World’s richest football clubs 2020: Barcelona replace Real Madrid at top of Deloitte Football Money League as Manchester United are left behind January 14, 2020 Barcelona have overtaken Real Madrid to become the world’s richest football club, according to Deloitte’s Football Money League. The Spanish champions saw revenue soar to €840.8m (£741.1m) last year – a record figure for any team and almost 10 per cent more than rivals Real Madrid, who are second. Manchester United, in third, remain the [...]
2020 Vision: What to expect from sport this year, by industry insiders January 5, 2020 What will sport look like in 2020? We asked a host of industry experts for their predictions – and this is what they said. Neil Hopkins, global head of strategy at M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment Euros offer ticket to ride Football fans used to tournaments taking place in one or, at most, two host [...]
Sports business in 2019: Industry insiders pick the trends that defined the year December 15, 2019 Izzy Wray, consultant in Deloitte’s Sport Business Group Women’s football The growing popularity of women’s football has been one of the defining sports trends of 2019. The Women’s World Cup smashed TV audience records, with a reported 1bn people watching it worldwide and over 28m people tuning in to the tournament on the BBC. Numerous [...]
SailGP is aiming to make a splash in its second year after the arrival of Sir Ben Ainslie December 10, 2019 If the first season of SailGP was about making a splash and proving that there is an audience for the sport, then the second is about expansion. The worldwide sailing series, the brainchild of American software billionaire Larry Ellison and former world champion yachtsman Sir Russell Coutts, enjoyed a successful first season this year. Teams [...]
Amazon steps into Premier League broadcasting for the first time with big ambitions December 2, 2019 December is an important month for the future of the Premier League. On the pitch, the focus will be on whether Liverpool can sustain their charge at the top of the table, if Jose Mourinho can turn around Tottenham’s fortunes in the long term and which sides are sliding towards relegation. But off it eyes [...]
European football chiefs quick to co-opt ‘the dream’ in fight for future of Champions League October 8, 2019 They may be on opposite sides of a bitter dispute over the future of European football but they both came to defend “the dream”, that somewhat nebulous but impossible-to-oppose tenet of sporting competition. Andrea Agnelli, the latest figurehead of a dynasty that has owned Juventus for nearly a century and the chairman of the European [...]
NFL London Games: UK director Alistair Kirkwood on cross-Atlantic growth, the Tottenham Stadium and a future franchise October 2, 2019 When it was announced that the NFL would host a game in London for the first time, the decision was met with intrigue and scepticism. Was the risk worth the potential rewards? Were the English public really interested enough in American football? Would jet-lagged players struggle to perform at Wembley? Twelve years on from that [...]
Crystal Palace hawked for sale in £210m deal October 1, 2019 Crystal Palace are being hawked to prospective buyers in a deal which would value the Premier League football club at £210m. A document circulating among bankers and seen by Morning Wire offers to facilitate the purchase of at least 75 per cent and up to 90 per cent for either a single buyer or a [...]
Ben Stokes and Steve Smith’s redemption stories offer sponsors an alternative to virtue signalling September 23, 2019 The dust may have settled on an exhilarating Ashes series that saw Australia retain the urn, but for the sponsors of each team’s star player it is just the beginning of what will likely become an increasingly lucrative relationship. Steve Smith was almost single-handedly responsible for preventing England from reclaiming the urn, while Ben Stokes [...]
Raheem Sterling hits new heights and shows why sponsors are in hot pursuit September 11, 2019 Last month it emerged that Raheem Sterling was being courted by Air Jordan, the Nike sub-brand reported to be considering making him the face of a new range of football boots in a £100m deal. If anyone was in any doubt why Sterling is in line for one of the sport’s most lucrative ever boot [...]