Major League Cricket: Silicon Valley and Bollywood’s grand plan to make America fall in love with T20 December 23, 2020 People don’t tend to associate the game of cricket with the United States. The world’s second most popular sport has an estimated global following of 2.5bn, yet has struggled to attract an audience in the US, where American football, baseball, and basketball dominate the live sport broadcasting schedule. But a group of investors that includes [...]
Chris Tremlett: Why Zak Crawley’s double century was my cricket highlight of 2020 December 22, 2020 How a player starts their international career can be defining, so my cricket highlight of 2020 was a young man laying down a marker. Zak Crawley’s double century for England in the third Test against the West Indies during the summer was really impressive. A performance like that should fill the 22-year-old Kent batsman with [...]
EFL clubs urged to sue government after being cut out of £300m bailout December 17, 2020 English Football League (EFL) clubs should unite and sue the government for excluding them from its sport bailout, says one owner. The Sports Winter Survival Package last month issued £300m of emergency funding to offset the financial impact of Covid-19. Rugby union received £135m and horse racing £40m, but the only funding for football was [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: Premier League toasts beIN deal; banker set to buy Lille; breakaways boosted; Australian Open delay; and Griezmann bins Huawei December 17, 2020 Christmas cheer has arrived early at the Premier League after it agreed a new $500m deal with beIN Sports. The contract, which gives beIN exclusive broadcast rights in 24 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, is effectively a three-year extension to their deal for 2019-22. It comes as a boost to the Premier [...]
Amazon to launch Prime Video on Sky ‘in time for Christmas’ December 14, 2020 The Amazon Prime Video app will launch on Sky Q, Sky Ticket and NOW TV devices from 14 December – just in time for Christmas. The news follows a new multi-year partnership agreement between the two companies, which brings Sky services to Amazon devices and vice versa. The move is the latest example of aggregation from [...]
‘Powerful’ Arteta will succeed at Arsenal: CEO December 12, 2020 Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham has backed under-fire manager Mikel Arteta to turn the Premier League club’s fortunes around after a dismal start to the season. Spaniard Arteta has come under increasing pressure followintg the north London club’s slide down the standings, with Arsenal languishing in 15th after losing five of their last seven league [...]
Spurs’ Jessica Naz and Harry Kane are scoring goals for good December 11, 2020 The club motto is Audere est Facere. To dare is to do. For two of its top players – Jessica Naz and Harry Kane – this means acting decisively not only on the pitch, but off, as they roll up their sleeves to get involved with Tottenham Hotspur Foundation (THF). They’re strikers who care as [...]
Supersizing DAZN: Why a UK launch is just the start of the sport streaming service’s global ambitions December 11, 2020 “Supersizing” is the buzzword of the moment at DAZN, the sport streaming service that finally launched in the UK this month. It’s an appropriate one, in that it reflects DAZN’s expansion to more than 200 countries, making it the first global platform of its kind. It is also suitably bullish for a company that is [...]
Sport at Christmas: Why the festive period is a gift for canny PRs seeking impactful coverage December 10, 2020 Did we take for granted just how much incredible sport usually takes place throughout the festive period? In football, we have Boxing Day and New Year’s Day fixtures. Rugby, meanwhile, sees the annual Big Game in which Harlequins head across the road to Twickenham for the ultimate booze-filled day out for 80,000 fans. Inevitably, it [...]
Post-Brexit transfer rules: How they work and why legal experts believe they are good for English football December 9, 2020 Post-Brexit transfer rules will be “easier and better” for English clubs and “a good thing for football”, according to a leading immigration lawyer. From January 2021, all overseas signings will have to prove their eligibility via a points system that takes into account factors including how many games they have played. In addition, English clubs [...]