Investec Champions Cup organisers should meddle with knockouts Sport Business On Wednesday the amount of tickets still available for Harlequins’ Investec Champions Cup round of 16 fixture against Sale Sharks was well over 6,000. Against their registered capacity of 14,800, that could result in an attendance of less than 9,000 – or around 40 per cent empty – come Saturday night. It is a better [...]
Which Gallagher Prem Rugby stadium is the best? Sport Business There are 10 Gallagher Prem Rugby teams fighting to thrive, survive and just coast along this year – and their stadiums are key to achieving momentum. But which stadium is the best to watch England’s top flight competition in? In last year’s inaugural edition I had Newcastle Falcons’ (now Newcastle Red Bulls) Kingston Park bottom, [...]
Londoner’s bid for rugby league’s Salford Red Devils has six-figure backing Sport Business A Londoner who played for Salford Red Devils has said he has six-figure backing for a bid to rescue his fallen former club. Mason Caton-Brown has submitted an offer to buy the former Super League team after they were liquidated with debts of around £4m, ending a 152-year history in rugby league. His Salford Red [...]
Prem Rugby should consider radical shake-up of player transfer market November 28, 2025 The best thing about the football off-season is the transfer speculation, deal agreements and player announcements. Watching teams bid £100m for a player is somewhat grotesque but it is also addictive, and transfer deadline day is some of the best live sports news around. Rugby has none of this. That’s mostly because players tend to [...]
Losses almost tripled at Sale Sharks owner’s £1bn empire before takeover September 18, 2025 Losses at the empire built up by Simon Orange, the self-made millionaire who co-owns rugby union side Sale Sharks, almost tripled in the year before being taken over. Cheshire-based CorpAcq counts more than 40 businesses as part of its portfolio including the likes of Cotton Traders but does not include the Prem Rugby club. The [...]
Sale Sharks tycoon Simon Orange buys steel giant June 17, 2025 The co-owner of rugby union side Sale Sharks, Simon Orange, has bought the UK’s second-largest steel contractor just a few months after selling his investment business in a deal worth more than £1bn. Self-made millionaire Orange, whose brother Jason was an original member of Take That, has snapped up a majority stake in Greater Manchester-based [...]
Premiership clubs cannot get bored of Champions Cup failures, it’s the pinnacle April 8, 2025 Looking across the results from the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup at the weekend with a focus on the seven English teams, there were six results that went the way many expected and one that didn’t. Gloucester’s victory in France against Montpellier was a real surprise, but wins for Northampton Saints and Bath, [...]
Which English teams can win this weekend in the Investec Champions Cup? April 3, 2025 There’s always a fuzzy feeling when the Investec Champions Cup returns to the calendar, especially during the knockout stages. There are six French teams, five English sides and five URC outfits left in the competition but I do fear for the Gallagher Premiership contingent this weekend. Usually the five competing teams – Northampton Saints, Saracens, [...]
Investec Champions Cup Barometer: Munster ready for La Rochelle March 31, 2025 In the lead up to the 2024-25 Investec Champions Cup round of 16, City PM has put together a barometer in partnership with Investec to assess which teams are hot – and which are not – ahead of this week’s knockouts. Team of the week: Munster, Ireland It hasn’t been a smooth season for Munster: [...]
Investec Champions Cup Barometer: Fin Smith lays down marker February 10, 2025 In the lead up to the 2024-25 Investec Champions Cup round of 16, City PM has put together a barometer in partnership with Investec to assess which teams are hot – and which are not – ahead of April’s knockouts. Player of the week: Fin Smith, Northampton Saints Being good enough to force Marcus Smith [...]
