Number of private equity deals in sport soared in 2024, report says March 9, 2025 The number of major sports acquisitions and mergers by Private Equity has nearly doubled in the last 12 months. Private Equity deals have risen from 96 in 2023 to 190 in 2024, according to a new report. Financial advisory firm Oaklins states that there has been an overall 44 per cent increase in deals – [...]
Netball Super League 2025: Learning from the WNBA – and coming to the O2 March 8, 2025 New teams, new rules, a new competition structure and a big bump in pay; a new era of the Netball Super League begins this weekend with the biggest shake-up in its 20-year history. Gone are Bath, the league’s most successful side, and three other teams as the field has shrunk from 10 to eight. In [...]
Football Regulator: Reform UK demand government ‘leave football alone’ March 7, 2025 Reform UK has slammed plans for a football regulator interfering in the Premier League, insisting the government should “leave it alone”. A Westminster Hall debate this week drew sarcastic digs from both sports minister Stephanie Peacock and her shadow counterpart Louie French on the football regulator, which has recently concluded a series of debates in [...]
Chelsea’s squad is the most expensive ever, Uefa confirms March 6, 2025 Chelsea’s squad at the end of the 2024 financial year was the most expensive ever assembled in football, according to a new Uefa report. Big-spending Chelsea’s squad was worth an astonishing €1.66bn (£1.39bn), eclipsing the previous highest recorded by Real Madrid in 2020 (£1.12bn). Uefa’s European Club Finance and Investment Landscape Report, published on Thursday, [...]
Ed Warner: My memo to sport’s blazers? Stay out of the way March 6, 2025 Sport governing bodies should focus on organisational framework but professional activity can largely be left to the free market, argues Ed Warner. Who doesn’t love a badge, especially if having the right to flaunt it conveys status? Witness the urge to wear replica kit, even though the status this gives is simply identification as a [...]
Mark Kleinman: Football watchdog search approaches injury time March 6, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. Today, he tackles the football watchdog search, big pay at GSK and CityFibre’s M&A warchest Football watchdog search approaches final whistle They think it’s all over. To paraphrase the immortal line of Kenneth Wolstenholme, the 1966 World [...]
Flintoff, Vaughan and Anderson register for Hundred cricket draft March 5, 2025 Rocky Flintoff, son of former England favourite Andrew, has registered himself for the Hundred draft alongside Archie Vaughan, son of Michael. Flintoff, 16, and Vaughan, 19, are among more than 800 players to have put their names forward for inclusion in this year’s competition, with the draft scheduled for 12 March. At the other end [...]
Flutter Entertainment posts strong growth despite challenging sports results March 5, 2025 Flutter Entertainment, the world’s largest online sports betting and gaming operator, has reported an uptick in revenue and earnings despite setbacks from unfavourable sports outcomes. The company’s revenue jumped 14 per cent in the fourth quarter, driven by strength in its UK and Ireland markets and the US. Flutter posted revenue growth of 20 per [...]
TNT Sports leads UK TV deal race for Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track March 5, 2025 TNT Sports is set to bid for UK TV rights for Michael Johnson’s new Grand Slam Track league, which begins in Kingston, Jamaica next month. The four-time Olympic champion has signed 48 international athletes, including Team GB Olympic silver medalists Josh Kerr and Matthew Hudson-Smith, and sprinter Daryll Neita, for the inaugural season of Grand [...]
LaLiga launches UK free-to-air rights tender as ITV deal comes to end March 4, 2025 Spanish football’s LaLiga has launched a media rights tender for free-to-air coverage of games in the United Kingdom. Two packages are on offer to British and Irish broadcasters: the first for exclusive access to all LaLiga matches, and the second for free-to-air matches scheduled for 8pm on Sunday evenings. ITV Sport has been the host [...]