Exclusive: West Ham transfer boost as club signs up forex and payments provider TransferMate December 20, 2016 West Ham will today announce a deal with global payments company TransferMate that the club believes will give them a significant advantage when buying and selling players. The multi-year agreement sees TransferMate become West Ham’s exclusive foreign currency provider, meaning the club can expect to benefit from better exchange rates and lower bank fees in [...]
Chelsea record largest loss in six years after ditching Adidas for Nike — but record revenue points to long-term health December 17, 2016 Chelsea recorded their biggest loss in six years last season, after agreeing to pay out of their £30m a year Adidas kit deal. The Blues announced a net loss of £70.6m for the year after incurring exceptional costs of £75.3m — which included compensation fees paid to both Adidas and sacked manager Jose Mourinho. Yet the club's [...]
Why Adam Silver and Sir Philip Craven are my sports leadership heroes of the last 12 months December 15, 2016 If politics entered a post-truth era in 2016, sport entered a post-trust era. So much of sport is about trust – from your teammates to the coaches and medical team to the administrators that govern the game. Slowly but surely trust has been seeping out of the sports we love, and 2016 was the climax of [...]
Football’s new arms race: leading clubs looking to sell shirt sleeve sponsorship for £10m a year ahead of Premier League rule change December 14, 2016 They routinely adorn the biceps of Lionel Messi and Neymar and flutter on the jerseys of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, yet until now they have been forbidden in the Premier League. Sponsors’ logos on football clubs’ shirt sleeves are on their way to England’s top division from next season, however, as teams look to [...]
Le Col: Can this premium cycling brand designed by riders be the next Rapha? December 14, 2016 "I'm convinced that cycling isn't going to go away," says Yanto Barker, a retired British pro cyclist now whose ambitious apparel brand Le Col is currently looking to secure £1m worth of funding from investors via Crowdcube. Le Col is entering the home straight of its crowdfunding campaign with 23 days left for budding investors to join the 117 people who [...]
Wimbledon tops most-attended list as British fans continue to flock to live sport December 14, 2016 Britons snapped up tickets for live sporting events at a rate of more than one for every person in the country this year, according to research published today by Deloitte. Attendances reached 69.8m in 2016 and were only 700,000 down on last year’s figures, despite the lack of a major showpiece event such as the 2015 [...]
Gareth Southgate confirmed as England manager on three-and-a-half-year contract worth £6m November 30, 2016 The Football Association has confirmed the appointment of Gareth Southgate as England manager on a full-time basis following a spell as interim coach. Southgate and the FA agreed a contract believed to be worth around £1.5m a year plus bonuses until summer 2020, with a break option after the 2018 World Cup should he fail [...]
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis ordered to pay Crystal Palace £3.8m in damages after losing High Court fight over his 2014 exit November 28, 2016 West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has been ordered to pay £3.8m in damages to former club Crystal Palace after losing a High Court fight over his acrimonious departure two years ago. The payment – thought to be one of the largest demanded from a manager to a club in English football – was upheld [...]
Leicester City’s Premier League title win delivered £140m to the local economy – and this year it will be even more November 21, 2016 Leicester’s Premier League title triumph contributed £140m to the local economy during 2015-16, according to a new study, and that figure is expected to rise again this season. The Foxes’ historic 5000-1 success delivered a total economic output of £193m, generated taxes of £78m and supported 2,500 jobs, the report by EY for the club [...]
Rugby is still missing a trick in way it engages with commercial partners if it is to become more relevant to the next generation November 17, 2016 Rugby is a great sport at a critical point in its development. The international game is very popular in a small number of countries, from the six and tri nations plus a few others, such as Japan and Fiji, who play at Twickenham on Saturday. The rugby economy is skewed toward a few major media [...]