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 [...]
Everton facing early termination of Stake sleeve deal as ban looms July 15, 2026 Everton face losing a major sponsorship deal after the UK Government stepped up plans to ban any advertising of unlicensed betting companies. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched a consultation on preventing any betting brand that does not hold a Gambling Commission licence from promoting itself through sponsorship or advertising in any [...]
NBA Europe bosses using World Cup final to hold talks with football club chiefs July 15, 2026 NBA chiefs say they plan to hold further talks with bidders for franchises in its planned European league during the World Cup final weekend in New York. Spain – home to perhaps the two most important prospective NBA Europe franchise locations in Madrid and Barcelona – will be in town after they beat France in [...]
Football ‘muddling through’ in face of growing ‘tensions’, says Boston Consulting Group July 15, 2026 Football is in danger of eating itself unless the sport comes together to address growing inequalities, a consultancy hired by the Independent Football Regulator has warned. Boston Consulting Group, which has worked with the IFR to produce the State of the Game report that will shape the regulator’s approach to English football, has today published [...]