Sport sponsorship: Forecasting the impact of the big events in 2022 Opinion Six months on from wading through the smashed bottles and broken dreams that littered Wembley Way after the calamitous Euro 2020 final, sports fans and sponsors can look forward to an abundance of major global events in 2022. As it happens, this year has been designated the United Nations International Year of Glass, so it’s [...]
The Women’s FA Cup final marks dark of past and possibilities of future Women's sport On Sunday, tens of thousands will head into the home of English football for the Women’s FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea in what could be the best attended domestic match for 101 years, when 53,000 packed into Goodison Park. This weekend, however, will also offer a reminder of a darker era for women’s [...]
Ed Warner: Select committees are ultimately toothless "I’ve had the dubious honour of appearing before three Westminster select committees down the years." The political pile-on has been swift. But although they secured detailed testimony on cricket racism under the cloak of parliamentary privilege, MPs show no signs of learning from the futility of their past hearings into sporting crises. It needn’t be so. I’ve had the dubious honour of appearing before three Westminster select committees down the [...]
Record £3.2bn in private equity deals for sports teams as funds target football, rugby and F1 November 22, 2021 The last twelve months saw a record £3.2bn of sports team acquisitions by private equity funds, almost treble last year’s total, as they targeted football, rugby and Formula 1 teams, according to new data shared with City A.M. this afternoon. Last year saw an all-time high of 11 PE purchases of stakes in sports teams [...]
Anti-doping chiefs WADA consider taking cannabis off prohibited list following Sha’Carri Richardson ban September 15, 2021 The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) is to a review cannabis as a prohibited substance after criticism surrounding Sha’Carri Richardson’s Olympic ban. WADA says the scientific review will be used to determine whether cannabis should remain a banned substance. The discussion around cannabis gained momentum after US sprinter Richardson was forced to miss this year’s [...]
Women’s Super League 2021-22: Why you should believe the hype about the biggest and best season yet of women’s football September 3, 2021 The most eagerly anticipated and loudly trumpeted Women’s Super League (WSL) season kicks off this evening when Manchester United host Reading. Ten years on from the first WSL campaign, the expectation is that this season will be the most-watched and potentially the most compelling yet. That is thanks in large part to a landmark TV [...]
Laura McAllister interview: Former Wales captain and Fifa Council candidate on women’s football, greedy clubs and moderniser Infantino April 16, 2021 Wales have come to be a force to be reckoned with in international football. Their men’s team, led by galactico Gareth Bale, have qualified for successive European Championships for the first time, while their women have also continued their steady rise up Fifa’s world rankings. Now Welshwoman Laura McAllister is aiming to make a similar [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Amazon sign Serena Williams and Paul Pogba; Javier Tebas takes up league fight; Japan still cool on Tokyo 2020 with 100 days to go April 15, 2021 Amazon has continued its push into glossy sports documentaries by signing up Serena Williams and Paul Pogba. Both Williams and Pogba have committed to appearing in behind-the-scenes series about their personal and professional lives as part of wider deals with Amazon. Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Films is among the producers of the currently untitled Serena doc. [...]
Women’s Super League nets £21m in groundbreaking TV rights deal with Sky and BBC March 22, 2021 Sky and the BBC have agreed a landmark TV rights deal with the Football Association for the Women’s Super League (WSL). Under previous contracts, broadcasters have only paid production costs to show the WSL. The new three-year deal, which starts in September, is worth at least £7m per season, making it the most lucrative of [...]
Women’s rugby has just showed it is streets ahead of the men’s game with new competition WXV March 19, 2021 “It’s not as good as men’s.” That is such an obvious response to any number of women’s sports. As if to evidence such a lowly perception of women’s sport, the recent announcement of the Women’s Six Nations postponement was met with a deluge of misogyny and comments from men who said they simply “don’t care”. Initiated by Stef Evans of Bristol Bears, the women’s rugby community countered in [...]