Ed Warner: English football of all levels penetrating hyper-commercial US sport Opinion Does anyone in England call the Premier League the EPL? I ask because I had a random encounter at Heathrow last week with one of a group of five Crystal Palace fans headed to Selhurst Park for their “first EPL game”. The Ted Lasso effect maybe? I only hope they made it to the Clifton [...]
Ed Warner: Kicked off, tipped off, switched off weekly column One of the joys of writing Sport inc. is the flow of suggestions from readers of subjects to cover. In the past week alone: the highly leveraged balance sheets of Premiership rugby clubs ahead of the new season, the continuing scandal of the lack of financial support for Britain’s international basketball teams, the prohibitive cost [...]
777 Partners vice president: ‘We want BBL to be next best rival to NBA’ state side dreamin' Investment firm 777 Partners is determined to make the British Basketball League (BBL) the second biggest domestic league in the sport, behind the NBA. Since the US company’s acquisition of 45 per cent in the BBL last year, the league has seen record crowds and will have its first team – the London Lions, who [...]
BBL ready to slam dunk its rival basketball competitions July 13, 2022 British basketball has only ever featured at the Olympics when the team has participated as the host nation and has never qualified for the Fiba World Cup. A Sport England survey estimates the number of those participating in the sport in England has dropped by 100,000 since 2016. In spite of this, however, the British [...]
How Nike’s Jordan deal changed sports industry: new Ben Affleck and Matt Damon film to tell story April 20, 2022 Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are to star in a new film about the rise of Nike from upstart trainer brand to global sportswear giant. The movie will focus on Nike’s unlikely pursuit of a contract basketball star Michael Jordan – a deal which transformed the company’s fortunes and changed the course of the industry. [...]
Big Sport Quiz of 2021: How much do you remember? December 20, 2021 From teenagers sweeping to Grand Slam tennis titles to England reaching a major football final, an Olympic Games like no other and the introduction of a brand new cricket competition, it has been a hugely eventful year in sport. Off the field it has been just as transformative, with private equity and, increasingly, cryptocurrency and [...]
Ed Warner: Sewing ruling bodies together is not always the answer November 18, 2021 I’m a late adopter of LinkedIn, only joining this summer as a means of promoting Sport inc. Compiling my profile, I paused for just a second before deciding not to include my inglorious 52 days as interim chair of the British Basketball Federation back in 2018. On Sunday, as the T20 World Cup neared its [...]
Exclusive: Sportradar signs major new NBA betting data deal November 17, 2021 Sports data giant Sportradar has continued its spree of major deals by signing a new contract with the NBA until 2031, City A.M. can reveal. The agreement, announced today, will see the Swiss company provide betting data to the world-leading basketball competition on an exclusive basis. The eight-year deal extends Sportradar’s current arrangement with the [...]
Barack Obama joins NBA’s African arm as strategic partner and minority shareholder July 28, 2021 The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that former US president Barack Obama has joined its new African arm as a strategic partner. The 44th President of the United States will also own a minority stake in NBA Africa, which officials say he intends to use for Obama Foundation projects across the continent. Obama will [...]
Premier League and Manchester United named top of the table for cashing in on social media May 12, 2021 The Premier League and Manchester United have the most valuable social media output across all sports, according to a new report. The Premier League is projected to derive £302m from activity on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by year end, more than any other sport competition in the world. Manchester United, meanwhile, have a digital inventory [...]