Football’s most lucrative match stagnates in value amid Premier League rights growth slowdown May 22, 2019 The Championship play-off final, which takes place on Monday at Wembley and pits Aston Villa against Derby County for the last remaining spot in next season’s Premier League, is well established as the most lucrative one-off match in the world of club football. Worth an estimated minimum of £170m to the victors – 10 times [...]
McIlroy tops list of the UK’s top 20 richest young sports stars May 11, 2019 Golfer Rory McIlroy is the UK’s richest young sports star, it was revealed today as the Northern Irishman topped a list otherwise dominated by footballers. McIlroy’s wealth hit £138m in 2019, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed, putting him ahead of second-placed Gareth Bale on £94m. Read more: Sam Torrance: McIlroy is at ease and [...]
Premier League given profit warning as rising wage bills eat into margins despite record revenue April 25, 2019 The Premier League may be experiencing a vintage season on the pitch, with a title race for the ages, most key positions in the table still undecided and English clubs dominating in Europe once more. But off the field the picture appears to be taking a turn for the worse, with top-flight teams’ most recent [...]
Gaming changers: how marketing messages have had to change for gambling companies April 1, 2019 Where do you know Ray Winstone from? If you’re of a certain vintage, you’ll probably recall his early work. Carlin in Scum, Kevin the rocker in Quadrophenia. More of a millennial? Then perhaps it’s his turn opposite Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast or as Frenchy in The Departed. Or maybe it’s simply him yelling “put [...]
Ed Warner: Good riddance to ‘no compromise’, the funding policy that sucked joy out of sport February 13, 2019 Good riddance to ‘no compromise’. UK Sport, the quango responsible for handing over National Lottery funds to Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports, has consulted the public, unsurprisingly found that it loves medal-winners, but has still chosen to change its funding strategy for the Games in Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles four years later. And [...]
UK Sport’s new funding strategy: is the era of the medal-hoovering “no compromise” policy over? February 12, 2019 One phrase has come to define Britain’s transformation from international underachievers to major force at Olympic and Paralympic Games over the last 15 years: “no compromise”. The slogan was coined to distil a narrowing of UK Sport’s funding focus; from 2004, only governing bodies and athletes likely to win gold, silver or bronze in the [...]
The world’s richest football clubs 2019: Real Madrid replace Manchester United at top of Deloitte Football Money League January 23, 2019 Manchester United have lost their status as the world’s richest club after Real Madrid replaced them at the top of Deloitte’s Football Money League. The Spanish giants ended United’s two-year domination of the annual list by generating revenue of €751m (£665m) last season – an all-time record for any football club. Read more: Spurs vs [...]
Tottenham overtake Juventus and close in on Arsenal in Deloitte Football Money League January 23, 2019 Tottenham’s emergence as one of Europe’s growing powers is paying dividends off the field, with the club now placed among the top 10 richest football clubs in the world. Spurs overtook Italian giants Juventus to take 10th place in Deloitte’s Football Money League 2019, as revenue leapt to €428.3m (£379.4m) last season from €359.5m in [...]
Why have Premier League clubs made so few signings in the January 2019 transfer window? January 21, 2019 On the field, the action continues to come thick and fast in the Premier League. Liverpool and Manchester City remain locked in a title race of the highest quality, there are compelling battles both to finish in the top four and to avoid relegation, and the most recent round of fixtures saw not one but [...]
Big brands doing big deals show the UK sports sponsorship industry remains in rude health January 14, 2019 January is typically the time to look forward, to forecast and predict what will happen in the coming year. To understand the state of the UK sponsorship industry, however, it’s more worthwhile to look at what happened in the months leading up to Christmas. Rewind to the week after Black Friday in December and big [...]