Last week, Sports Shorts reported on how the top European football leagues were dealing with the completion of their 2019/2020 seasons as a result of Covid-19. Since then we have seen the much anticipated return of Germany’s Bundesliga (over the weekend just passed), which benefited from record viewership. The K-League 1 (the “K-League”), South Korea’s … Continue Reading
Over the course of the last two months professional football across Europe has ground to a halt. In an attempt to lend some shape and certainty to the European football landscape, UEFA announced in April that all its European members had until 25 May to make a decision about their respective leagues. Some leagues have … Continue Reading
As the world of traditional sports has ground to halt, esports has garnered much media attention, certainly in respect of those esports that operate within the purview of traditional sports. The esports industry was already thriving before the pandemic, attracting billions of pounds in revenues and huge viewing audiences. With the world on lockdown and … Continue Reading
On Friday, May 1, 2020, Judge Gary Klausner of the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted partial summary judgment to U.S. Soccer in a pay equity class action lawsuit brought by members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. In his ruling, Judge Klausner dismissed the U.S. women’s argument that … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, FIFA published a set of guidelines to address some of the practical issues that have arisen as a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis. The key areas of focus were: (1) expiring agreements; (2) frustrated agreements; and (3) registration periods. A number of other issues were also considered in brief. It is important … Continue Reading
Italian football Last weekend, four Serie A fixtures were suspended. This weekend, five Serie A fixtures taking place in affected territories in the north of Italy will be played behind closed doors in response to a new decree passed by the Italian government. This will have a direct impact on the clubs’ revenue. Clubs will … Continue Reading
Last year, Sports Shorts reported on the opportunities for football clubs looking to get involved in the world of esports. Recent news indicates that other footballing stakeholders are also alive to these opportunities; earlier this month Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale launched a new esports team called ‘Ellevens Esports’. Bale co-founded the new … Continue Reading
Last year, Sports Shorts reported on proposals for a combined Dutch and Belgian football league – a so-called ‘BeneLiga’. Talks of a merger appear to be gathering pace in the early part of this year, with Inside World Football reporting that a meeting recently took place between the Belgian and Dutch footballing authorities, alongside eleven … Continue Reading
Ajax’s run to the 2019 UEFA Champions’ League semi-final – European football’s premier club-cup competition – provided a welcome dose of nostalgia for those who remember the glory-days of Johan Cruyff in the 1970s and the Champions’ League winning team of 1995. However, in recent years, football clubs with rich histories such as Ajax, Feyenoord, … Continue Reading
The pulling power of the Premier League has attracted a portfolio of sponsors targeting global markets. With clubs battling for market share in the Far East and in a unique position to benefit from GDPR, there appears to be only one direction for the value of commercial partnerships. We share our perspectives in this video.… Continue Reading
Although it is trite to say that modern football clubs are very much run as businesses, there is often little consideration paid to the nuts and bolts of how these businesses work. As businesses, football clubs are not immune from the challenge of poor cash flow, which is prevalent across many industries. As such, clubs … Continue Reading
Sunday saw one of the most anticipated games of the 19/20 Premier League season as Liverpool FC hosted Manchester City at Anfield. Liverpool came away with the three points, however the victory was not without controversy. There were a number of decisions, which left Manchester City fans feeling aggrieved and the general football community becoming … Continue Reading
On 25 October 2019 Mr Justice Teare handed down his judgment in the kit sponsorship dispute between New Balance Athletics (“NB”) v Liverpool Football Club (“LFC”). The dispute concerned whether NB had validly exercised its matching right set out in the contract between the parties entered into on 3 June 2011 (the “NB Agreement”) in … Continue Reading
Liverpool Football Club (“LFC“) have been unsuccessful in their attempts to register two trade marks for the word LIVERPOOL. LFC withdrew both applications after the UK Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) refused the registration. While the IPO’s decision has not been published, it would seem that the IPO rejected LFC’s applications on the basis that such … Continue Reading
In part 1 of ‘whose data is it anyway’, we considered the position of Football DataCo and Betgenius, with particular reference to the experience of a Hull City fan who was questioned in relation to “unauthorised data gathering” during a match against Reading. In this, the final part of our two-part series, Sport Shorts considers … Continue Reading
In the first of a two-part series, Sports Shorts looks at the ownership of data collected at football matches. With the new football season still in its infancy, fans of many clubs remain full of the optimism that comes with the sensation that anything is possible in the months to come. When Daniel Mawer arrived … Continue Reading
Bury Football Club’s recent expulsion from the English Football League (“EFL”) was a very sad day for football. Bury was founded in 1885, had won two FA Cups and had just been promoted to EFL’s League One.… Continue Reading
Gambling and football – two words that go hand-in-hand for a lot of football fans. For many punters, having a flutter on a match-day is an essential part of their footballing experience. Betting companies looking to attract customers spend significant sums on advertising, but it can be difficult to get things right, especially when it … Continue Reading
The importance of keeping certain information confidential in sport should not be underestimated. Knowledge of even the smallest piece of information relating to an opposing club or rival’s team selection, tactics, recruitment targets or commercial arrangements can give the club in receipt of such information a significant advantage both on and off the pitch.… Continue Reading
A report from Kick It Out, the anti-discrimination charity, found that reports of racism in English football rose by 43% last season, from 192 instances to 274. Meanwhile, reports of faith-based discrimination rose by 75% from 36 instances to 63. It is the seventh consecutive year that reported incidents of discrimination in football have increased. … Continue Reading
As recently mentioned on Sports Shorts, the spotlight on the gender pay gap has been amplified following the fourth World Cup win by the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (“WNT”). In this post, we provide a brief summary of the recent class action lawsuit filed by members of the WNT against the United States Soccer … Continue Reading
The gender pay gap debate continues in business as it has for a number of years. Confusion surrounding the topic remains widespread with many conflating it with equal pay and others denying its existence entirely. Companies in the UK are now publishing their latest gender pay gap figures and the data reveals that men are … Continue Reading
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has renewed his call for a luxury tax system in football. Sports Shorts previously covered the role luxury tax has played in the NBA and the extent to which this could be applied in the game of football in Europe, following similar comments by Ceferin in 2017. In summary, a luxury … Continue Reading
For some people, the idea of watching someone else play a video game holds no appeal whatsoever. However, watching eSports is becoming an increasingly popular activity for millennials and Generation Z with viewing figures rivalling some traditional sports. As the audience for eSports grows, so do the revenues created by the industry. According to recent … Continue Reading
