Parachute payments uncertainty clouds the future of football’s richest game May 25, 2023 When Luton Town and Coventry City collide in Saturday’s Championship Play-Off Final there will be more than just glory at stake; both teams stand to make a minimum of £170m if they achieve promotion to the Premier League. It is a prize that has earned the traditional end-of-season fixture the tag of football’s richest game. [...]
Ed Warner: Football should offer players amnesty in wake of Ivan Toney betting ban May 25, 2023 This week Ed Warner examines what Ivan Toney’s betting ban means for football, the eye-watering cost of tickets for the Paris 2024 Olympics, and a nuanced take on the trans debate in sport. If you stick a betting company logo on a young man’s shirt, beam his image around the world for 90 minutes every [...]
Who has Premier League’s biggest and smallest wage bill? (Look away Chelsea fans) May 23, 2023 Chelsea’s lavish spending since their takeover by Todd Boehly’s consortium has seen them amass the biggest wage bill in the Premier League, according to new research. The Blues’ estimated payroll for this season totalled £216m, an increase of 18.3 per cent or more than £33m on the previous campaign. That saw their salary costs overtake [...]
Chelsea co-owner makes ‘game changing’ investment in pro squash circuit May 23, 2023 Chelsea co-owner and LA Dodgers chairman Mark Walter has announced a major investment in professional squash that the sport’s bosses have hailed as “a game changer”. The businessman has acquired a stake in Squash Media & Marketing with the intention to promote the sport to a global market. This comes months after City A.M. revealed [...]
Manchester City, Premier League titles and the many asterisks in European football May 21, 2023 Release the ticker tape, crank up Blue Moon and fetch Pep Guardiola’s dancing shoes: Manchester City are Premier League champions again for the fifth time in six years and the seventh time in a decade. With FA Cup and Champions League final appearances to come before the season is out, there is every chance that [...]
Man Capital buys new Major League Soccer franchise in San Diego for record £400m May 18, 2023 London-based Man Capital has been confirmed as the owner of a new San Diego franchise in Major League Soccer after agreeing a record deal with US football chiefs. The family office of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour, the Conservative Party senior treasurer, is understood to have paid around $500m (£402m) for the team, who will begin [...]
Taking flight: Inside the rise and rise of darts – and where the sport is heading next May 15, 2023 “More people in this country know who Michael van Gerwen is – a darts player from the Netherlands – than who the fastest British man and woman are,” declares Matt Porter, chief executive of the Professional Darts Corporation. Porter might have a dog in that particular fight but he is on the money about the [...]
LIV Golf Tulsa: Dustin Johnson rediscovers winning touch ahead of US PGA May 15, 2023 Former world No1 Dustin Johnson toasted a timely return to form after warming up for this week’s US PGA Championship by winning the LIV Golf League event in Tulsa on Sunday. Johnson beat Open champion Cameron Smith and South Africa’s Branden Grace in a three-man play-off in Oklahoma to claim the $4m (£3.2m) first prize. [...]
London brawling: Why the city has become a combat sports capital again May 15, 2023 Wrestling and MMA have followed boxing in staging huge shows in London this summer, cementing the city’s reputation as a leading destination for combat sports’ biggest events. An earthquake hit the world of professional wrestling earlier this month and its epicentre was London. All Elite Wrestling, formed to compete with the all-conquering World Wrestling Entertainment, [...]
Women’s FA Cup final prize money and how it compares to men’s FA Cup May 13, 2023 The winners of the Women’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United on Sunday are in line to receive record sums thanks to a major boost to prize money. There is £100,000 on offer to whichever team lifts the trophy at Wembley, where Chelsea will be looking to triumph for a third year in [...]