Governance
Premiership Rugby ‘considering’ URC merger to boost revenues
Greater media rights revenue is likely to be the key factor determining whether a merger between Premiership Rugby and the United Rugby Championship (URC) would be a viable option for both properties.
Pac-12 embarks on costly rebuild
A year on from dropping to just two member universities that threatened its very existence, the Pac-12 Conference has announced the addition of four schools from the Mountain West from 2026-27.
Pro League CEO: Clubs can fire me if we need PE cash
The hazards of private equity investment in football was a strong theme at this year’s IMG x RedBird Summit with Lorin Parys, the Belgian Pro League CEO, issuing a warning over the associated payouts.
Disney Star seeks to reduce ICC rights fee
Disney Star is attempting to reduce its $3bn (€2.7bn) rights fee obligations to the ICC, which itself is likely to see current BCCI secretary Jay Shah take over as chair, SportBusiness understands.
New era for women’s football with WPLL takeover
Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) has taken over formal ownership of the top two tiers of English women's club football from the Football Association, with an all-female leadership team and f…
NRL set for two more teams by new rights cycle
The National Rugby League will be confident of securing an uplift in broadcast and commercial revenues in the next cycle, after it emerged an 18th franchise spot has been awarded to Western Australia.
French football keen to douse fiery response to TV deals
The majority of French clubs have sought to calm the rhetoric emerging from some counterparts in response to the heavily criticised Ligue 1 rights sales as ructions begin to emerge with private equity investor CVC.
Goodell: Private equity NFL ownership limited to 10 per cent
The National Football League is set to allow each of its 32 franchises to sell to private equity investors, albeit up to a limit of 10 per cent only, commissioner Roger Goodell has declared
Portuguese FA challenger queries league rights centralisation target
Nuno Lobo, a candidate for the presidency of the Portuguese FA, has described the move to centralisation of media rights in the top division as "essential" but questioned the lofty €300m per year financial targets being set by the league.
‘Progress made’ in top ski nations’ FIS rights centralisation talks
Leading ski federation claim to be making progress in talks with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation over media rights centralisation but are still 'far away' from an agreement.
Six-team Canadian women’s league to launch in 2025
Canada's professional women's football league has been unveiled as the Northern Super League, which will kick off in April 2025 with six founding member clubs during a challenging time for club football in the country.
Bundesliga builds up local presence in Apac, India with key hires
Bundesliga International has made a trio of executive hires and promotions across Asia-Pacific and India, as it looks to further build the league's exposure on the ground with media rights deals already locked in across much of the region for the long term.
Nascar unveils in-season tournament with new broadcasters TNT, Prime
Nascar is following the example of the National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer by unveiling an in-season, bracket-style tournament for its Cup Series to begin in 2025
Tanenbaum’s KSV to shell out $50m for WNBA expansion franchise in Toronto
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is to expand into Canada for the first time in 2026, when Toronto joins as the 14th team
World Rugby eyes full unbundling of women’s rights but some joint deals ‘still make sense’
World Rugby is increasingly looking to unbundle commercial rights to the women’s game, following similar steps taken by Fifa and Uefa in recent years, but believes that bundled rights deals “still make sense” in certain markets.
FIS rights centralisation dispute reignites after council vote
A controversial vote on Friday by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) council to push through media rights centralisation has reignited a dispute with Europe’s leading ski associations w…
Media rights centralisation tops in-tray of new FC Porto president
FC Porto has elected a new president for the first time in more than 40 years as one of Portugal's Big Three clubs prepares to play a crucial role in the commercial overhaul of the Primeira Liga this decade.
Two Circles continues US push with role in Johnson’s new track league
Two Circles, the data-driven sports marketing and sponsorship sales agency, has been unveiled as a key strategic partner in the new fan-focused track league created by four-time United States Olympic champion Michael Johnson.