Sports must protect its precious human capital like Djokovic and Hamilton January 20, 2022 Picture Novak Djokovic. Do you see a villain sticking two fingers up at vaccine orthodoxy, or a heroic advocate for personal freedoms you’d risk a pepper-spraying for? What of Lewis Hamilton and his rainbow helmet and sloganed T-shirts? Gesture politician or vital diversity campaigner? And what say you as one football team takes the knee [...]
Qatar 2022 World Cup tickets priced at £50 for overseas fans and on sale today January 19, 2022 The cheapest Qatar 2022 World Cup tickets for travelling supporters will have a starting price of £50. From today, football fans can register to buy tickets for the tournament, which is taking place in November and December this year. Category Three tickets, the cheapest on offer to anyone outside of Qatar, are due to start [...]
Netflix tennis doc to capture Novak Djokovic Australian visa drama January 13, 2022 The Novak Djokovic Australian Open visa saga is set to feature in a new fly-on-the-wall docuseries to be shown on Netflix, according to reports. The makers of smash-hit Formula 1 show Drive To Survive are currently filming a tennis version featuring some of the biggest names on the men’s and women’s tours, says the Mail. [...]
Novak Djokovic: Sponsors tipped to stand by tennis star’s £20m contracts January 11, 2022 Novak Djokovic may have been deluged with negative publicity over his visa row and anti-vax stance but that is unlikely to cost him any major sponsorship deals, say industry experts. Djokovic looks set to play the Australian Open next week after successfully appealing the decision to deny him entry to the country over questions about [...]
Manchester United name Arnold CEO and confirm Woodward exit January 6, 2022 Manchester United have confirmed that managing director Richard Arnold will take over as chief executive when Ed Woodward steps down next month. Arnold, who has worked under Woodward since joining the football club in 2007, is to succeed him from 1 February. “I am honoured to have the chance to serve this great club and [...]
Novak Djokovic set to be deported after Australia visa row January 5, 2022 Nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic looks set to miss this month’s Grand Slam after he was dramatically denied entry to the country yesterday. The men’s tennis world No1 struck a triumphant tone when posting on social media this week that he would be playing the Australian Open having been exempted from its strict Covid-19 [...]
Sport sponsorship: Forecasting the impact of the big events in 2022 January 2, 2022 Six months on from wading through the smashed bottles and broken dreams that littered Wembley Way after the calamitous Euro 2020 final, sports fans and sponsors can look forward to an abundance of major global events in 2022. As it happens, this year has been designated the United Nations International Year of Glass, so it’s [...]
The strange case of The Hundred: a North-South divide? January 1, 2022 Recently this country has been roughly split down the middle on, well, virtually everything. Opinions are polarised and if there’s a fence in the middle, we’re damn well not sitting on it. Summer 2021 saw a new concept dividing the nation. Sports fans, I give you the strange case of The Hundred. Unlike most cricket [...]
Deloitte’s sport business forecast: Women’s football to reach new heights in 2022 December 31, 2021 This year has been one to remember for women’s football, with further significant growth in the women’s game, including a £30m sponsorship deal announced for the FA Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship, marking a new record for investment in women’s sport in the UK. More broadly beyond the UK, according to Deloitte’s analysis, 19 of the top 20 revenue [...]
Best of 2021: Why Saudi Arabia bought Newcastle United December 27, 2021 In this article, originally published in October, sports business expert Professor Simon Chadwick explains the strategic background to the takeover of Newcastle United by a consortium headed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – and why it about much more than football. After years of speculation, prevarication and consternation, Saudi Arabia has at last sealed [...]