Tennis can conquer sport if tours and Grand Slams unite, says Federer agent Tony Godsick June 16, 2022 Tennis could “conquer the sport world” if the ATP and WTA Tours and the four Grand Slams set aside their differences, says Roger Federer’s agent Tony Godsick. Steps to pool the commercial operations of the men’s and women’s circuits were proposed last year in a move that would see private equity take a stake in [...]
HSBC becomes Emma Raducanu’s eighth blue chip sponsor on eve of Wimbledon June 16, 2022 HSBC has become the latest blue chip brand to join British tennis star Emma Raducanu’s stable of sponsors. Raducanu, who shot to fame by winning the US Open in September, has agreed a four-year with the international banking group. “To partner with HSBC is so natural for me having grown up playing in the HSBC [...]
Apple makes biggest sports rights bet so far on 10-year, £2bn Major League Soccer deal June 15, 2022 Apple has agreed to pay $2.5bn (£2.1bn) for the global streaming rights to Major League Soccer for the next 10 years. The deal with the top division of men’s football in the US and Canada represents the tech giant’s biggest investment in sports rights so far. Apple, which bought a package of Major League Baseball [...]
Lydia Hall interview: Welsh golfer on her Amazon delivery sideline and the Aramco Team Series June 14, 2022 Lydia Hall spent much of the pandemic delivering parcels but now the Welsh golfer is enjoying improved returns on the Ladies European Tour, thanks in no small part to the Aramco Team Series. When Covid-19 shut down much of sport in early 2020, Hall was forced to put her clubs to one side and turn [...]
Aramco Team Series: Why the Saudi energy and chemical giant is backing women’s golf June 14, 2022 Aramco public affairs general manager Talal Al-Marri explains why the Saudi energy and chemicals giant became one of the biggest backers of women’s golf via the Aramco Team Series, and what the company looks for in a sports sponsorship. Q. How did you come to be title partners of the Aramco Team Series? A. We [...]
LIV Golf has won opening skirmish in tussle with PGA Tour to shape the future of the sport June 12, 2022 Charl Schwartzel lifted the trophy, posed for the photographs and collected the £3.85m pay cheque but he wasn’t the only winner at the first LIV Golf Invitational, which concluded just outside London on Saturday. Also celebrating will have been Greg Norman, frontman for the new circuit hoping to lure the world’s best players, and Saudi [...]
LIV Golf blasts ‘vindictive’ PGA Tour as £200m series begins to backdrop of bitter row June 9, 2022 LIV Golf accused the PGA Tour of being “vindictive” as the war of words between the two organisations spilled over into the first day of the £200m breakaway circuit. With what appeared to be pointed timing, the PGA Tour announced it had suspended all 17 of its members who have chosen to play the first [...]
Ed Warner: Team sportspeople like Gareth Bale are held to double standards over loyalty June 9, 2022 Commentary stat of last weekend for me was that Gareth Bale has spent more time on a football pitch for Wales this season than for Real Madrid. Having run down his lucrative contract with the Spanish club, Bale is now a free agent – the footballing equivalent of the golfers signing up for this week’s [...]
Greg Norman interview: LIV Golf can emulate cricket’s IPL and create ‘generational wealth’ June 8, 2022 Greg Norman has conquered some of the world’s finest golf courses and forged a successful career as an entrepreneur but he considers his biggest challenge to be his current mission as chief executive of LIV Golf. That is partly because Norman isn’t just trying to establish a challenger circuit that offers lucrative new opportunities for [...]
LIV Golf Invitational Series venue guide: From Centurion Club to Jeddah and Doral June 7, 2022 The inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series is a globe-trotting circuit of eight big-money tournaments, culminating in three events in the space of four weeks in October. It takes in four countries, three continents and some of the most prestigious golf courses in the world, which have played host to majors and occasions such as the [...]