NBA star becomes part-owner of London Lions basketball team April 19, 2023 Harlesden-born NBA star OG Anunoby has returned to his roots by becoming a part-owner of British Basketball League side London Lions. Toronto Raptors wing Anunoby, 25, has taken a minority stake in the team, which is majority owned by American investment group 777 Partners. His investment is another boost to the Lions, the leading team [...]
First football, now padel: US investors take fight to Qatar for future of the racket sport April 18, 2023 Heard the one about the historically European sports property turbo-charged by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth and now in the crosshairs of serial sports investors from the US? This isn’t football, though, but padel, the fast-growing racket sport now at the centre of a tug of war between rival competitions backed by the Qatari owners of [...]
IN PICTURES: See Manchester City’s plans for £300m upgrade to Etihad Stadium April 18, 2023 Premier League champions Manchester City have formally submitted a planning application for a £300m upgrade of their Etihad Stadium that would take capacity to more than 60,000. The improvements are centred on the North Stand, which is to get a new, enlarged upper tier and will connect to a new complex featuring a hotel, club [...]
English football wants a piece of the American pie – but it’s not MLS April 15, 2023 From Todd Boehly’s private-equity-backed consortium at Premier League giants Chelsea to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner at Portsmouth in the third tier down to Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at non-league Wrexham, the flow of football investment between the United States and Britain is well established. But it is not all one-way. Increasingly, [...]
Premier League names date for ban on front-of-shirt gambling advertising April 14, 2023 Premier League clubs have agreed to remove gambling advertising from the front of their match shirts, it has been announced. Teams voluntarily adopted the change, which will be phased over the next year so that no team has a betting brand on the front of their kit by the 2024-25 season. The move is designed [...]
Ed Warner: British amateur sport must take a match to bonfire of bureaucracy April 13, 2023 Different patterns of belonging in this social media age are a stiff challenge to those of us attempting to build membership rosters for sporting bodies. What can we offer to persuade amateur athletes and casual fans to give a chunk of their identities – and a few quid from their virtual wallets – to organisations [...]
PM Rishi Sunak lays out plans for biggest sporting event ever hosted by UK and Ireland April 12, 2023 Euro 2028 will be “the biggest sporting event our islands have ever jointly staged”, says Prime Minster Rishi Sunak, after the UK and Ireland confirmed details of their bid to stage the international football tournament. England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland today formally submitted their proposal to governing body Uefa, which [...]
Manchester United sale: Glazers risk aggravating buyers with third round of bids April 11, 2023 Manchester United owners the Glazer family have risked aggravating would-be buyers by taking their sale of the club to a third round of bidding. More than two weeks after the deadline for second offers, bankers the Raine Group finally broke their silence to bidders – only to inform them that the Glazers want another round [...]
Brits buy more Paris 2024 Olympics tickets than any other overseas nation April 11, 2023 Great Britain is leading the way for ticket purchases outside of France ahead of next year’s Paris 2024 Olympics. The French capital will host the iconic multi-sport extravaganza for the first time in 100 years in what is also set to be the first Olympiad since the Covid-19 pandemic. It also marks a return to [...]
Ed Warner: Fear of losing to the Poms may get Australian sport its extra A$2bn April 6, 2023 As an English sports fan it’s always fun when others cite your nation as their greatest rivals when they wouldn’t make your own top three. Cricket aside, such is the case with Australia. Last week a cry from Australia’s sporting hierarchy for more financial backing from politicians caught my eye. The need to beat the [...]
