How football stadia became the new battleground for top clubs January 25, 2025 It’s no coincidence that Real Madrid have strengthened their position as football’s richest club in the year that they fully reopened their Santiago Bernabeu stadium after a £1bn revamp. Stadia – or rather, how to make more money out of them – are a growing battleground among top clubs eager to mine new sources of [...]
NBA Europe? League ‘looking very closely’ at new competition, says Silver January 24, 2025 NBA commissioner Adam Silver has dropped the clearest hint yet that it will push ahead with plans to launch a basketball league in Europe. Silver said he had been encouraged by talks with clubs, media, sponsors and governing body Fiba during talks ahead of the NBA’s two games in Paris this week. “While Europe continues [...]
HSBC Championships: Bank replaces Cinch as Queen’s Club sponsor January 23, 2025 HSBC has doubled down on tennis by taking title sponsorship of the new combined men’s and women’s championships at Queen’s Club. The bank, which already counts Emma Raducanu and Tim Henman as ambassadors, has signed a four-year agreement with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). This year the traditional pre-Wimbledon event in west London will add [...]
Football Governance Bill ‘weird’ and regulator could be ‘terrible’, says Brady January 23, 2025 West Ham United vice-chair Karren Brady has laid out her case for opposing the introduction of the football regulator, arguing that it “could have a really detrimental effect” on the game. Baroness Brady has been one of the most vocal peers in questioning the plans for a watchdog, the key plank of the Football Governance [...]
Clear and simple calendars like NFL, not tennis, should be applauded in sport January 23, 2025 The NFL, unlike tennis, should be applauded for its clear and simple sport calendar that sees athletes thrive, writes Ed Warner. Naomi Osaka, Gael Monfils, Jack Draper. Each retired from the Australian Open mid-match. No substitutes bench in tennis, so the ultimate anticlimax for spectators. Injuries are an occupational hazard, but across sport the sheer [...]
Naomi Girma: Chelsea agree first $1m transfer in women’s football January 22, 2025 Chelsea are set to make USA defender Naomi Girma the first $1m transfer in women’s football after agreeing a world-record fee with San Diego Wave. Girma is expected to join the reigning Women’s Super League champions this week in a deal worth $1.1m (£889,000) – more than double the previous British record fee. The transfer [...]
English rugby chief Bill Sweeney defends bonus as critics call for his head January 22, 2025 Bill Sweeney, the embattled president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), insists he tried to defer his controversial bonus but has defended his acceptance of the six-figure payment. Sweeney is facing a vote of no confidence after the bonus took his overall pay to £1.1m in 2023-24, a year in which the RFU made 42 [...]
Ambani family on course for £100m London Spirit in Hundred auction January 22, 2025 The likely destinations of English cricket’s crown jewels in the Hundred auction are taking shape, with the Ambani family’s determination to buy 49 per cent of the London Spirit in a deal expected to exceed £100m forcing other bidders to look elsewhere. A consortium of Californian investors led by Nikesh Arora, chief executive of Palo [...]
‘A fantastic milestone’: Haas appoints F1’s first female race engineer January 21, 2025 Equality in motorsport campaigners have welcomed Laura Muller’s appointment by Haas as the first female race engineer in Formula 1. German Muller, who has previously held other engineering roles with Haas, will work closely with French driver Esteban Ocon, including advising him during races on the team radio. Team principal Ayao Komatsu said: “Her work [...]
Paris 2024 Olympic medals to be replaced after they flake and rust January 21, 2025 Red-faced Olympics chiefs have pledged to replace defective medals from the Paris 2024 Games after more than 100 athletes complained that they have begun to flake and rust. Just days after the closing ceremony, disgruntled athletes began sharing pictures of their damaged medals on social media and demanding they be replaced. American skateboarder Nyjah Huston [...]
