English cricket chiefs have been told to cut the rap by MCC, which has asked for “more recognisable” live music to be played at the Hundred matches at Lord’s.
In its feedback to the ECB about the tournament, the MCC questioned some of the choices of music. Among the live acts at Lord’s this summer were the rapper Nat Oaks, BombayMami, a Swiss-Indian singer, and a group called Night Tapes, described as creating “atmospheric soundscapes that ultimately make for fresh and envelope-pushing dream pop”.
Those were not to the taste of the majority of MCC members, average age 64, and the club is also seeking more informed announcements when a player comes to the wicket.
The pleas may fall on deaf ears, however, as the Hundred is very much aimed at attracting young people and families.
New UK Champions League TV deal worth £1.9bn — up 20 per cent
Uefa has secured an increase of more than 20 per cent on the value of the UK television rights for the Champions League after striking a deal with the streaming platform Paramount+.
TNT Sports’ 2024-27 deal had been worth £915million, with a total three-year value of £1.2billion, but the four-year deals for Paramount+, Sky Sports and Amazon will be worth more than £1.9billion, £480million a year over four years from 2027 to 2031.
Paramount+ will show all Champions League games apart from one match per round on Amazon Prime, with Sky Sports winning the rights to show Europa League and Conference League games. The BBC will continue to have the highlights. The deals look to be a ringing endorsement of Uefa’s decision to change the formats of its club competitions.
Although the big news is around a new broadcaster entering the market — with accompanying fears around fans having to pay for yet another subscription — analysts believe the shake-up leaves Sky in an even stronger position.
Francois Godard, a senior media analyst for Enders Analysis, said: “Paradoxically, increased fragmentation of TV coverage leaves Sky in a stronger position. They have by far the biggest sports subscriber base and are in the unique position of creating ‘all-in-one’ bundles.”
That means that subscribers may be able to buy Sky, TNT Sports and Paramount in a single bundle for a discounted price. Intriguingly, Paramount has also bid to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, and if that is successful it would almost certainly take control of TNT Sports as well.
Uefa has also secured 30 per cent increases in the value of the rights in Germany and Italy, and 10 per cent up in Spain. Only in France, where the sports TV rights market is struggling, was there a slight drop.
The success of Paramount and the entry of a new broadcaster into the market should be positive news for the Premier League as it means their existing rights holders’ budgets will not be paying out large sums for the Champions League.
Fifa out of tune as it trumpets ‘historic World Cup moment’
Curaçao supporters cheer on their team… at a café in Rotterdam
MARCO VAN DER CAAIJ/EPA
Fifa has been trumpeting its financial support for the Caribbean island of Curaçao, population 156,000, after it became the smallest nation ever to have qualified for the World Cup, saying this was “an historical achievement fuelled by Fifa’s backing”.
It failed to mention, however, that almost every member of the Curaçao squad was born and raised in the Netherlands, and one who was not, Sheffield United’s Tahith Chong, went to Feyenoord as a ten-year-old before joining Manchester United’s academy.
How Burnley fell foul of VAR… in 1922
There are some fascinating stories in a new academic paper about English football clubs’ experiences of summer European tours from 1900-1939 — they headed to the continent as the FA strictly enforced a ban on playing in the close season.
Peter Beck, an international history professor at Kingston University, and Matthew Taylor, of DeMontfort University, have written a study published in Soccer & Society journal. In an early example of VAR, Burnley’s secretary-manager John Haworth berated the “awful” refereeing on their 1922 tour of northern Italy, adding: “As an example, we won a corner; he [referee] went and consulted a spectator, and then gave a goal kick.”
Derby County, meanwhile, complained that it was difficult to see the goalposts when they played in Germany in 1924 due to the widespread use of camouflaged paint.
Man United leap out of last century to become ‘data-driven club’
Manchester United are throwing a lot of money and resources at data analysis after Sir Jim Ratcliffe derided the club’s use of it as “last century” when he took over.
Michael Sansoni was poached from the Mercedes Formula 1 team in the summer to be director of data, and United are now advertising for a data operations manager.
The job ad states United are “on an ambitious journey to become a fully data-driven club… and we are building a world-class data and technology function”.