By: Matt Hardy

Deputy Sports Editor - City AM Matt Hardy is the City AM Deputy Sports Editor with a specialism in the business of sport. He covers the likes of rugby, cricket, sporting investment and venture capital funds; while also being across golf, cricket, and the politics of sport.

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Premier League clubs count £1bn cost of injuries

December 16, 2025

Premier League clubs have forked out more than £1bn in wages to injured players across the last five years, a new study has found. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, 5,367 injuries in the English top flight have cost its clubs £1.2bn in salary payments – equivalent to a quarter of their matchday revenue [...]
Padel match booking firm raises £4.5m in major fund raise

December 16, 2025

Major padel match booking app Playtomic has raised €5.1m from an investment raise which will see thousands of players become shareholders. The big-money fund raise closed this month with more than 4,600 investors buying into the social padel service to the tune of £4.5m. The fund was organised through private equity market investment platform Crowdcube, [...]
WTA and Mercedes-Benz pen decade-long deal said to be worth $500m

December 10, 2025

The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) has penned a decade-long partnership agreement with Mercedes-Benz believed to be worth as much as $500m (£376m). The deal, announced at the Mercedes factory in Stuttgart with WTA co-founder Billie Jean King and 20-time grand slam winner Roger Federer in attendance, will see the automotive behemoth become a “premier partner” [...]
San Francisco 49ers: Stake sale to OpenAI chair values NFL team at $9bn

December 9, 2025

The San Francisco 49ers have been valued at more than $9bn after the chairman of artificial intelligence behemoth OpenAI agreed to acquire a stake in the NFL franchise. Bret Taylor – who is also the co-founder and chief executive of fellow AI business Sierra, and formerly the board chairman of Twitter – will acquire one [...]
The politics behind the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw and schedule

December 9, 2025

By the time the Village People walked out on stage to close the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw, to the delight of US President Donald Trump and Fifa chief Gianni Infantino, many fans’ thoughts had already turned to who their team would be playing and when. And when the full schedule was confirmed 24 hours [...]
Londoner’s bid for rugby league’s Salford Red Devils has six-figure backing

December 9, 2025

A Londoner who played for Salford Red Devils has said he has six-figure backing for a bid to rescue his fallen former club. Mason Caton-Brown has submitted an offer to buy the former Super League team after they were liquidated with debts of around £4m, ending a 152-year history in rugby league. His Salford Red [...]
New British Cycling firm seeking equity and investment partners

December 9, 2025

Key Hundred team adviser Oakwell Sports Advisory has been engaged by British Cycling as a new firm actively seeks “strategic equity and investment partners”. British Cycling Ventures has been formed to “supercharge commercial growth and target long term strategic investment” in the two-wheeled sport. Oakwell, who advised on The Sun Group’s acquisition of Hundred team [...]
Reynolds and Mac sell stake in Wrexham AFC to major sport investors

December 8, 2025

Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds have sold part of Championship football club Wrexham AFC to Apollo Sports Capital. The sports investment company recently acquired a majority stake in LaLiga giants Atletico Madrid and will now add a minority holding in the Welsh team – Reynolds and Mac will continue as controlling owners. Reynolds and Mac [...]
Golf’s Open to move into August to accommodate Olympics

December 8, 2025

Golf’s Open championship will be moved to accommodate the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The 156th edition, which is yet to have a confirmed host course, will shift into August to ensure the top players can compete in the Olympic golf at Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades. Mark Darbon, the chief executive of [...]
Salah’s Egypt and Iran will contest a ‘pride match’ at 2026 Fifa World Cup

December 8, 2025

The 2026 Fifa World Cup match between Egypt and Iran has been designated as host city Seattle’s “pride match”. Homosexuality is illegal in both Egypt and Iran but the local organising committee in host city Seattle – the Seattle Pride Match Advisory Committee, which is not affiliated with Fifa – has said the match on [...]

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By: Matt Hardy

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