Pre-season tours: Inside the economics of football’s summer money-spinners August 14, 2026 Football’s summer tours have turned into travelling commercial platforms bringing together big fees, sponsors, merchandise, media and global fan growth, explains Simon Dent. For most football supporters, pre-season used to mean low-key friendlies against a local non-league team, some heavy-legged players and a chance to see the new signing for 30 minutes. For clubs, it [...]
Royal Hospital Chelsea to host top Arabian horse competition August 13, 2026 London is set to increase its status as a major sport staging destination with Royal Hospital Chelsea this weekend hosting some of the world’s top horses. The Global Champions Arabians Tour will descend on the home of the Chelsea Pensioners over three days this weekend in an event that is set to see fierce competition [...]
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 [...]
Could a ‘land blocking’ rule change spell danger for Aldi and Lidl? August 13, 2026 German discounters Aldi and Lidl have rapidly taken control of the UK’s budget grocery market in recent years. But could new curbs on ‘land blocking’ slow their insurgency? Only a few decades ago, Lidl and Aldi were oddities. By 2008, the German discount supermarkets had been in the UK for more than 10 years but [...]
Championship club QPR selling stadium naming rights… on LinkedIn August 13, 2026 Championship club Queens Park Rangers are selling the naming rights to their Loftus Road stands on LinkedIn. The second tier club, based in the capital, says they’re offering “an exciting opportunity” to sponsor QPR, stating that a “company-branded stand would become part of the visual backdrop of QPR matches”. Loftus Road’s four stands all currently [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 drops as Antofagasta prompts miner sell-off; oil prices cool August 13, 2026 Welcome back to City AM liveblog. The FTSE 100 dropped on Thursday morning, as the mining sector dragged on the blue-chip index. Antofagasta has fallen furthest, by nearly five per cent, after investors pounced on a production shortfall and cut to full-year guidance disclosed in its update this morning. This spook has weighed on the [...]
Aston Villa commercial status a tonic for Premier League in big-spending era August 12, 2026 Aston Villa may not have thought they’d feature in a Super Cup anytime soon, but their commercial foundations have allowed them to challenge the best. Amidst much of the doom and gloom that surrounds the Premier league and its inevitable collapse into monotony under the financial suffocation of the ‘Big Six’ – no better represented [...]
London being lined up to host re-run of GAA final between Mayo and Kerry August 12, 2026 London is being lined up to stage a re-run of last month’s dramatic GAA All-Ireland Football Championship between Mayo and Kerry. Saracens’ StoneX Stadium is being eyed by the two counties who are seeking permission from the Central Council in Ireland to stage the match, according to the Irish Independent. The match could see the [...]
Chelsea fans stunned as ticket sharing equated with sexual misconduct August 12, 2026 Chelsea have stunned supporters by equating unauthorised ticket sharing with sexual misconduct in their sanctioning guidelines for the new season. Premier League clubs are cracking down on ticket misuse but long-standing season ticket holders, who have long shared log-ins and built networks to help each other buy tickets, feel unfairly targeted. Bots and touts remain [...]
English Football League ‘concerned and disappointed’ at PFA legal challenge August 11, 2026 The English Football League (EFL) has criticised player union the PFA for taking legal action to block new cost controls for clubs in League One. The PFA is opposing the Squad Cost Management Protocol on the basis it could damage players’ earning potential, having previously defeated a previous rule change in 2021 on the basis [...]