Sale Sharks owner sells £1bn empire to Asda backer TDR Capital January 20, 2025 Simon Orange, the self-made millionaire who co-owns Premiership rugby club Sale Sharks, has sold his business empire to Asda backer TDR Capital in a deal worth more than £1bn. CorpAcq, which is based in Cheshire, counts more than 40 businesses as part of its portfolio including the likes of Cotton Traders. CorpAcq does not included [...]
Matt Dawson joins Clive Woodward-backed Seat Unique January 19, 2025 England’s Rugby World Cup winning scrum-half Matt Dawson has joined premium ticketing firm Seat Unique, which is backed by his former coach Sir Clive Woodward. Seat Unique have tapped up the former international as a business advisor to help the start-up penetrate into new markets, including the English rugby space and beyond. The platform has [...]
English football’s record year for legal spending – can it stay secret? January 19, 2025 Before the Christmas break the Premier League published an article posing the question: what Premier League records for a calendar year can still be broken? While fans watched the glut of fixtures over Christmas, another record had already been set: 2024 was the year that English football was dominated by legal disputes. The Premier League [...]
Destination Calcio: Why a little-known website bought Serie B media rights January 18, 2025 Destination Calcio only popped up last summer and has a modest audience but has snapped up the live rights to Italian football’s Serie B in the UK and US until 2027. What’s going on? Serie B may be at the niche end of football fandom, especially for British lovers of the game, but the Italian [...]
Why the football regulator shouldn’t ignore clubs below National League January 18, 2025 The case of Ebbsfleet United shows why the incoming football regulator’s powers are needed throughout the English game, says Damian Collins. The deeply entwined relationship between English football clubs and the communities they serve is never more evident than at the midpoint of the season and the turn of the year. Whilst most Europeans enjoy [...]
American fund interested in minority stake in Chelsea January 17, 2025 The founder of Angel City FC Kara Nortman is reportedly interested in buying a stake in Women’s Super League club Chelsea FC Women. Monarch Collective, a £123m fund launched by Nortman, is interested in a minority stake in the WSL champions Chelsea, according to Sky News’ Mark Kleinman. National Women’s Soccer League club Angel City [...]
Investment firm Sixth Street poach FA bigwig of 20 years January 17, 2025 Investment giant Sixth Street has poached former FA Women’s Technical Director Kay Cossington to take up a new role with the US organisation. Cossington, who has been with the FA for two decades, will become Sixth Street’s Head of Global Women’s Football and serve as chief executive of Bay Collective, a multi-club organisation under Sixth [...]
Richest women’s football teams: Arsenal rival Barcelona for top spot January 17, 2025 Arsenal are now rivalling Barcelona as the richest women’s football team in world football, according to new analysis by Deloitte. The all-conquering Catalan club remain No1 in the business advisory firm’s ranking of the biggest women’s teams by revenue generated. But Arsenal are a very close second, having also recorded revenue of €17.9m (£15.1m) for [...]
Haaland Manchester City deal could be worth £247m, reports January 17, 2025 Manchester City golden boy Erling Haaland’s nine-and-a-half-year deal could be worth over £245m for the Norway international. The striker, who reached 100 goals for Pep Guardiola’s side in September last year in 105 games, could stay at the Etihad Stadium until 2034 should he play out his entire near-decade contract. It is suggested that his [...]
Investec Champions Cup: Saints and Munster to serve up classic January 17, 2025 Though there has been some debate surrounding the format of the Investec Champions Cup, few can deny that it has led to a final weekend of fixtures with (nearly) everything on the line. Bar the Bulls, who cannot reach the round of 16, there are 23 teams fighting for a spot in the knockouts or [...]