Crowd pleasers: England cricket test match and Royal Ascot picked for next fan pilot May 26, 2021 Thousands of fans will be able to attend an England cricket test match and Royal Ascot this summer as part of the next stage of the government’s pilot programme for major events. The second test of the men’s series against New Zealand, beginning on 10 June at Edgbaston, will be allowed to welcome more than [...]
IG signs up to sponsor England cricket teams in three-year deal May 26, 2021 Canada firm IG has signed a three-year deal to sponsor England’s cricket teams. The contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will see the online trading specialist support the men’s and women’s national teams. It will also mean IG branding appearing on the men’s shirt in Test, one-day and Twenty20 cricket. [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Bitcoin plunge hits chess grandmasters; ‘Stamford Beach’ stunt recalls Chelsea row; and Hundred teams get new spinners May 20, 2021 When is a $100,000 bonus not worth $100,000? That is a conundrum for the chess grandmasters taking part in the FTX Crypto Cup. The tournament, which features world champion Magnus Carlsen and starts this weekend, is offering a $320,000 prize to the winner – a record for an online chess event. But $100,000 of that [...]
Surrey Cricket boss to move on after transformative decade May 14, 2021 Surrey County Cricket Club Chief Exec Richard Gould is to leave the south London institution after a decade in charge. Gould will move on to the same role at Championship football club Bristol City. Surrey’s business model has been transformed under Gould’s tenure, with the year before the pandemic delivering record profits. Read more: Surrey [...]
Indian Premier League suspended after several players test positive for Covid-19 May 4, 2021 Cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended after a number of players fell victim to the country’s rising Covid-19 cases. Fixtures scheduled for Monday and Wednesday had already been called off as a result of players testing positive for the virus. Organisers said they had “unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Taxman cometh for football (again); BT Sport; Simone Biles; social media boycott; and NHS x NFL draft April 29, 2021 HMRC has cashed in by increasing scrutiny of the football industry, so perhaps it should be no surprise that the taxman has begun a new crackdown on players and clubs. Investigations into footballers almost tripled in 2019-20, while those concerning clubs more than doubled. The result was an increase from £35m to £73m in tax [...]
IPL suffers spate of withdrawals, including Ravichandran Ashwin, as Covid-19 cases top 350,000 per day in India April 26, 2021 The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been hit by a series of player withdrawals amid growing concern about Covid-19 rates in the country. India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the most high-profile cricketer to walk away from the lucrative Twenty20 competition when he announced he was “taking a break” on Sunday. Australian trio Kane Richardson, Adam [...]
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. [...]
Surrey in talks to host Indian Premier League teams as Mayor of London Sadiq Khan aims to bring IPL to the capital this year April 13, 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) teams could play games at the Kia Oval and Lord’s as soon as this year under plans being pushed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Surrey cricket chiefs have already held exploratory talks with figures from the IPL and the Indian game’s governing body, the BCCI. A September date has been [...]
England cricket star Stuart Broad supports social media boycotts as sport takes steps to tackle online abuse April 12, 2021 England cricketer Stuart Broad has become the latest high-profile sporting figure to back a boycott of social media. Football clubs Rangers and Swansea City have temporarily stopped posting on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in protest at a perceived lack of action against online abuse. “There are great positives to social media but if we have [...]