Arsenal owner Kroenke takes total US franchise spend this summer to £23bn Sport Business Nearly £23bn of US sports franchises were sold across the summer after Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke purchased the Los Angeles Angels. The surprise purchase – a MLB record at £2.97bn – ended a summer of spending across North America which included basketball, NFL and women’s football. Kroenke’s sporting portfolio now puts the Angels alongside Premier [...]
Quarter of Brits planning trip to watch US sport matches stateside Sport Business Nearly a quarter of British sports fans have said they plan to head to the United States to watch live sport as the home of NFL and NBA continues to drive fandom around the world. Nearly 40 per cent of UK sports fans have attended a live match in one of the NFL, NBA, MLB, [...]
Who are the Savannah Bananas baseball team and what is Banana Ball? Sport Business Banana Ball, headed up by the Savannah Bananas, has changed the way fans consume sport in the United States. Is the model of the biggest sports team you’ve never heard of an example for the rest of us? Very few things in sport are completely original these days; organisations, entrepreneurs and billionaires often take inspiration [...]
Seattle Seahawks: Why are NFL franchises selling for $10bn? February 20, 2026 Just days after winning their first Super Bowl in over a decade the owners of the Seattle Seahawks – the Allen family – put the NFL franchise up for sale. Paul Allen was a co-founder of Microsoft, and “The Estate of Paul G. Allen” has now begun a formal sale process of the franchise due [...]
Why authenticity is key to US sport succeeding in Europe January 24, 2026 The NBA London 2026 game is not another overseas exhibition. It is the clearest signal yet that US sports leagues are no longer treating Europe as a touring destination, but as a long-term growth market with serious commercial intent. And that shift matters. The window to engage early with the next generation of global sports [...]
Exclusive: Everton bidder Manoukian launches athlete neobank Stadion October 7, 2025 It was in the early summer of 2024, when Everton were in the eye of a storm caused by the disintegration of their prospective owners, 777 Partners, that Vatche Manoukian’s name suddenly hit the headlines. The London-based Armenian, a former finance lawyer turned investor, emerged as a potential saviour to the cash-strapped Merseyside football club [...]
Johnson-backed Grand Slam Track cancels remainder of season June 13, 2025 Grand Slam Track, the privately backed track and field circuit fronted by former Olympian Michael Johnson, has cancelled its final event. Having hosted events in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia, the final leg in Los Angeles was cancelled on Thursday. The competition offered $100,000 to winners at each event in a bid to raise the profile [...]
NFL: GB and Ireland could stage more matches outside of London April 6, 2025 The chief of NFL in the UK and Ireland has said the region could have more games outside of London in the future. Dublin’s Croke Park will host its first NFL match in the 2025 season, in addition to the three games which take place annually in London. Henry Hodgson, NFL UK general manager, admitted [...]
NBA: Sixth Street backing $6.1bn Chisholm bid for Boston Celtics March 20, 2025 Private equity firm Sixth Street is reportedly part of William Chisholm’s $6.1bn takeover bid of NBA team Boston Celtics, in what would be a North American franchise record. The deal, if successful, would surpass the $6.05bn takeover of the NFL franchise Washington Commanders led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales. The Boston Celtics’ current owners, [...]