UK’s biggest pub chain Stonegate to promote Spanish football after agreeing deal with LaLiga to show its matches in 100 pubs August 18, 2021 The UK’s biggest pub group, Stonegate, has struck a deal with Spanish football league LaLiga to show and promote its matches. Stonegate will showcase the LaLigaTV channel, which broadcasts all live games and recently announced Gary Lineker as a presenter, in almost 100 key pubs including its London-based Sports Bar and Grill chain. The move [...]
England striker Tammy Abraham joins Roma from Chelsea in record breaking transfer for an English player moving overseas August 17, 2021 Tammy Abraham has left Chelsea for Roma in a €40m (£34.1m) transfer that makes him the most expensive English player ever signed by an overseas club. England centre-forward Abraham has signed a five-year contract with the Italian team, where he will be reunited with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. The fee of £34.1m eclipses the [...]
Tennis ace Naomi Osaka moved to tears in first press conference since revealing battle with depression August 17, 2021 Tennis star Naomi Osaka broke down in her first press conference since pulling out of the French Open and revealing her struggle with depression earlier this year. The world No2 took a break from the video call at the Cincinnati Open on Monday evening after appearing to become upset after a question about her relationship [...]
Barcelona president Joan Laporta reveals debts at crisis club have grown to £1.15bn following Lionel Messi departure August 16, 2021 Barcelona, once hailed as the model for all football clubs to follow, are now £1.15bn (€1.35bn) in debt, according to their president Joan Laporta. The five-time European champions’ financial crisis was highlighted last week by their inability to afford a new contract for Lionel Messi, their greatest ever player. Laporta said Barcelona’s wage bill exceeded [...]
Nyck de Vries wins Formula E drivers’ championship August 16, 2021 Mercedes-EQ driver Nyck de Vries won his maiden Formula E world championship on Sunday after finishing eighth in the final race in Berlin. De Vries benefited from three of his rivals failing to finish: Jaguar driver Mitch Evans experienced a technical failure on the grid, Rokit Venturi’s Edoardo crashed into him and later British driver [...]
Sutton United: How the non-league lifers did a Leicester – and why they have had to transform the club for their debut season in the EFL August 7, 2021 Sutton United’s long-serving chairman Bruce Elliott has more than one reason to look forward to today’s trip to Forest Green Rovers. Elliott’s overriding emotion will be pride that the club he has been involved with for half a century has reached the English Football League (EFL) for the first time in their 123-year history. But [...]
£100m Jack Grealish: How most expensive signing in Premier League history compares to biggest transfers of all time August 5, 2021 Jack Grealish has become the most expensive signing in Premier League history after completing his £100m transfer from Aston Villa to Manchester City. Grealish is also the most expensive English player ever to be traded, and the eighth most expensive transfer of all time. The England attacking midfielder, 25, shone for England as they finished [...]
CVC to enter football with £2.3bn deal for 10 per cent of Spain’s LaLiga August 4, 2021 CVC Capital Partners is set to make its first major football investment by paying €2.7bn (£2.3bn) for a minority stake in Spain’s top league, LaLiga. The private equity giant, which has invested heavily in rugby in recent years, has an agreement in principle for around 10 per cent of LaLiga. “LaLiga confirms a strategic agreement [...]
Socios: The blockchain-enabled fan token platform promising to unlock revenue from the global fanbases of sport’s most famous teams July 31, 2021 Football’s transfer market may have lacked headline-grabbing deals so far this summer but the same can’t be said for Socios. The platform, which sells “fan tokens” offering supporters the chance to influence decisions at their team, has instantly increased visibility with a clutch of major partnerships. Last week Socios announced the launch of an Arsenal [...]
European football market contracted by £3.4bn in first few months of Covid-19 pandemic, Deloitte report finds July 29, 2021 The European football market shrunk by 13 per cent in the first few months of the pandemic, according to analysis by Deloitte. Total revenue fell by €3.7bn (£3.4bn) to €25.2bn (£22.1bn) in 2019-20, the first decrease since the global financial crisis struck more than a decade earlier. Clubs suffered as leagues were postponed and resumed [...]