Articles by Editor,Michael Pavitt

Sports

The sky-high new cost of watching football on TV: How fans will have to shell out north of £1,350 a year after new Champions League deal

Fans in the UK could face costs that could exceed £1,350-a-year to watch football on television, after Paramount+ landing rights to Champions League matches saw another network enter the fray. Paramount made the largest bid in an auction for the rights from 2027 to 2031, well in excess of the £1billion deal in place with TNT Sports currently. American owned platform Paramount's introduction came as part of a major shake-up of football TV rights, with UEFA confirming their broadcast partners for European competitions. Sky Sports secured rights to show Europa League and Conference League matches - marking another blow for TNT Sports - while the BBC are set to continue to broadcast Champions League highlights. Amazon Prime will retain their existing rights to have the first pick of the Tuesday evening matches in Europe's elite club competition in the UK, with Paramount to get priority on Wednesday nights and gain exclusivity for the final. Viewers in the UK are set to be hit by the further fragmentation of the football rights landscape. A subscription to Sky costs viewers £25 per month, with the price doubling with the addition of the Sky Sports package to watch live sport. The broadcaster holds the majority of Premier League rights in the UK. From the start of this season, Sky Sports are showing a record 215 matches - up from 128 - as part of a four-year deal. Sky Sports, in addition to its European offering from 2027, also currently have rights for the Carabao Cup and the Bundesliga. TNT Sports have the primetime Saturday lunchtime slot for Premier League matches, which gives them 52 live games each year. A subscription to TNT Sports, which also holds rights to the FA Cup and Serie A, costs £30.99 per month. The BBC also showing 14 live FA Cup matches per season. TV licence costing £14.54 a month is required to watch live television. To have access to the full slate of Champions League matches currently, an Amazon Prime subscription is also required. The subscription costs £8.99 per month, but includes access to Amazon's other services. Subscribers to Paramount+ pay £7.99 per month - or £10.99 for an enhanced package - after initial discounts for the first three months. Should fans sign up for subscriptions to each of the providers, they could face costs of £112.51 per month, totalling £1,350 annually. Further subscriptions would be required on top for fans wanting to watch LaLiga, broadcast by Premier Sports, or the Women's Champions League, which is shown on Disney+. Fans, however, are likely to shop around for deals and offers in a bid to reduce the costs, while it is unclear how Paramount plan to launch their Champions League model. A further twist could come with Paramount — who own Channel 5 in the UK — being expected to bid for TNT Sports' owners Warner Bros Discovery. Paramount, the owner of Paramount+ and CBS Sports, currently hold the rights for Champions League matches in the United States. Coverage on CBS has proved widely popular, with presenter Kate Abdo and pundits Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry and Micah Richards forming an established line-up on the network. Sky Sports welcomed a return of European action for the first time since 2015, after the broadcaster had been superseded by TNT Sports - then BT Sport - in a rights auction two years earlier. In a statement, the broadcaster said: 'From 2027/28, EVERY match from the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League will be live, only on Sky Sports! 'More football. More drama. Every day of the week.' Jonathan Licht, Sky Sports' Chief Sports Officer, added: 'I'm proud that we're able to bring European football competitions back to Sky customers. 'The UEFA Europa League and Conference League have delivered some of the most exciting European stories in recent years, with English clubs consistently performing strongly and lifting trophies. 'This partnership is made possible by the strength of our business model and brand as the home of sport in the UK. 'Alongside the Premier League, EFL, SPFL, WSL and more, fans will now regularly enjoy domestic or European football every day of the week during the season on Sky Sports.' In a statement, TNT Sports insisted it still offers 'great value' for customers despite the loss of Champions League, Europa League and Conference League rights from 2027. 'TNT Sports retains a strong portfolio of football with our coverage of the Premier League, newly acquired Emirates FA Cup and Adobe Women's FA Cup rights, as well as the UEFA Club Competitions for the next season and a half,' a TNT Sports statement read. 'Coupled with an extensive portfolio of other premium sport, including The Ashes and international cricket, Prem Rugby and Premiership Women's Rugby, UFC, MotoGP, Australian Open and Roland-Garros tennis, year-round cycling, the Olympic Games, means TNT Sports continues to offer consumers great value despite the outcome of the recent auction. 'Ultimately we remained committed to the approach that made financial sense for our business, and for our customers.

Sports

Monty is England's Mastermind! Panesar says 'sensitive' Australia captain Steve Smith is 'rattled' after crumbling in the Ashes in the wake of his TV quiz mockery

