World Cup: The rise of the armchair fan and why it matters December 16, 2025 The row over the 2026 World Cup ticket prices is as predictable as a plucky, late-stage English exit. But the eyewatering price tags are only part of the story. Without going into the economic principle of supply versus demand (the tickets will still sell out, in my opinion), I thought it was more interesting to [...]
Aussie Green reaches record IPL auction sale price December 16, 2025 Australian Cameron Green has been sold for £2.1m at the Indian Premier League auction to become the most expensive overseas cricket player in history. The all-rounder will play for Ramandeep Singh’s Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2026 IPL competition having been purchased for 25.2 crore by the eastern team. The Kolkata Knight Riders, whose 2024 [...]
Premier League clubs count £1bn cost of injuries December 16, 2025 Premier League clubs have forked out more than £1bn in wages to injured players across the last five years, a new study has found. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, 5,367 injuries in the English top flight have cost its clubs £1.2bn in salary payments – equivalent to a quarter of their matchday revenue [...]
Kylian Mbappe wins £53m payout from Paris Saint-Germain December 16, 2025 Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain have been ordered to pay Kylian Mbappe €60m (£53m) after he won a legal dispute over unpaid wages and bonuses. Mbappe had been claiming €263m (£231m) from PSG, who counter-sued the France captain for €240m (£211m), following his acrimonious move to Real Madrid in summer 2024. A French labour court [...]
Leyton Orient hire firm behind world’s biggest stadium for new home December 16, 2025 Leyton Orient have appointed Populous, the architects behind Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to design their new home in East London. The third-tier club announced plans earlier this year to relocate from Brisbane Road to a new ground, which will be the centre of a multi-use development also featuring shops, restaurants and leisure facilities. [...]
Padel match booking firm raises £4.5m in major fund raise December 16, 2025 Major padel match booking app Playtomic has raised €5.1m from an investment raise which will see thousands of players become shareholders. The big-money fund raise closed this month with more than 4,600 investors buying into the social padel service to the tune of £4.5m. The fund was organised through private equity market investment platform Crowdcube, [...]
World Cup tickets aren’t worth getting into debt for, Scotland fans told December 15, 2025 Scotland manager Steve Clarke has urged fans not to rack up debt following his team at the 2026 World Cup, amid criticism of sky-high ticket prices. The Tartan Army is expected to travel in numbers to the US next summer to see Scotland play in a first men’s World Cup for 28 years, where supporters [...]
Mark Cuban and NBA stars join £3m raise for Irish sports tech firm December 15, 2025 Billionaire investor Mark Cuban and several current NBA stars have backed a $4m (£3m) fundraising round for Irish sports tech company Orreco. They join major-winning golfers Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell as investors in Orreco, which uses AI to analyse athletes’ movement for signs of injury susceptibility. “This is the first proactive approach to use [...]
Fifa urged to settle multi-billion-pound claim 30 years on from Bosman December 15, 2025 Fifa has been urged to settle a class action claim which lawyers say is worth billions of pounds in the wake of the Diarra ruling, which has been compared to the landmark Bosman case. Justice For Players says 100,000 professional footballers suffered loss of earnings averaging eight per cent over more than 20 years as [...]
Frank Warren’s Queensberry hired to bring punch to Derby Festival December 15, 2025 Promoter Frank Warren’s Queensberry operation is moving from boxing into horse racing after winning a brief to revitalise The Derby Festival from organisers The Jockey Club. A newly created arm of the business, Queensberry Event Management, will bring its expertise to operations on The Hill, the public enclosure in the middle of the iconic Epsom [...]