During the two-week period in which Peter “Snakebite” Wright clinched his second PDC World Darts Championship victory, the Premier League obtained a summary judgment against PPL in the Commercial Court and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Antonio Brown bizarrely exited the MetLife Stadium, which led to the termination of his contract with the franchise, we provide the latest on Djokovic’s Australian Open debacle, the assigned lawsuit against The Good, the Bad and the Rugby podcast and the salary cap investigation into Premiership Rugby League leaders Leicester Tigers. We also take a look at Ferrari’s foray into the ever-growing NFT metaverse, the censorship of Arsenal’s crypto advertising, and the New York Times’ takeover of The Athletic.
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Novak Djokovic in visa patch-off with Australian authorities
On arrival to attend the Australian Open, world number one men’s tennis player Novak Djokovic had his visa revoked after his team reportedly failed to apply for a visa allowing medical exemptions from vaccination requirements. Djokovic, who has not spoken publicly about his vaccination status, was questioned for hours about his visa status and exemption receipts and was forced to stay at a hotel for immigrant detainees after being blocked by border officials.
The Australian authorities’ decision to revoke Djokovic’s visa was subsequently overturned and a release from prison ordered. However, after the tennis player admitted his immigration forms were flawed and after meeting a journalist despite having tested positive for Covid, Djokovic’s visa was revoked a second time this morning. The Serbian star has yet to contest the decision in his bid to become the most successful tennis player in history with 21 Grand Slam titles. However, he must first win his battle with the Australian Border Force.
Leicester Tigers forced to drop salary cap probe
The rugby community is distracted by the Leicester Tigers’ impressive first half of the season as Premiership Rugby announce investigations into “historic image rights payments” that could breach the league’s salary caps. The league’s head of salary caps, Andrew Rodgers, is investigating a third-party company called Worldwide Image Management over payments made to Leicester players between 2016 and 2020. The payments are said to have circumvented the salary cap in place at the time.
Rogers will clarify whether the payments represented an increase in individual salaries, exceeding the salary cap. Rules in force at the time of the alleged breaches will apply, meaning that if Leicester are found to have breached the salary cap the tougher penalties under the new rules (from 2020/21) are unlikely to apply. It’s an interesting time for financial regulation in rugby: several high-profile players have already been announced to move between clubs as the balancing act of salary cap changes and marquee player rules forces clubs to look at different options.
Arsenal’s foul picked by ASA in crypto-related ads
The ASA recently found that two Arsenal FC ads trivialized investments in cryptoassets, exploited consumer ignorance and concluded that the ads were “irresponsible.” The ads promoted “fan tokens” that could be purchased in exchange for participating in official club decisions. The more tokens a fan owns, the greater the weight of their vote.
However, in order to buy the tokens, fans first had to purchase digital currency through a crypto platform. The ad on Arsenal’s website included various warnings about the risks involved, but an ad posted on social media did not. Unconvinced by Arsenal’s argument that its tokens were not cryptocurrencies as they were used to encourage fan participation rather than facilitating payment, the ASA ordered the ads could not reappear. Any clubs that are likely to wish to appoint a Fan Token Partner should consider the ASA’s decision and guidance to ensure they are not breaking the rules.
Ferrari partners with Velas on NFT venture
Ferrari F1, Scuderia Ferrari, has announced its partnership with Swiss blockchain company Velas Network AG for the upcoming season. Sponsorship is an important part of the deal, which sees Velas become a premium partner of Ferrari as well as title sponsor of the Ferrari Esports Series. In addition, the deal is said to include the launch of exclusive digital products and experiences for Ferrari fans. Although no specific announcements have been made as to the products that the partnership will provide, NFTs are likely to be one of them. NFT and blockchain content is nothing new in Formula 1 as McLaren and Red Bull have sponsorship and NFT agreements with Tezos. Despite the rising popularity of NFTs and other blockchain products, many people are still unfamiliar with them. However, this deal is a positive move for Ferrari, who have the brand power to entice even those who may not be fans of Formula 1.
The Good, the Bad and the Rugby podcast in passing
The popular rugby union podcast House of Rugby, originally hosted by ex-England players James Haskell and Mike Tindall and TV presenter Alex Payne, is at the center of a High Court dispute over a passing. The podcast was created and broadcast in 2018 by Joe Media, an entertainment company that later fell under administration and was acquired by private equity firm Greencastle Capital. Greencastle are now seeking damages from the three hosts, who are now hosting their own popular podcast, The Good, the Bad & the Rugby. The trial is expected to begin on February 7 of this year.
extra time…
…and finally, in its largest acquisition in nearly 30 years, The New York Times has agreed to buy sports news website The Athletic for a sum of $550 million. The acquisition brings in approximately 1.2 million digital subscribers, bringing the total number of NY Times subscribers to nearly 10 million. With reported 2021 sales of approximately $77 million, the purchase price is seven times the sales of The Athletic; higher than five times the recent sale and valuation of other news sites Politico and Axios respectively. According to NY Times executive director Meredith Levien, The Athletic will operate as a separate section of the newspaper’s general sports section and will continue to provide a deeper look into fans’ “favourite teams, leagues and players”.
