World Cup brand deals score David Beckham £39m payout Retail David Beckham has taken a £38.9m payout from his personal business empire after World Cup brand deals drove record income for the former English football captain. DRJB Holdings, the company which represents Beckham’s business activities, posted a 20 per cent uplift in revenue to $110.5m (£84m) in 2025, as profit nearly doubled to $66m (£50m). [...]
What London losing athletics to Nairobi tells us about future World Cup and Olympic bids Sport Business England winning a World Cup in our lifetime. This may appear as elusive as ever, but hosting it may be more achievable. Particularly given our stadia, infrastructure and track record for hosting major global events. The signals from Downing Street suggest a similar plan. There’s talk of a potential 2042 World Cup in Great Britain, [...]
Panini sales tumble after sticker maker loses Premier League licence Sport Business Collectable stickers maker Panini has seen its sales tumble in the UK following the loss of a major Premier League licence. The Italian company’s UK subsidiary recorded a more than 20 per cent drop in turnover to £43.3m in 2025, according to accounts seen by City AM. The 65-year-old firm, which has had a partnership [...]
Gym Group upgrades outlook as Gen-Z shrugs off heatwave and World Cup September 9, 2026 Gym Group has upgraded its outlook after tempting Gen-Zers into its gyms throughout the summer, despite the distractions of the World Cup and multiple heatwaves. Will Orr, chief executive of the no-frills gym provider, said the group is still on course to deliver three per cent sales growth despite a “noisy macro [environment], some hot [...]
Lego builds record sales on World Cup and F1 fever August 25, 2026 Lego has posted record first-half sales as its World Cup and Formula 1 ranges helped extend a red-hot run for the toymaking giant. The Danish firm saw revenue grow by 21 per cent to 41.9bn Danish kroner (£4.8bn) in the six months to June, while pre-tax profit jumped by a third to 11.3bn Danish kroner [...]
Holiday Inn owner suffers Middle East slowdown as Iran war hits tourism August 11, 2026 The owner of Holiday Inn has suffered a slump in revenue at its Middle Eastern business as the Iran war knocked the region’s tourist economy. Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) said its revenue per available room in the Middle East slipped by 19 per cent in the three months to June. This followed a two per [...]
World Cup leads UK spending boost as confidence rebounds August 11, 2026 Consumer spending across the UK jumped in July as Brits’ splurged on a summer of sport and sunshine, fresh data from Barclays has shown. Card spending jumped two per cent to its highest level in 12 months following a surge in transactions at pubs, bars and clubs during England’s World Cup run. Overall hospitality and [...]
Domino’s battles for slice of fried chicken market as revenue jumps August 4, 2026 Domino’s has scored a World Cup boost from its bet on fried chicken, as the recovering pizza delivery chain looks to draw in new customers. The FTSE 250 pizza chain said the World Cup and its new ‘Chick’n’dip’ range drove a six per cent jump in revenue to £825m in the six months to June, [...]
Meet the top lawyer challenging Gianni Infantino’s Fifa power play August 3, 2026 Uefa has enlisted a leading US white-collar expert as legal tensions escalate over Gianni Infantino’s unsuccessful Fifa World Cup sell-off. US legal giant Dechert’s former Chair, Andrew Levander, has been nabbed by the European body, which informed Zurich-headquartered Fifa his client was “actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints”. Fifa has promised that raising [...]
Burnham says Infantino ‘wrong man’ to lead Fifa as Brits back World Cup boycott plans July 31, 2026 Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said Gianni Infantino is the “wrong man” to lead Fifa as Brits back Uefa plans to boycott the next World Cup. The football-loving Prime Minister told reporters in Sheffield on Friday that Fifa’s plans to sell of stakes in the World Cup to private investors, spearheaded by Infantino, “was an [...]