Greedy Fifa rinsing fans over World Cup tickets – even Americans are baulking December 11, 2025 Ed Warner finds that even Americans accustomed to paying through the nose for live sport are outraged at the prices Fifa is allowing to be set for tickets at the 2026 World Cup. It was a bitterly cold evening in Boston, the temperature well below zero, and yet the Bruins fans still rolled up to [...]
Salah offered Liverpool escape route as Saudi Pro League chief talks up interest December 10, 2025 The Saudi Pro League would welcome Mohamed Salah if his bust-up with Liverpool results in him leaving Anfield, the competition’s chief executive has said. Salah was dropped from the Reds’ squad for their Champions League fixture with Inter Milan this week after his bombshell claim that the club had “thrown him under the bus”. “Mohamed [...]
WTA and Mercedes-Benz pen decade-long deal said to be worth $500m December 10, 2025 The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) has penned a decade-long partnership agreement with Mercedes-Benz believed to be worth as much as $500m (£376m). The deal, announced at the Mercedes factory in Stuttgart with WTA co-founder Billie Jean King and 20-time grand slam winner Roger Federer in attendance, will see the automotive behemoth become a “premier partner” [...]
ITV to show England’s 2026 World Cup opener, BBC bets on knockout rounds December 10, 2025 ITV will show England’s opening match of the 2026 World Cup against Croatia after it and the BBC confirmed their allocations for the tournament. All 104 matches will be broadcast on free-to-air television in the UK, with the BBC and ITV sharing the fixtures and both showing the final on 19 July. While ITV has [...]
‘Luke Littler is the Tiger Woods of darts. He’s made the sport aspirational’ December 10, 2025 When Target Darts, which supplies and now manages Luke Littler, decided to test the sport’s popularity with younger audiences by exhibiting at the London Toy Fair for the first time earlier this year, the company hit a bullseye. “We made quite a bit of noise,” Target group CEO James Tattersall tells City PM. “We put [...]
English football clubs facing financial distress drops by 50 per cent December 10, 2025 The financial health of English football appears to be improving, with the number of clubs in the EFL deemed to be facing distress halving since last year. Only three of the 72 teams in the English Football League, which comprises the three professional divisions below the Premier League, meet that bar, according to an annual [...]
Paul Pogba announces move into camel racing with Saudi team Al Haboob December 10, 2025 World Cup-winning former Manchester United footballer Paul Pogba has become an investor in the world’s first pro camel racing team, Saudi Arabia-based Al Haboob. Pogba, who now plays for Monaco after returning from a ban for anti-doping breaches, has also been named an ambassador for the team, which competes across the Middle East. “I’ve watched [...]
Paramount takeover of UK sport cools despite Champions League grab December 10, 2025 Paramount Skydance has no plans to launch a UK sports channel after acquiring Champions League rights from 2027 onwards in an indication that a major expansion into sport from the global streaming platform is unlikely. As it stands the Champions League is likely to be broadcast in this country on Paramount+, while the entertainment network [...]
San Francisco 49ers: Stake sale to OpenAI chair values NFL team at $9bn December 9, 2025 The San Francisco 49ers have been valued at more than $9bn after the chairman of artificial intelligence behemoth OpenAI agreed to acquire a stake in the NFL franchise. Bret Taylor – who is also the co-founder and chief executive of fellow AI business Sierra, and formerly the board chairman of Twitter – will acquire one [...]
The politics behind the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw and schedule December 9, 2025 By the time the Village People walked out on stage to close the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw, to the delight of US President Donald Trump and Fifa chief Gianni Infantino, many fans’ thoughts had already turned to who their team would be playing and when. And when the full schedule was confirmed 24 hours [...]
