Chelsea financial results: Exact cost of sacking current Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho revealed January 13, 2017 Sacking Jose Mourinho cost Chelsea £8.3m last season, new financial accounts released by the club have revealed. Yet dismissing the current Manchester United boss following a disastrous start to the season in 2015 proved to be significantly cheaper than the £67m paid to terminate another high-profile deal — the club's kit manufacturing partnership with Adidas. Last [...]
Australian Open prize money 2017: How much can tennis stars win in Melbourne? January 12, 2017 Tennis stars will do battle for the second largest prize money reward in the sport's history when the Australian Open gets underway in Melbourne on Monday. A men’s and women’s singles champion prize of AUS$3.7m (£2.2m) is the most generous ever offered at the tournament and second only to last year’s US Open in size. This [...]
NBA Global Games 2017: “The actual location of a game is less and less relevant”, says NBA European chief Ben Morel ahead of London visit January 11, 2017 As far as sales pitches go, the case for the NBA can rarely have had more ammunition to draw on than in recent years. The basketball league today brings a fixture to London for the seventh successive year when the Denver Nuggets play the Indiana Pacers at the O2 Arena – part of ongoing efforts [...]
Fifa president Gianni Infantino insists inclusion – not $1bn revenue boost – is behind World Cup expansion January 10, 2017 Fifa president Gianni Infantino insists the decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams is motivated not by a projected $1bn revenue boost but by a desire to make the competition more inclusive. The football governing body’s council on Tuesday unanimously voted to approve controversial but highly lucrative proposals to increase the number of [...]
Kempton Park Racecourse to close as part of Jockey Club’s £500m plans January 10, 2017 Kempton Park Racecourse, home of the King George VI Chase, looks set to be sold off for housing as part of a Jockey Club plan to re-invest £500m back into British racing over the next decade. The 300-acre estate has been submitted for redevelopment consideration with any future housing works beginning in 2021 at the earliest. This follows [...]
Fifa set to expand World Cup to 48 teams – and bank $1bn in extra revenue January 9, 2017 Controversial but highly lucrative proposals to expand the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 from 2026 are expected to be rubber-stamped by governing body Fifa on Tuesday. Critics say the plans, advanced by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, will dilute the overall standard, produce less exciting matches and could increase the likelihood of teams colluding. [...]
Chelsea 4, Peterborough United 1: Fringe stars shine for Blues in FA Cup but Antonio Conte still eyeing January transfer business January 8, 2017 Chelsea 4, Peterborough United 1 Chelsea manager Antonio Conte insists he still hopes to add to his squad this month despite fringe players forcing their way back into his thinking in an FA Cup romp against Peterborough on Sunday. Unsettled striker Michy Batshuayi scored his first goal since August, midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Cahlobah [...]
Football Association clears Premier League clubs to field weakened teams in the FA Cup and confirms plans to increase prize money January 8, 2017 Premier League clubs have been given the green light to field weakened teams in the FA Cup after Football Association chiefs said they would not take action against sides who made wholesale changes. Top-flight teams’ attitude towards the competition is in the spotlight again after six crashed out at the earliest opportunity over the first two [...]
UFC 207 Ronda Rousey v Amanda Nunes purse: Rousey earns 15 times more than Nunes in prize money despite devastating loss December 31, 2016 Ronda Rousey made more than 15 times as much as opponent Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 on Friday night, despite a shocking loss within 45 seconds. The American fighter's future career in the UFC looks to be in jeopardy after suffering a second straight defeat in such a one-sided affair, yet she can perhaps take some [...]
Goals on demand: Why we’ll get an Uber for sports in 2017 December 23, 2016 We’ve all been spoilt by Uber, admit it. We now expect to get whatever we want from the touch of a button. Not several clicks, but one single touch. With fingerprints unlocking screens and the rise of voice control like Siri, even that touch will soon be one too much and next year, instant gratification [...]