Premier Sports hit Champions Cup targets, says broadcaster chief December 11, 2024 Investec Champions Cup broadcaster Premier Sports insisted they hit viewership targets across the opening weekend of action. The Irish broadcaster has taken over the broadcast rights from TNT Sports for Great Britain as part of a three-year deal with the competition’s governing body EPCR. Despite concerns over the coverage, which featured some technical glitches and [...]
Why doesn’t Saudi Arabia sponsor rugby when it invests everywhere else? December 7, 2024 If you were going to have a gander through the list of sports sponsorship deals related – directly or indirectly – to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, you’d be scrolling for a good while. Because research by Play the Game reports that there’s a total of 910 deals between Saudi Arabia or Saudi companies/individuals and [...]
Premier Sports boss on Champions Cup, 24/7 rugby channel and rights December 5, 2024 Ahead of the Investec Champions Cup, City AM sat down with Richard Sweeney of Premier Sports as the broadcaster takes on European rugby’s rights. When the Champions Cup TV deal between TNT Sports and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) came to an end, many assumed a copy-and-paste agreement would see the partnership continue. But the [...]
Championship rugby clubs expecting legal challenges over promotion criteria December 4, 2024 Championship rugby clubs are expecting legal challenges to the criteria that they will be judged against for promotion to the Premiership. Top-of-the-table Coventry announced yesterday that they had applied for an audit that, if passed, would grant them access to a play-off between the team that finishes bottom of the Premiership and the Championship winner. [...]
Fifa risks legal battle by including Mexican teams in Club World Cup draw December 3, 2024 Fifa will include two Mexican teams with the same owners, Club de Futbol Pachuca and Club Leon, in the draw for the Club World Cup tomorrow despite facing potential legal action over their involvement in next summer’s competition. Costa Rican club Liga Deportiva Alajuelense have sent a formal complaint to Fifa on the basis that [...]
Maher social media aide to be paid more by Bristol Bears than some players December 3, 2024 Bristol Bears Women is hiring a social media specialist solely to work with new star signing Ilona Maher on a higher salary than most of the club’s players. The West Country outfit this week signed one of the most recognisable faces in rugby, American sevens sensation Maher, and saw their follower numbers leap as a [...]
Can rugby’s biggest social media star boost the English game? December 2, 2024 You may not have heard of her but she can claim to be the most famous name in the game – and now Ilona Maher is seemingly on her way to England and Premiership Women’s Rugby. The 28-year-old USA sevens player is a social media sensation, with 4.6m followers on Instagram and a further 3.2m [...]
Saracens chief departs club after just 10 months in charge November 27, 2024 Previous chief executive Lucy Wray stepped down after four years in the role in a surprise move halfway through last season.
Ahead of the Game: Leicester City decide to stick with embattled sponsor November 27, 2024 Leicester City will not exercise their right to seek a new shirt sponsor after their existing partner BC.Game was declared bankrupt last week. The crypto gaming firm’s two parent companies, Blockdance BV and Small House BV, were hit with the bankruptcy order by a court on the Caribbean island of Curacao following a legal dispute [...]
RFU boss Bill Sweeney paid £1.1m despite heavy losses November 25, 2024 England Rugby chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid £1.1m in the last financial year despite the game struggling to stay on its feet. It comes as the governing body for rugby in England announced record losses nearing £40m and confirmed there would be redundancies within the organisation. The Rugby Football Union insists that their year, [...]