Barclays becomes main sponsor of Lord’s and MCC January 27, 2025 Barclays has expanded its sports sponsorship portfolio by becoming principal partner of Lord’s Cricket Ground and its owner, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The multi-year partnership, effective immediately, sees the Home of Cricket’s iconic Media Centre renamed the Barclays Media Centre. It will also mean the bank making “one of the largest ever donations” to the [...]
Marlborough Sports Garden: A £5m project to boost the City January 25, 2025 Marlborough Sports Garden in Southwark is a crucial space for Londoners. Looking to raise £5m for an inspiring development, why should the City get involved? Hyacinthe Loyson, a French preacher from the mid 1800s, is described by historians as one of the early users of a phrase that continues to be recited today. “Good people [...]
Australian Open prize money 2025: How much can tennis players earn? January 24, 2025 There has never been a more lucrative time to be a top tennis player, with prize money at the Australian Open more than doubling in the last 10 years. The Grand Slam is paying out A$96.5m ($61m/£49m) in total over the fortnight in Melbourne, where play culminates with the women’s and men’s singles finals this [...]
Clear and simple calendars like NFL, not tennis, should be applauded in sport January 23, 2025 The NFL, unlike tennis, should be applauded for its clear and simple sport calendar that sees athletes thrive, writes Ed Warner. Naomi Osaka, Gael Monfils, Jack Draper. Each retired from the Australian Open mid-match. No substitutes bench in tennis, so the ultimate anticlimax for spectators. Injuries are an occupational hazard, but across sport the sheer [...]
English rugby chief Bill Sweeney defends bonus as critics call for his head January 22, 2025 Bill Sweeney, the embattled president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), insists he tried to defer his controversial bonus but has defended his acceptance of the six-figure payment. Sweeney is facing a vote of no confidence after the bonus took his overall pay to £1.1m in 2023-24, a year in which the RFU made 42 [...]
Matt Dawson joins Clive Woodward-backed Seat Unique January 19, 2025 England’s Rugby World Cup winning scrum-half Matt Dawson has joined premium ticketing firm Seat Unique, which is backed by his former coach Sir Clive Woodward. Seat Unique have tapped up the former international as a business advisor to help the start-up penetrate into new markets, including the English rugby space and beyond. The platform has [...]
English football’s record year for legal spending – can it stay secret? January 19, 2025 Before the Christmas break the Premier League published an article posing the question: what Premier League records for a calendar year can still be broken? While fans watched the glut of fixtures over Christmas, another record had already been set: 2024 was the year that English football was dominated by legal disputes. The Premier League [...]
Investment firm Sixth Street poach FA bigwig of 20 years January 17, 2025 Investment giant Sixth Street has poached former FA Women’s Technical Director Kay Cossington to take up a new role with the US organisation. Cossington, who has been with the FA for two decades, will become Sixth Street’s Head of Global Women’s Football and serve as chief executive of Bay Collective, a multi-club organisation under Sixth [...]
Tennis star Taylor Fritz donates Australian Open prize money to LA fire relief January 16, 2025 California-born tennis star Taylor Fritz has pledged to donate some of his Australian Open prize money to help victims of the fires that have swept through LA. The American men’s No1 is giving his first-round winnings of A$132,000 (£67,000) to relief efforts as the wildfires continue to wreak devastation on the city. “I just want [...]
Howden: Insurance giant expands sport portfolio with SailGP sponsorship January 16, 2025 Insurance giant Howden this morning expanded their sports sponsorship portfolio, announcing a three-year partnership with SailGP team Emirates GBR. The group, headquartered at One Creechurch Place, will see Sir Ben Ainslie’s sailing team join their roster of sporting sponsorships, which include the British and Irish Lions, Ascot Racecourse, Victoria Racing Club in Australia and the [...]