World Triathlon targets T100 Olympic event as soon as Brisbane 2032 Sport Business World Triathlon president Antonio Arimany on its alliance with the PTO, Olympic expansion ambitions and returning to London in 2026. After a few years of flux characterised by challenger leagues and competitions sprouting up at a dizzying pace, it feels like consolidation is in the air in the sports industry. Golf awaits the consummation of [...]
Tennis chiefs risk angering players by adding Saudi Masters event to calendar Sport Business The ATP is to add a new Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia despite complaints from some top tennis players that the calendar is already too congested. The Saudi Masters event could become a fixture on the men’s elite tour as soon as 2028, with February earmarked as the most likely window but not yet [...]
Blavatnik investment in Dazn tops $7bn despite Surj stake sale Sport Business Billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik has now invested more than $7bn into sports streaming platform Dazn, having injected an extra $600m in 2024. While revenues increased by more than $300m to over $3bn and losses narrowed from $1.4bn to $936m, according to the accounts filed with Companies House for the year ending 31 December 2024, the [...]
Bollywood-backed European cricket league hires Oakvale Capital September 8, 2025 The Bollywood-backed European T20 Premier League (ETPL) has hired London-based investment bank Oakvale Capital as organisers look to launch next year. ETPL, a collaboration between the cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, had been due to debut this summer but the plans were shelved at a few weeks’ notice. Organisers have now hired [...]
Surj leads £30m investment in T100 to bolster Saudi Olympic ambitions July 28, 2025 Saudi Arabia’s Surj Sports Investment has backed T100 to be the “growth engine” for triathlon after leading a £30m funding round in its parent organisation, the PTO. Surj, an arm of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) with stakes in Dazn, the Professional Fighters League and Kings League, was the biggest backer of the PTO in [...]
Surj Sports chief: Saudi parent PIF, investing and league focus July 1, 2025 Chief executive of Dazn investors Surj Sports Investments Danny Townsend discusses the state of the changing landscape. When Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund purchased Premier League club Newcastle United in 2021, Middle Eastern sports spending was thrust into the voyeuristic forefront of executive and fan consciousness. Since then Saudi Arabia has invested in a multitude [...]
Fifa strengthens Saudi ties as PIF joins Club World Cup sponsors June 6, 2025 Fifa has further strengthened its ties with Saudi Arabia after its Public Investment Fund (PIF) agreed a long-term commercial partnership beginning with this month’s Club World Cup. PIF has become the eighth sponsor of the revamped tournament, joining global brands Visa, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Hisense, Lenovo, Budweiser and Qatar Airways. Beyond that, the partnership [...]
Dazn’s Pete Oliver on growth, ‘insane’ fights, boxing’s golden era and TKO April 3, 2025 Dazn’s CEO of Growth Markets Pete Oliver is bullish about the sports streamer’s growth as it leans into boxing and its Saudi relationship – and, he says, Dana White’s TKO is welcome. What’s the only thing crazier than stopping rush hour traffic in downtown New York City to stage a high-profile boxing event in Times [...]
RunGP founder Marcel Muenster: ‘Athletics needs more heroes’ March 17, 2025 Mo Farah may have signed up as the face of RunGP, but it was an encounter with another legend of long distance, Eliud Kipchoge, which helped entrepreneur Marcel Muenster formulate the new athletics series. After selling the healthcare business he founded, Doctor In Your Pocket, Muenster indulged his passion for road running by training like [...]
Saudi Arabia SURJ mulls investment in World Athletics March 6, 2025 Saudi Arabia’s SURJ Sports Investment could invest in a new company dealing with the commercial arm of track and field body World Athletics. It would give the Public Investment Fund subsidiary access to a portion of the profits made by the organisation that runs the World Championships and Diamond League in a deal that could [...]