Ladbrokes chases William Hill in the exodus to Gibraltar as profits slump August 6, 2009 BETTING firm Ladbrokes yesterday confirmed it would be following the fleeing footsteps of William Hill by moving its online gambling arm to Gibraltar, which it says will save £7m a year. Chief executive Christopher Bell blamed “intense competitive pressures” for the move. UK based gambling firms must cough up 15 per cent of their earnings [...]
Spurs pluck 8m Bassong out of Toon August 6, 2009 TOTTENHAM manager Harry Redknapp yesterday moved to patch up his injury-ridden back line by agreeing an £8m deal for Newcastle defender Sebastien Bassong. The 23-year-old has admitted he is leaving St James’ Park following the Magpies’ relegation to the Championship, and is thought to have passed a medical at Spurs. Redknapp, meanwhile, needs cover at [...]
Reds agree to sell Alonso to Real for 34m August 4, 2009 LIVERPOOL midfielder Xabi Alonso will today complete his long-awaited move to Real Madrid after the two clubs finally agreed a £34m deal last night. Months of haggling were brought to a close when Liverpool accepted a package thought to be worth £30m up front and a further £4m based on his performance at Real. The [...]
Top Up TV signs deal with ESPN to broadcast Premier League football August 4, 2009 TOP UP TV, the media group that offers premium content to Freeview, yesterday signed a carriage deal with ESPN to show top football this season and signalled that it hoped to offer subscribers Sky Sports 1 & 2 by the end of the first half of next year. Top Up founder and former BSkyB stalwart [...]
Benitez lines up Aquilani to replace Real-bound Alonso August 3, 2009 LIVERPOOL boss Rafael Benitez has wasted no time in replacing Xabi Alonso by closing in on the signing of Roma’s Alberto Aquilani. Reports in Europe suggest Benitez has already had a £15.2m bid for the midfielder accepted by the Italian club, while his representatives were thrashing out a deal with big-spending Real over the future [...]
KICK OFF AT ESPN UK August 2, 2009 ESPN will today become the first non-UK channel to show Premier League football in the UK, as it launches its ESPN UK channel on Sky and Virgin Media. The channel will show 46 live Barclays Premier League matches – which it bought the rights to after Setanta UK went into administration – plus a selection [...]
Eduardo fears for Arsenal as Toure seals 16m City switch July 29, 2009 ARSENAL striker Eduardo believes the departure of defender Kolo Toure has virtually killed off the Gunners’ hopes of winning the Premier League. Toure, the last remaining member of the famous Invincibles team from 2003-04, last night completed a £16m move to Manchester City. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has already sold £25m striker Emmanuel Adebayor – [...]
Virgin nets a key deal with Disney’s ESPN July 29, 2009 ESPN, the Disney-owned media group that has picked up live Premier League football rights from the defunct Setanta, yesterday agreed a carriage deal with Virgin Media, the cable company. The deal is similar to Virgin’s previous deal with Setanta, whereby Virgin customers paying for the highest television package will get the channel, which will show [...]
Skipper Terry rejects Man City to stick with Chelsea July 26, 2009 CHELSEA captain John Terry yesterday pledged his future to the club, insisting there was never any possibility he would be lured by a lucrative offer from Manchester City. England skipper Terry broke his silence to end weeks of speculation that he was ready to halt his 14-year association with Chelsea and become ambitious City’s most [...]
SPREAD BETTING PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW July 23, 2009 THE BIG question for any football punter prior to this season is ‘can Man City break into the Big Four?’. Mark Hughes has spent millions and although it looks like he’s been unsuccessful in his bid for John Terry, people are starting to sit up and take notice. Sporting Index are predicting that City will [...]