Spotify set for £237m Barcelona sponsorship deal February 8, 2022 Spotify are close to agreeing a sponsorship deal with Barcelona that would be among the biggest in football, according to reports in Spain. The music streaming platform would pay the Catalan club €280m (£237m) over three years, said radio station RAC1. In return Spotify would get naming rights to Barcelona’s stadium, which would be rebranded [...]
Why UK and Ireland want Euro 2028 bid instead of 2030 World Cup February 7, 2022 The UK and Ireland have abandoned plans to bid to host football’s 2030 World Cup almost a year after Prime Minister Boris Johnson trumpeted the project. Instead the football associations of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland favour bidding to stage the 2028 European Championship. So why has the World Cup [...]
UK and Ireland ditch 2030 World Cup bid in favour of cheaper Euro 2028 February 7, 2022 The UK and Ireland have abandoned plans to bid to host football’s 2030 World Cup but instead hope to stage the 2028 European Championship. It comes 11 months after Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged £2.8m towards exploring the possibility of a World Cup bid. A feasibility study found that it would be better value for [...]
West Ham and familiar faces in Kidderminster’s FA Cup crosshairs February 3, 2022 West Ham United’s top brass would have been forgiven for wincing when they were drawn to face Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup fourth round this weekend. Not only do the lowest ranked team left in the competition pose the threat of a humiliating elimination; the non-league outfit’s taste for an upset is also already [...]
Ed Warner: Why the Olympics is frozen by complacency February 3, 2022 Curl up for the curling. Settle down for dust-ups on the rink. Thrill at the sliders and skiers. Swoon over the skaters. Grumble about geo-politics and overbearing branding. The Olympics are here again. Not the Olympics Olympics, obviously; rather their smaller Winter sibling. Less than half the number of competing nations, a quarter of the [...]
Five trends that defined the January transfer window February 1, 2022 Blockbusting deals did not materialise and most of the big clubs kept their hands in their pockets but the Premier League still managed to register a record-breaking January transfer window. While last year’s winter transfer window was one of austerity as teams absorbed the financial impact of Covid-19, this time enough of them threw caution [...]
Channel 4 to show Chelsea at Fifa Club World Cup February 1, 2022 Channel 4 has snapped up another eye-catching sports deal after securing the UK terrestrial rights to show Chelsea at football’s Fifa Club World Cup next week. The broadcaster will air Chelsea’s semi-final against opponents yet to be determined on Wednesday 9 February on E4 and, should the Blues progress, will show their final on Saturday [...]
Asian Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant: Saudi alliance was ‘a no brainer’ February 1, 2022 “It’s the dawn of a new era,” says Cho Minn Thant, chief executive of golf’s Asian Tour, of this week’s Saudi International, a tournament that has shaken up the sport even before a ball has even been teed up. He is not wrong. The $5m event, which begins in Jeddah on Thursday, is the richest [...]
Padel: The racket sport proving a smash but heading for the courts January 28, 2022 It’s loved by footballers, boasts celebrity investors and is among the fastest growing sports in the world, yet you may not even have heard of padel. The fast and furious hybrid of tennis and squash has long been hugely popular in Latin countries but recently participation has rocketed elsewhere, including the UK. Now it is [...]
Cinch and Cazoo zoom into top tier of sports sponsors January 27, 2022 Online car marketplaces Cinch and Cazoo, takeaway service Just Eat and social media platform Tik Tok were the biggest entrants to sports sponsorship in the UK last year, according to a new report. The four brands were the only new entrants in consultancy Onside’s Top 10 Most Appealing UK Sports Sponsors, which is published today. [...]