Billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik injects £630m to prop up Netflix-rival DAZN as losses mount Media Billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik has injected a further $827m (£630m) into streaming giant DAZN in a bid to become a major rival to Netflix. The businessman has now invested more than $6.7bn (£5.3bn) in the London-based sports streaming service, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. DAZN is owned by Access Industries, a New York-based [...]
2025 must be the year of the partnership disruptor in sport Sport Business Hardcore boxing fans may have felt sucker punched with the underwhelming Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul bout earlier this year. But it delivered knockout results for streaming giant Netflix and established a new contender in sports partnerships. It was an unexpectedly bold and wildly successful move for Netflix, crowning them as the surprise new champ [...]
Washed away: The strange, nostalgic world of public swimming pools Long read The swimming pool is a place of both solitude and community, a strange human ritual practised from Manchester to Montpellier and New Delhi
Epic sporting weekend proves sport can be cog in any government agenda May 28, 2024 With a General Election in full swing across the nation sports fans were treated to an epic weekend of action. So with so many events pencilled in across the next five years and numerous more beyond that, our politicians should promote sport to a priority talking point. City A.M. Deputy Sports Editor Matt Hardy writes. [...]
Departure of FIA chief Robyn after just 18 months sparks concerns May 8, 2024 The departure of Natalie Robyn as chief executive of motorsport’s governing body the FIA after just 18 months has been described as a “shame” and “disappointing” by leading equality commentators in racing. Robyn became the first ever chief executive of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile in November 2022, a move trumpeted by president Mohammed Ben [...]
Meet Daniel Loitz, the man trying to resurrect London Irish rugby legacy April 30, 2024 When London Irish went bust in 2023 many thought that was the end of one of Premiership Rugby’s famous clubs. But businessman Daniel Loitz wants to buy the club. What does the Bernadotte Dynasty of the Swedish royal family, a Kazakh steel works company, an Uzbek railway project, the Berlin Wall and the fall of [...]
Premier League edges closer to applying £500m spending cap April 29, 2024 Premier League clubs have taken another step closer to implementing a spending cap for the first time in the competition’s history. A majority of clubs on Monday voted in favour of progressing to the next stage of the proposal, which is likely to be voted on at the organisation’s AGM in June. Further details are [...]
Inside the past, present and future of stadium design with Populous April 24, 2024 One of the cherished memories for any sports fan is that intake of breath from sheer disbelief when you first climb the concrete steps from the bowels of a stadium to glimpse the scale of the arena which a team you’re about to both fall in love with and despise for a lifetime calls home. [...]
Premiership rugby: Top four race shows product deserves off-pitch stability April 21, 2024 When Joe Carpenter won an 82nd minute turnover against the run of play to hand his Sale Sharks side a 37-31 victory over Harlequins, it catapulted the Mancunians from eighth into sixth in the Premiership table and reduced the deficit to the play-off spots to just three points. With Northampton Saints five points clear of [...]