump 450 per cent Sport Business Gloucester Rugby’s accounts warn they face a “material uncertainty” after the Prem Rugby club saw losses spiral by more than 450 per cent last year. The Gloucester Rugby Limited accounts, filed this week with Companies House, posted a loss of £2.9m for last season, up from £500,000 the year prior – an increase of 464 [...]
Nations Championship: Monzo makes first move into rugby, with Allianz and ITV July 1, 2026 Monzo have broadened its sponsorship portfolio, joining Allianz in sponsoring ITV’s coverage of rugby union’s Nations Championship competition. The challenger bank and insurance giant have each signed deals with the free-to-air broadcaster to be part of the channel’s coverage of the inaugural inter-hemispheric tournament. It is Monzo’s first step into rugby union and comes after [...]
Exeter Chiefs deal done as Bournemouth owners complete ‘£45m’ takeover June 30, 2026 AFC Bournemouth owner Bill Foley’s Cannae Holdings have completed the purchase of Prem Rugby club Exeter Chiefs for a reported £45m. The American – who controls the Premier League club as part of a Black Knight consortium that includes Michael B Jordan – will become the majority owner of the Devonshire rugby union team, and [...]
Women’s rugby in England is way ahead, and the RFU deserves credit June 26, 2026 In a phrase many thought a rugby fan would never utter: The RFU, the governing body of the sport in England, is doing a world-leading job. Hold the front page, it surely cannot be true given recent controversies surrounding bonuses and the structure of the men’s game below Prem Rugby. But it is true. But [...]
Prem Rugby needs to switch up its calendar to stop final being banished to fringes June 19, 2026 Ollie Phillips argues that on this super weekend for sport in the capital, Prem Rugby could do more to be noticed. London is on its very best form this weekend: some of the world’s most exciting male tennis players will contest the HSBC Championships semi-finals and final at The Queen’s Club in Baron’s Court; England [...]
Do the Prem Rugby semi-finals need a Welsh URC team? June 12, 2026 Ahead of this weekend’s Prem Rugby’s semi-finals, Ollie Phillips assesses whether they could do with a hint of Wales. Picture the scene: next year’s Prem Rugby semi-finals feature the top three teams from this year – Northampton Saints, Bath Rugby and Exeter Chiefs – plus one of the Scarlets, Ospreys, Dragons or Cardiff. This would, [...]
Rugby needs its Premier League to step up and take control, Raine says June 9, 2026 Merchant bank Raine Group has warned that professional rugby is not big enough for “five or six leagues” and that it is “time for someone to put the hammer down” and become the sport’s equivalent to the Premier League. Rugby union has been going through a crisis of late, with different leagues using different structures [...]
Why investors will be keeping a close eye on rugby’s Nations Championship June 7, 2026 The Nations Championship begins in a month and it will be a stress test for investors looking at rugby, Neil Barlow says. International rugby tournaments have always been the sport’s biggest draws. There is nothing quite like the Six Nations to bring out classic memes of rugby fans wearing bootcut jeans and loafers filling pubs. [...]