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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Man City Puma kit deal helps UK sponsorship market hit £5bn

March 12, 2026

Manchester City’s Puma kit extension helped the UK sponsorship market top £5bn in 2025, up over 10 per cent on 2024. City signed a record-breaking 10-year kit partnership extension last year which could be worth around £100m per season. It, combined with other sponsorship activity across the UK saw the sector grow 10.5 per cent [...]
Hundred auction: Welsh Fire spend big, Coles lands £390k contract

March 12, 2026

Welsh Fire were the big spenders in the morning session of The Hundred auction, splashing £540,000 on Joe Root and Jordan Cox. Wicket-keeper-batter Cox – who was the leading run scorer in last year’s Hundred competition – fetched the highest price before the lunch break, being snapped up by the Cardiff-based franchise for £300,000. Former [...]
Blitz Golf: Golf’s answer to T20 cricket coming to London

March 12, 2026

When LIV burst into the sporting galaxy it promised to be “golf, but louder”. So what do you call golf that lasts just three hours and has been described as the sport’s version of Twenty20 cricket? The answer, it seems, is Blitz. Established in Australia back in 2018, Blitz Golf shot to prominence when cricketer [...]
Toulouse minority owner: Prem Rugby franchising ‘very exciting’

March 11, 2026

A ringfenced Prem Rugby should be seen as an exciting prospect that could one day chase down the powerhouse Top 14 league, according to a co-owner of six-time Investec Champions Cup winners Toulouse. The RFU Council voted through measures last month that ended automatic promotion and relegation from Prem Rugby to the second-tier Champ. It [...]
Birmingham City: How Wagner and West Mids Mayor unlocked stadium plan

March 11, 2026

Last year, at the end of January, the Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker picked up the phone to Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner to hear a football club shareholder frustrated with the public interest surrounding the construction of a new arena for Manchester United rather than his stadium project in Britain’s second city. [...]
Itoje and Pollock can boost Britain’s soft power on global stage, MP says

March 10, 2026

England captain Maro Itoje and teammate Henry Pollock have been backed to become ambassadors for the country. Steve Borthwick’s England side may be on a dire run of three consecutive defeats but Liberal Democrat MP Edward Morello insists the pair, alongside Women’s Rugby World Cup winning Red Roses, can help to project Britain’s soft power [...]
Football investors Mercury13 take majority stake in top flight Spanish club

March 10, 2026

Women’s football multi-club group Mercury13 has expanded its ownership roster with the majority acquisition of Spanish Liga F side FC Badalona Women. The move brings the top-flight club into a portfolio which includes WSL 2 team Bristol City Women and Italian outfit FC Como Women. Lauren Holiday, chairwoman of Mercury13 and incoming board member of [...]
Treasury ignored DCMS gambling tax hike concerns before Budget raid

March 6, 2026

Whitehall raised questions about the amount of money a gambling levy could raise before Chancellor Rachel Reeves pushed ahead with tax hikes in the Autumn Budget. A Freedom of Information request seen by City AM shows analysis by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in response to proposals by the Social Market Foundation and [...]
Formula 1 signs first ever official betting operator in multi-year deal

March 5, 2026

Betway has announced a deal with Formula 1 in a move that will see the motorsport agree its first ever betting operator sponsorship. The move, which is not a global sponsor, spans Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Canada and Mexico and sees Formula 1 enter the betting market. Betway platforms will [...]
Littler and Humphries set for Silverstone showdown at F1 British Grand Prix

March 5, 2026

Luke Littler and Luke Humphries will compete at the British Grand Prix this year, with Silverstone today set to confirm a darts tournament as part of the Formula 1 weekend. World champion Littler, as well as Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Fallon Sherrock, will throw at Silverstone’s trackside Boxpark in “A Night at the Darts” [...]

UK Private Capital raises alarm over ‘slow and unclear’ progress from Mansion House signatories

Matchroom could move into booming rugby in a big way, says Hearn

London Sports Festival Serves Up Pickleball in New Street Square

By: Matt Hardy

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