Monty Panesar has claimed he has 'rattled' Steve Smith' after the Australia captain endured a dismal start Ashes in Perth, amid their ongoing war of words. An out-of-sorts Smith was dismissed for 17 by Brydon Carse as Australia looked to respond to England's first innings total of 172. The stand-in skipper had several near misses before losing his wicket, as he struggled to settle against England's pace attack. Smith had gone for a series of big shots, but played and missed on several occasions, was struck on both his elbow and hand, and survived after a top edge before being dismissed. The Australia star had been involved in a war of words with Panesar on the eve of the Test, after the former England international suggested Ben Stokes' side should make Smith 'feel guilty' about his role in the sandpaper scandal that cost him the captaincy in 2018. Smith was asked about Panesar's comments, with the stand-in captain responding by mocking his appearance on the BBC's Mastermind in 2019. Panesar hit back by stating: ‘We've both made mistakes. I made mine on a quiz show, he made his on a cricket field.' Speaking to Daily Mail Sport, Panesar said that Smith had been 'all over the place' with the bat on the opening day of the series. Panesar suggested that England would have targeted Smith, having sensed that the batsman had been 'rattled' by discussion over the past couple of days. 'He was really all over the place, to be honest,' Panesar said, speaking ahead of the launch of BallsApp. 'He was hitting balls back of the length, trying to hit it over cover, and then he got hit it on the elbow, on the finger, which we don’t see very often. 'It was very difficult for him, he didn't bat like we've seen him bat. He played and missed so many times. Eventually [he got out] to one ball that nipped, and it was a fantastic catch by Harry Brook. 'There could be that possibility where the England players have said a few things or just the way you look at someone with that body language where you think “wow he's a number 11 batsman who doesn't know how to bat. He [Panesar] has somehow rattled you." 'You can think has it got to him or hasn't it, because he really wasn't himself today when he played. 'When I played for England, the coaches and the captains, we would have just meeting about targeting certain players and how do we deal with it. '100 per cent they must have done that, and I think they must have targeted him. In a way, they have probably been thinking maybe we will target Steve Smith a bit more. 'He possibly feels a little bit sensitive about the subject and it's kind of worked in England's favour, they've been absolutely brilliant today. They really rose to the occasion.' Panesar praised England's 'hostile' fast bowling attack for their performance on the first day of the series, after they reduced Australia to 123-9 at the close of play in Perth. The former England international, who played the last of his 50 Tests during the 2013-14 tour of Australia, suggested that Smith 'could have a challenging time during the Ashes' if Stokes' side can replicate that performance. Panesar's latest comments come after Smith had attacked his performance on BBC's Mastermind. Panesar had registered a point in the general knowledge round amid a collection of increasingly odd answers. 'I'm going go off topic for a second here,' said Smith. 'Who in the room has seen Mastermind and Monty Panesar on that? Any of you? 'Yeah. Well those of you that have, you'll understand where I'm coming from, and those of you haven't, do yourself a favour, because it's pretty comical. 'Anyone who believes that Athens is in Germany, that's a start, or Oliver Twist is a season of the year and America is a city, doesn't really bother me those comments. Yeah, that's as far as I'll go with that one.' Panesar, who is watching the first Test in Sydney, will travel to Brisbane and Adelaide as the series continues. He admitted it could be 'fun and games' should he bump into the Australian star at some stage of the five Test series. 'Who knows, I may bump into him,' Panesar said. 'He may have his bat next to him as I meet him, you never know with him, you know, he can be quite temperamental. 'It'll be a lot of fun and games if I do meet him.' Monty Panesar was speaking ahead of the launch of BallsApp. A mobile platform that reimagines how we enjoy ball sports, starting with cricket. Built on ball-tracking tech and Web3 incentives, the app turns any open space into a smart cricket training zone and delivers real-time performance feedback, skill-based challenges, and tokenized rewards. Pre-register now at BallsApp.io

Sports

Conor McGregor's friend Dillon Danis slapped with LIFETIME ban by UFC chief Dana White after being involved in ringside brawl

Dana White has vowed Dillon Danis will never be seen at a UFC fight again after he was involved in a ringside brawl at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. In clips seen on social media, Danis was spotted in a heated confrontation with Islam Makhachev's camp before tensions boiled over and a fight broke out. A number of Makhachev's team - which includes UFC fighters such as Magomed Zaynukov - were seen throwing punches at Danis cageside. The brawl also erupted right next to Jack Della Madellena's wife Michelle and mother, Sonya. In one clip in particular, Zaynukov could be seen landing heavy blows to the side of Danis' head while the latter attempted to diffuse a brawl happening beside him. Police and security attempted to diffuse the situation however the terrifying scenes continued as members from both camps continued to charge at one-another. After nearly five minutes of brawling, Danis and a number of Makhachev's team were escorted away from the octagon and taken backstage at Madison Square Garden. UFC chief White responded to the incident at a post-fight press conference, as he vowed that Danis would be banned from further UFC events. 'You will never see Dillon Danis at a UFC fight ever again,' White said. 'That and a lot of other reasons [are why we’d never sign him]. You’ll never see him at another fight.' White confirmed that the UFC had declined to press charges, but said he blamed himself for failing to see confrontation coming. 'So they call me from downstairs and they said, "We got him down here, do you want to press charges and have him arrested?" And I said, "No, we don't want to press charges. This is the fight business, man. You know how I feel about this",' White said. 'I could have prevented this tonight. 'It never even crossed my mind, as stupid as that could be, that the entire muslin brotherhood was here tonight in the first five rows for Islam (Makhachev). 'I blame myself for that, actually. 'They came back and told me right before I walked out for the main card that Dillon Danis was here and he was moving around, sitting in fighters' seats and not sitting in his own seat that he had. He had a ticket. And they said, ‘Do you want us to throw him out of here?' and I said, ‘He has a ticket?' and they said, ‘Yeah.' 'So I said, "If the guy has a ticket, let him sit in his seat. Let him do what he's doing, but keep an eye on him"'. This incident can likely be explained by Danis' long-running feud with Makhachev, dating back to the infamous post‑fight melee after Khabib Nurmagomedov's victory over Conor McGregor. Danis, at the time, was a core member of McGregor's team and was seen in viral videos clashing with Khabib's crew after they charged at the Irishman post-fight. Last month, Danis claimed Makhachev 'punched me in the head seven times' during that post-fight brawl. 'He jumped in such a weird way where he jumped with his feet and hands,' Danis told the MightyCast podcast. 'It was like the weirdest thing. So I didn't know what to block, he had his feet in the air and his hands up. 'I was like, am I getting drop-kicked right now? I should have just run forward and tackled him. That would have been the best thing, but in the moment I didn't know what he was going to hit me with. So he landed and we got into that brawl. 'Then f***ing security is holding me and Islam punched me in the back of the head, but during the whole fight it was kind of building up in the corner. They were saying s*** to me and Islam was saying s*** to me.