Sport
Super League final round: Regular season set for dramatic finale in last fixtures before play-offs
Their plight, a struggle against the weight of expectation to be relegated, is at odds with the side they are vying to avoid the wooden spoon with.
Hull FC were given A-grade status in the indicative gradings for 2024, and that safety net has coincided with a season of major underachievement.
They have wasted little time in recruiting for 2025 with a slew of players signed up, but in the process the 2024 season has been allowed to stagnate and wilt, with several of their pre-season imports moved on after disappointing output.
Interim coach Simon Grix has been forced to put young promising players into a tough environment of losses, and use loan arrivals to get the squad through their fixtures.
“There’s so much context within how we’ve gone on this season,” Grix told BBC Radio Humberside before the Salford game last weekend. “The team from where we looked in round one against Hull KR at home is now completely different.
“There’s been a lot going on in that time, it’s been challenging. It’s been a tough old year.”
While Hull FC might have chance to take stock and regroup over the offseason as a Super League club despite this nadir of a campaign, for London, that is currently not an option.
Eccles, himself from the heartlands of rugby league but an evangelist of the London presence given his time invested there, wants IMG to take a different look at the capital, which they previously highlighted as an important growth area.
“I’m very happy to put my name to this. You have got to treat London differently: there has to be an exemption,” he told Love Rugby League., external
“It’s a different world down here. We cut our cloth accordingly, we produce players on par with the best academies in the game and we’ve got a home where we can build. Things are different down here.”
Sport
Commonwealth Games 2026: Will Glasgow be the final host?
So, why does Glasgow think it is an event still worth having?
Firstly, they believe the numbers add up. Glasgow’s calculations are that a combination of CGF funds, a financial sweetener from Victoria and private investment will avoid the use of any UK public money.
The 2026 Games programme will also be slimmed down to lighten the load on the bottom line.
The plan is to stage as few as 10 sports, compared to the 18-strong schedule in 2014, and to use existing venues rather than build from scratch.
The way Birmingham projected a feel-good face onto England’s second city shows the success the Games can be.
However, the city’s subsequent financial struggles, with its council effectively declaring bankruptcy in September 2023, also underlines the stakes involved.
Clare Hartley is the co-founder of Arc Event Consultancy and has worked with multi-sport event organisers, including Manchester 2006 and Birmingham 2022, for nearly 25 years,
“It is just very hard to put these multi-sport events on,” she says.
“They are very expensive, they require a lot of different venues and logistically they are very challenging.
“Multi-sport events are huge projects that take up so much money and time and more countries and cities are weighing up more carefully whether it is worth hosting them.”
The sporting calendar is far busier than it was in 1930, when the first Commonwealth Games took place, offering star athletes lucrative alternatives but also giving potential hosts the chance to put on events that better suit local tastes and budgets.
The Commonwealth Games – which has necessary infrastructure and a variety of venues comparable to an Olympics, without the bumper broadcasting receipts or global sponsorship deals to offset them – will always be a tricky proposition.
“You look at Singapore,” says Hartley.
“It is a sporting nation, part of the Commonwealth, a prosperous nation, and they are hosting the World Aquatics Championships next year, rather than bidding for the Commonwealths.
“There are so many sporting opportunities out there, nations can pick and choose a little bit and the Commonwealth Games has not been of as much interest.”
MMA
What is UFC, what is MMA and what are the rules?
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, also known as UFC, has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the US and in the last few years increasingly caught the attention of fight fans in the UK, too.
But what is it, how was it formed and what are the rules?
Here’s our guide on what you need to know.
What is UFC?
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is a mixed-martial arts promotion in which a series of fights take place around the world, also known as fight nights. It calls itself the “premier organisation in MMA”.
Mixed martial arts, of course, is nothing new dating back more than 5,000 years.
But UFC brings together some of the world’s best mixed martial artists, fighting each other at different weights with a main event taking place once a month. There are more than 40 events each year.
