Over 1,000 World Cup final tickets unsold as resale site demands $2.3m July 17, 2026 Over 1,000 tickets remain unsold for the World Cup final on Fifa’s resale site as some prices reach $2.3m. Spain will take on Argentina on Sunday at New Jersey’s 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium – known during this tournament as the New York New Jersey Stadium – in the World Cup final as the 104th and final [...]
What can the Rugby World Cup learn from US nailing of Fifa World Cup? July 17, 2026 With a United States Rugby World Cup just five years away, Ollie Phillips asks what can the sport learn from the Fifa World Cup. Sitting here in the UK looking across the Atlantic to a World Cup mainly staged in the United States, it is difficult not to get just a little bit excited about [...]
World Cup demand pushes price of private jet charters up 30 per cent July 16, 2026 The price of chartering a private jet between some US cities has surged by up to 30 per cent due to “exceptionally strong demand” during the World Cup. Corporate groups, wealthy football fans and syndicates of supporters travelling together have turned to private charters in increasing numbers to navigate the biggest and most geographically dispersed [...]
England semi pulls in 24m on BBC but falls short of Euros final July 16, 2026 BBC coverage of England getting dumped out of the World Cup broke 2026 records but fell short of other football matches in historical rankings. Around 24m watched Argentina’s late 2-1 win in Atlanta, making the match the most-watched live television moment of the year. The broadcast averaged 22.1m viewers on the BBC with the channel’s [...]
2026 Open Championship set to double spending in Royal Birkdale July 16, 2026 This week’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale is set to double takings at businesses in the local area, according to data from Mastercard. Last year’s edition at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland delivered a 119 per cent increase in spending within 5km of golf’s oldest major tournament, while the 2024 Open saw an 82 per [...]
Calls for Argentina to be banned from World Cup over Falklands banner July 16, 2026 MPs have called for Argentina players to be banned from the Fifa World Cup final after showing a banner relating to the Falkland Islands. Argentina players celebrated their 2-1 semi-final victory over England by waving a banner which read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”. Translated as “The Falklands are Argentine”, the banner appears to be against [...]
Sport expects true fan Andy Burnham to take a leaf out of John Major’s book July 16, 2026 Andy Burnham was Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for 16 months in Gordon Brown’s cabinet. This was a time in which shirt and tie was the required political dress code for swinging in a children’s playground in Brixton with the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Family, one Ed Balls. Burnham’s [...]
Sushidog investor pumps seven-figure sum into golf sim brand ahead of Open July 16, 2026 A firm with investments in Sushidog and Smash Padel has pumped a seven-figure sum into a UK golf simulator company ahead of the Open Championship. Middleton Enterprises, the family office of HomeServe co-founder Jeremy Middleton, will invest upwards of £1m into TeeGo, a simulator firm looking to drive growth in indoor golf. The injection will [...]
Delicious Orie: The boxer who swapped sparring for spreadsheets July 15, 2026 When Delicious Orie took just four rounds to beat Milos Veletic in his professional boxing debut at the Co-op Live last April – just three years on from a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham – you’d have been forgiven for thinking a long and illustrious, 20-bout career lay ahead of him. But the 29-year-old [...]
Motsepe backed to succeed Fifa’s Infantino by South African minister July 15, 2026 African football chief Patrice Motsepe has been backed to succeed Gianni Infantino as president of Fifa when the Swiss moves on from an anticipated third term in 2031. The South African minister for sport, Gayton McKenzie, said “I don’t know if there’s anybody that will disagree with his name” being in the hat to succeed [...]