IPL suspended as PSL moved to UAE over India-Pakistan ‘war’ May 9, 2025 The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended while the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been shifted to the UAE over tensions between Pakistan and India. The two nuclear powers have been at odds of late with a recent air strike killing 31 in Pakistan, according to Islamabad officials. It has led to each nation’s [...]
Premiership run-in: Saints and Bath will impact top four May 9, 2025 Look at the Premiership table and you’ll see that the top team and Challenge Cup finalists Bath are 15 points clear of second-placed Leicester Tigers, and Champions Cup finalists Northampton Saints are 17 points safe from dropping out of the top eight. And with just three games remaining for each team, and a maximum of [...]
How ‘unsexy’ B2B firms are pushing out consumer brands in sport May 9, 2025 “Unsexy” B2B firms are increasingly replacing consumer-facing brands in some of the country’s most prized sport sponsorship deals, new research has found. Manufacturing/engineering, specialist professional services, construction and software are four of the five fastest-growing industries appearing as front-of-shirt sponsors of England’s top football, rugby and cricket teams. The study by sponsorship intelligence firm Caytoo [...]
Beckham, Neville, PR guru Kelly and Lord Davies take over Salford City May 8, 2025 Former Manchester United stars David Beckham and Gary Neville have joined forces with entrepreneur Declan Kelly and Lord Mervyn Davies to take control of Salford City FC. Beckham and Neville were already shareholders in the League Two football club as part of the Class of ’92 but Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil [...]
Chelsea Women sign Skoda as first back of shirt sponsor May 8, 2025 Chelsea Women will get their first ever back of shirt partner after signing an extension to its partnership with Skoda. The Czech brand’s UK arm will don the back of the Chelsea shirts, effective immediately, having first partnered with the Kingsmeadow club in 2024. Chelsea won their sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title this month [...]
British and Irish Lions launch takes heritage brand into modern age at O2 May 8, 2025 The British and Irish Lions have followed in Formula 1’s footsteps in hosting launch events in London and it’s dragged a heritage brand into the modern era, writes Will Taylor. This afternoon, the British and Irish Lions did something they’ve never done before, they turned their usual squad selection into a show. For the first [...]
London Lions savour turnaround and eye Super League Basketball play-off final May 8, 2025 London Lions CEO Lenz Balan has hailed the club’s “unbelievable” recovery from the brink of extinction to within touching distance of a fifth consecutive play-off final. The domestic champions were plucked from administration by new owners, Lithuanian tech incubator Tesonet, in a hugely turbulent few months for British basketball last summer. Despite shedding star names, [...]
New Zealand Rugby post £8.7m loss months after Ineos saga May 8, 2025 New Zealand Rugby has posted a third consecutive loss despite the firm – which encompasses the All Blacks – achieving record income. A NZ$19.5m (£8.7m) loss for 2024 follows losses of NZ$8.9m (£4m) and NZ$47m (£21m) in 2023 and 2022 respectively. While nowhere near the £34.3m loss at England’s Rugby Football Union recently, the 2024 [...]
Saudi Arabia’s PIF sponsors new $13m prize golf series May 8, 2025 The Saudi Arabia investment vehicle the Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to be the title sponsor of a revamped golf programme. The PIF Global Series will replace the Aramco Team Series and will have a total prize pot of $13m. The PIF Global Series will span five events on the Ladies European Tour (LET) – [...]
Raiola Ratings, FPL gurus and €1m: What super agent’s family did next May 8, 2025 The larger-than-life, occasionally combustible figure of football super-agent Mino Raiola couldn’t have appeared further from the world of number-crunching and algorithms. The late transfer broker, whose clients included Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Erling Haaland, always seemed far more into pressing the flesh and pouring champagne than poring over data. But one strand of the [...]