Stokes Big Bash deal could kickstart £3m franchise cricket pay day September 1, 2026 Former England Test captain Ben Stokes has signed a deal with Australian T20 Big Bash team Adelaide Strikers in a move that could see him earn nearly £3m on the lucrative franchise circuit. Stokes, who retired from international cricket in June, has not played franchise cricket since the 2024 Hundred but has signed Down Under [...]
Government urged to do more to tackle £1bn piracy problem in sport and entertainment September 1, 2026 Illegal streaming of live sport, film and TV is costing the UK economy £1.35bn and requires a tougher crackdown, the government has been told. Piracy of content including Premier League football is depriving the Exchequer of £366m in tax and could fund 10,000 jobs in media, according to a new report commissioned by cross-industry coalition [...]
Liverpool’s £123m Bradley Barcola signing takes Premier League spending to £3bn August 31, 2026 Premier League clubs are on course to threaten last year’s record £3.1bn summer spending on deadline day after Liverpool completed the £123m signing of Bradley Barcola. Teams in England’s top division have already shelled out around £3bn in the current window, which is set to close across Europe tomorrow night at 11pm. That leaves them [...]
Big-spending Chelsea sign up crypto firm Circle as shirt sponsor August 28, 2026 Chelsea have tapped the crypto industry in their search for a new main sponsor by agreeing a one-year front-of-shirt deal with Circle Internet Group. The New York-listed company is best known as the issuer of stablecoin USDC, which is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and will also appear on the shirts of Chelsea’s men’s, [...]
Jamie Vardy bags Bundesliga rights as he steps up streaming war with Neville and Lineker August 28, 2026 Former England striker Jamie Vardy is stepping up his efforts to build a media empire to rival Gary Neville and Gary Lineker by acquiring the rights to show live Bundesliga games on his YouTube channel. Jamie Vardy’s Having A Party will stream seven Friday night games from the German top division, beginning tonight when Harry [...]
Premier League Gameweek 2 Predictions: Arsenal and Chelsea March On August 27, 2026 It was an absorbing opening week of action in the Premier League with Arsenal cruising, Manchester City battling and Liverpool just about rescuing themselves. Two of the promoted teams won, including Hull’s astonishingly straightforward victory over an abject Manchester United. Matchday two kicks off on Friday night with Enzo Maresca’s City in the capital to [...]
Jamie Carragher: HMRC petitions for Sky Sports star to be declared bankrupt August 27, 2026 HMRC has filed a petition seeking to have Sky Sports pundit and former England footballer Jamie Carragher declared bankrupt over an unpaid tax bill. The case was filed against James Lee Duncan Carragher by solicitors representing HMRC at the High Court in London yesterday, filings show. The 48-year-old is one of the faces of Sky [...]
Why Manchester City’s £86m Bouaddi signing should ring alarm bells in French football August 25, 2026 Manchester City’s €100m (£86m) signing of Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi is more than just another example of a super-rich European giant hoovering up a promising talent. It is also the latest sign of French football’s talent drain, a phenomenon fuelled by the Premier League’s ever-growing spending power and the financial struggles of most of Ligue [...]
Spurs take outlay to £320m with Savinho deal but still aren’t England’s biggest spenders August 25, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur have taken their summer spending past the £300m mark by completing the signing of winger Savinho from Manchester City. The Brazilian is the fourth player to join Spurs for a fee of more than £50m since the end of last season, following Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke. They have [...]
Why Liverpool deal proves demand for Premier League stakes is soaring August 23, 2026 There is strong demand for English football stakes, writes Ed Barnett of Latham & Watkins, which advised the Amit Bhatia-led consortium on its acquisition of a minority stake in Liverpool. The recent sale of a stake in Liverpool FC to a consortium of investors led and managed by Amit Bhatia shows the summer’s biggest transfers [...]