Football regulator’s reputation rests on its handling of Manchester City Sport Business The Independent Football Regulator has improving English clubs’ failing finances in its sights but its treatment of Manchester City is what will likely define it, writes Ed Warner. What word or phrase to you best describes the state of English football? Would broken, bust or (morally and/or financially) bankrupt fit your bill? A tad sensational, [...]
BBC should be aggregator of best free sports content – or risk sinking for good Sport Business YouTube serves up live sport galore so why can’t the BBC do the same, with a more selective approach that fulfils its public service remit, asks Ed Warner. I’ve no problem with paying £180 for my annual TV licence. Gets me Celebrity Traitors and Blue Lights, after all. Plus the Shipping Forecast to wake up [...]
Might Manchester City punishment push them into forming a global super league? Sport Business What if heavily punishing Manchester City causes their ownership to stick two fingers up at the Premier League and walk away, wonders Ed Warner. Let’s play fantasy football. But first the disclaimer: yes, Manchester City have their backs to a precipitous sporting and financial cliff. Yes, they are surrounded by the massed armies of Premier [...]
Top marks to Athlos for reimagining athletics and creating that elusive vibe September 24, 2026 Generating atmosphere at live sport is no easy feat – and it might not be the one that everyone wants – but Athlos succeeded, writes Ed Warner. Perri Shakes-Drayton was there for it. Luke Littler might stay away because of it. Millwall and West Ham fans create it organically. The average county cricket fan at [...]
Ultimate Championships delivered but can China at the 2027 Worlds? September 17, 2026 China didn’t feature much at the Ultimate Championships and Ed Warner questions whether they can at a home World Championships in 2027. “I might get told off. I just did a race, so I’m allowed to drink what I would like. Thank you so much,” said Lando Norris as he reached for a Coke after [...]
Here’s to the quiet heroism of county cricket: Pride, jeopardy and extraordinary matches September 10, 2026 While the world’s white-ball franchise leagues flash past in a blur of sixes, jazzy uniforms and fireworks, England’s red-ball heartbeat, the County Championship, keeps thumping, writes Ed Warner. We painted the County Ground in Hove yellow on Tuesday to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of John Wisden just under a mile away in Crown [...]
Greater fool theory helps to explain Premier League’s record £3.5bn transfer window September 3, 2026 The transfer window has left Ed Warner’s head in a spin and even the most devoted football nut must have struggled to keep up, he writes. The football transfer window closed on Tuesday night, with over £3bn splashed out by Premier League clubs for the second summer running. In the end, Everton didn’t sell their [...]
What I’ve learned about English cricket finances in seven weeks chairing Sussex August 27, 2026 Seven weeks as chair of Sussex Cricket and no major jolts to the view of the sport that I held while my nose was pressed to the window looking in, but lots of new detail to fill out my understanding of its challenges. Some of these challenges are unique to cricket, others common to many [...]
Is £5bn now the entry ticket into Premier League football? August 20, 2026 It may have taken 34 years but the Premier League has at last clawed its way into the financial big time. The reported £5.5bn valuation placed on Liverpool FC by a consortium of new investors that includes Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos – aka the world’s third richest man – has the whiff of an NFL [...]
Not enough bums in Brum: Why so many empty seats at European Athletics Championships? August 13, 2026 Britain loves sport yet ticket sales for the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham have been slow. Ed Warner wonders why. British sport has a capacity problem or a bandwidth one, depending on which way you want to look at it. Too many seats in too many venues with too few bums to fill them. Or [...]
