Manchester City’s £20m carrot in Real Madrid Champions League tie February 10, 2025 Manchester City will be playing for a potential £20m in prize money when they take on holders Real Madrid in their Champions League knockout play-off tie on Tuesday. Pep Guardiola’s struggling side will bank an additional €10m (£8m) just for progressing from the two-legged tie against the Spanish giants and reaching the last 16. That [...]
Voxa: Pettersen launches agency and signs fellow Solheim Cup icon Ciganda February 10, 2025 Former Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen has made European golf star Carlota Ciganda one of the first signings to her new athlete management agency Voxa. Spaniard Ciganda, 34, is joined in the Voxa stable by Chinese world No3 Ruoning Yin, 22, and three more national No1s, Mexican Gaby Lopez, 31, Shannon Tan of Singapore, 20, [...]
NFL betting: Super Bowl fans to wager billions on Swift, Gatorade, Eagles and Chiefs February 9, 2025 The NFL Super Bowl, in all of its commercial glory, will take the headlines across the next 24 hours; whether that be the half-time show, the result of the adverts. But the betting markets this weekend are a fascinating watch, with last year’s Super Bowl – when comparing bet-on events – beating out the Euros [...]
Why Rennes and Como were the surprise spenders in January transfer window February 8, 2025 Manchester City may have led the way in England but the biggest January transfer window spenders in other major European leagues were not the usual suspects. In France it was Rennes who spent the most, eclipsing mega-rich Paris Saint-Germain despite the champions splashing £58m on Napoli’s twinkle-toed Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Rennes invested £62m on [...]
CMA and ASA probe Chelsea-linked Vivid Seats over ticket touting February 7, 2025 Consumer group FanFair Alliance has reported Vivid Seats, a company part-owned by Chelsea chair Todd Boehly, to watchdogs for alleged illegal ticket touting. Chelsea fans have described the involvement of Boehly, the highest-profile member of the club’s US ownership group, as a “breach of trust” after it emerged this week. Vivid Seats offers tickets to [...]
Nandy rejects football regulator pay fears: ‘£130k is more than reasonable’ February 7, 2025 Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has dismissed concerns that the incoming football regulator’s effectiveness will be inhibited by more modest public sector pay. Recruitment for the regulator’s first chair is under way but fears have been raised that the calibre of candidate could be restricted by the salary of £130,000 for the part-time role. While still [...]
LIV Golf 2025: The five big changes to the tour during the off season February 6, 2025 LIV Golf returns for its fourth season this weekend in Riyadh on arguably its strongest footing ever, having outlasted three British prime ministers, the reign of our longest-serving monarch and the Biden administration. There may not have been any blockbuster signings like that of Major winner Jon Rahm 12 months ago, but there is plenty [...]
Chelsea Women’s rivals face a stark choice: spend – or be left behind February 6, 2025 During the January transfer window Chelsea Women made headlines with their spending, although that is nothing new for the club. Their male counterparts hold the record for the most spent in one winter window, having splashed out £275m in 2023. Chelsea Women broke the $1m transfer fee glass ceiling in the women’s game when they [...]
Meta fact-checking U-turn probed over Ronaldo Facebook deepfake scam February 6, 2025 Meta’s decision to scrap fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram is under review after Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Nazario was caught up in a deepfake scam. The company’s oversight board has launched an investigation after Meta initially rejected calls to remove a post that used an AI-manipulated video of Ronaldo to promote a gambling app. Meta [...]
NFL ‘running scared’ of Trump and Musk ahead of Super Bowl with Bluesky ban February 6, 2025 The NFL risks alienating fans and accusations of “running scared” from Donald Trump and Elon Musk ahead of Super Bowl LIX after it banned teams from posting on X rival Bluesky, say industry watchers. Sunday’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, the climax to the NFL season, is set [...]