Manchester City named world’s most valuable football club brand June 6, 2023 Treble-chasing Manchester City have added another title – the world’s most valuable football club brand. City have received the accolade from leading brand consultancy Brand Finance, whose annual Football 50 list is published today. The Abu Dhabi-owned club have overtaken Real Madrid at the top of the rankings for the first time following their sustained [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
Back-to-back Jacksonville Jaguars games pave way for London NFL franchise May 10, 2023 The NFL is stepping up preparations for a possible London franchise by handing the Jacksonville Jaguars a historic double-header in the capital later this year. The Jags, who have staged a game in London every year since 2013, will become the first NFL team to play two fixtures in consecutive weeks outside the United States. [...]
Qatari bidder Sheikh Jassim rules out Manchester United move for Lionel Messi May 10, 2023 Manchester United will not make any attempt to sign Lionel Messi on a free transfer this summer if Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani buys the club. Messi, 35, is due to leave Paris Saint-Germain next month when his contract with the Qatar-owned French champions expires. His availability has sparked a €1bn scramble for his [...]
Ed Warner: English cricket must accept that The Hundred is dead in the water May 4, 2023 England gave cricket to the world. It followed up with the generous present of T20. The Hundred, though, remains a gift unwrapped and a spurned England and Wales Cricket Board is now scrambling to secure its place in the crowded T20 world market. It’s not too melodramatic to say that the future of first class [...]
Fifa threatens England with ban on watching Lionesses at 2023 Women’s World Cup May 2, 2023 English football fans could be denied the chance to watch the Lionesses bid to win this year’s Women’s World Cup after Fifa president Gianni Infantino threatened a broadcasting blackout. Infantino said the biggest tournament in women’s football would not be shown in Europe’s “big five” markets unless media companies serving Britain, France, Germany, Italy and [...]
Ed Warner: Sport England data shows activity is falling. We need to make it easier April 27, 2023 As Sport England’s latest Active Lives survey shows that we are exercising less, Ed Warner argues that we need to make participation easier. An elite athlete cadges a lift to skip a couple of kilometres of an ultra race. Tough Mudder turns Finsbury Park into a swamp and is barred from using the venue next [...]
Wrexham’s promotion: ‘Feelgood fairy tale’ or ‘brand-building exercise that sticks in the craw’? Our writers debate April 25, 2023 Wrexham clinched the National League title at the weekend, securing their promotion to the English Football League two years after being bought by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. But is the story, which has been played out in a reality TV series as well as on the pitches of England and Wales, an [...]
Wrexham targeting successive promotions after sealing return to Football League April 24, 2023 Wrexham are targeting another promotion next summer after the Hollywood-owned Welsh club clinched their return to the English Football League on Saturday. The decisive 3-1 win over Boreham Wood came two years after actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took charge at the Racecourse Ground, and executive director Humphrey Ker insists they are just getting [...]