Revealed: BBC bid just £900k for £5m Commonwealth Games TV rights Sport Business Commonwealth Games chiefs took flak for agreeing a broadcast deal with TNT Sports that put it behind a paywall for the first time in 72 years – but City AM can reveal the BBC offered less than £1m for the rights. The BBC’s bid of around £900,000 represented a 91 per cent decrease on the [...]
Football finance experts urge caution over Premier League + price promotion Sport Business Football finance experts have urged the Premier League to show caution with its promotion of Premier League + as British fans learn of the premium they’re paying to watch the top flight. Premier League + will launch in Singapore next week, ahead of the return of the competition next Friday, with every game broadcast live [...]
Commonwealth Games: How ‘Commy G Lite’ is opportunity for smaller brands Sport Business Is the smaller scale Commonwealth Games a chance for smaller brands to step up and take a bite out of the multi-sport flagship event action, asks sponsorship expert Sarah Niblock. A reduced price tag might look like they can, but more importantly, it’s essential that they consider if they actually should. The 23rd Commonwealth Games [...]
Starmer urges TNT Sports to air Champions League final for free May 23, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has urged the broadcaster of the Champions League final to air the game for free next Saturday. The Prime Minister is attempting to prevent this year becoming the first in the Champion’s Leagues 34-year history in which the final is not free to watch for British fans. The match will be streamed [...]
MP calls on government to mandate for free-to-air Champions League final May 19, 2026 MPs have called on the government to ensure the Champions League is on free-to-air television in the future after the three European football finals went behind a HBO paywall. The Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League will feature three Premier League clubs – Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace respectively – but will [...]
Premier League streaming platform to cost less than half what UK fans pay May 19, 2026 The Premier League has released pricing for its first ever streaming platform, which will show every single game next season when it launches in Singapore. Premier League + will be available via a dedicated app, with access priced at S$16 (£9.31) for 24 hours, S$44 (£25.62) for a monthly rolling contract, and S$399 (£232.39) for [...]
Premier League + and why owning the broadcast isn’t owning the fan May 17, 2026 The Premier League and Uefa’s moves into streaming platforms misunderstand the way fans want to consume football, says George Gilmore. In the last few months, the two leading lights in global club football, the Premier League and Uefa, have announced they will be launching direct-to-consumer broadcast offerings. In so doing, a revolutionary, if predictable, moment [...]
Premier League +, VPN piracy and lessons from Norway and France March 28, 2026 The Premier League is built on its precious media rights but will its new streaming service be susceptible to the piracy that just scuppered a similar service in Norway? In less than five months’ time the Premier League will take one of the most significant steps in its history when it launches its own direct-to-consumer [...]
Nocturne: Why elite cycling is returning to City’s streets March 18, 2026 We are excited to be bringing cycling back to the Square Mile with The City of London Nocturne this June. Raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, this is a new event which takes inspiration from the original Smithfield Nocturne, which I was fortunate to organise for a decade, finishing in 2017. The return of [...]
England rugby games on free-to-air television until 2030 January 26, 2026 All England rugby matches will be shown on free-to-air television until at least 2030 after ITV snapped up the rights for the Nations Championships. The new competition, which starts this summer, will see 12 major nations compete against teams from the opposite hemisphere before a finals weekend in London in November. ITV reportedly bid £80m [...]