Football
'Schillaci was a man who lived for goals'
Italian football expert Mina Rzouki remembers Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci, who has died aged 59.
Source link
Sport
The Champions League's new table explained
The Champions League will follow a new format from 2024-25 – BBC Sport explains what will change and what will stay the same.
MMA
Conor McGregor ‘to address US Congress in rights campaign for MMA fighters’
There have also been complaints about lower-ranked UFC fighters being awarded title bouts simply based on their ability to sell television pay-per-view subscriptions, which is a core element of the UFC’s income in the United States.
Despite losing in the 10th round against Mayweather, McGregor has indicated that he may box again, and a handful of other UFC fighters have expressed an interest in lucrative one-off boxing bouts.
Legal experts have been discussing in the media whether McGregor is now a boxer in the eyes of the law, and thus entitled to the protection of the Act, or if he will lose that protection when he returns to the UFC.
FIGHTER SAFETY
Epstein told Reuters that the UFC does extensive work on fighter safety and welfare and is as transparent as possible when it comes to contracts.
He rejected the notion that match-making based on independent rankings could improve the sport.
“We have been successful for one reason and one reason only – we put on the fights the fans want to see,” Epstein explained.
“That’s where we have a problem with what Congressman Mullin wants to do.”
Sport
Harry Kane: Striker’s record-breaking night as Bayern score nine
Former England defender Stephen Warnock, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said: “Harry Kane is an exceptional professional.
“One thing we know about Kane is he’s never had blistering pace, his game is thought in the mind, he sees space and senses where the ball might drop – he is an intelligent footballer.”
This summer there were calls for Kane, England’s all-time record goalscorer, to be dropped during the run to the Euro 2024 final.
Warnock continued: “He will prove people wrong for the next couple of years. People are going to talk about it [his performances for England at Euro 2024]. It was a bad Euros for him.
“It didn’t go well and I think there was a number of factors; an injury he picked up in the late stages of the Bundesliga, the style of play England had, or, the wingers he was playing with didn’t complement him.
“He will score goals at Bayern Munich as he suits the way they play. The one thing about Vincent Kompany’s teams is they do create so many opportunities.”
Kane scored 44 goals in 45 games for Bayern last season. He recently marked his 100th England cap with two goals against Finland.
“He will be involved in 50 goals this season with goals and assists, but he will still get questioned about his England position,” added Warnock.
“I don’t know why people want to question him, he is still phenomenal.”
For all Kane’s goals – 417 for club and country now – he has yet to win a major trophy.
Bayern failed to win the Bundesliga for the first time in 12 years last season.
He has also lost two European Championship finals with England and a Champions League final with Tottenham.
Former Bayern and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves, on TNT Sports, said: “He played to the level you’d expect [last season]. The other players didn’t.
“Harry is going to win trophies – the only question is which ones.”
-
Sport10 hours ago
Joshua vs Dubois: Chris Eubank Jr says ‘AJ’ could beat Tyson Fury and any other heavyweight in the world
-
News1 day ago
You’re a Hypocrite, And So Am I
-
News11 hours ago
Israel strikes Lebanese targets as Hizbollah chief warns of ‘red lines’ crossed
-
Sport10 hours ago
UFC Edmonton fight card revealed, including Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi headliner
-
Technology9 hours ago
iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Review: Depth and Reach
-
Science & Environment13 hours ago
How one theory ties together everything we know about the universe
-
Science & Environment21 hours ago
Sunlight-trapping device can generate temperatures over 1000°C
-
News8 hours ago
Brian Tyree Henry on voicing young Megatron, his love for villain roles
-
Science & Environment1 day ago
Quantum time travel: The experiment to ‘send a particle into the past’
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
2 auditors miss $27M Penpie flaw, Pythia’s ‘claim rewards’ bug: Crypto-Sec
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Bitcoin miners steamrolled after electricity thefts, exchange ‘closure’ scam: Asia Express
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Cardano founder to meet Argentina president Javier Milei
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Dorsey’s ