NFL buys stake in Disney subsidiary ESPN in media asset swap August 6, 2025 The NFL is set to buy a minority stake in ESPN as the media giant takes control of American football’s NFL Network assets. The non-binding agreement, confirmed in the early hours of Wednesday morning, will see the NFL purchase a 10 per cent stake in the Walt Disney subsidiary and allow Disney to broadcast more [...]
O’Sullivan backs snooker union to give players more say in deals August 6, 2025 Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui have backed a new union for snooker players created to give them more say in commercial and scheduling decisions. The Professional Snooker Players Association is chaired by four-time world champion John Higgins, while its Players Board includes Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter and Stuart Bingham. [...]
Gianni Infantino, Jay Shah and the rise of sport’s super-execs August 5, 2025 Infantino at Fifa and Shah at the ICC are styling themselves as super-execs like Musk and Zuckerberg but it won’t end well, warns Matt Readman. In sport, the best referees go unnoticed. They quietly manage the game, letting play flow and leaving the athletes to shine. Occasionally they must enforce the law, but they are [...]
Stonehenge and glitter: Inside the Bank of England’s new banknote consultation July 28, 2025 The Bank of England first began issuing banknotes in 1694, and today there are 4.7bn sterling banknotes in circulation, worth a combined total of £86bn. And while the use of cash as a method of payment has dropped from around one in two transactions to one in four over the past decade, cash remains a [...]
Jess Carter, the Online Safety Act and a problem that won’t go away July 26, 2025 Online racist and misogynistic abuse of Lionesses defender Jess Carter during the Women’s Euros echoes that faced by Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho after the men’s Euro 2020 final. The Online Safety Act 2023 aimed to make the UK the world leader in this area, so why are we still asking how to [...]
Brentford FC sponsor rapped by watchdog for pushing gambling to kids July 23, 2025 Premier League club Brentford FC’s main sponsor, Hollywoodbets, has been rapped by the advertising watchdog for targeting children. The Advertising Standards Authority today upheld a complaint from a minor prompted by an ad for the bookmaker on the esports website Virtual Football League. The complainant was presented with the ad, which urged users to sign [...]
Rugby League Ashes a North Star for the game in England July 21, 2025 Sports are forever trying to innovate, develop and find the next mast on which to pin their colours to. But not international rugby league. While the English domestic Super League have brought in IMG to promote and relegate teams based on a list of external criteria that some clubs already want tweaked, the international game [...]
Wimbledon’s £200m expansion green-lit by High Court July 21, 2025 A legal challenge to stop a £200m plan to almost triple the size of Wimbledon tennis club has been dismissed by a High Court judge
Mike Ashley’s investments double to £1bn thanks to Hugo Boss shares July 17, 2025 The total value of the stakes Mike Ashley’s empire holds in the likes of Hugo Boss, AO World and Boohoo have doubled to £1bn in just over a year, it has been revealed. According to the group’s latest financial results, which have been filed with the London Stock Exchange, the value of its investments in [...]
Sadiq Khan: Why I’m leading the first trade mission to Africa by a London Mayor July 15, 2025 Africa is the world's most rapidly urbanising region. Forging closer ties could be a boon for London businesses, writes Sadiq Khan.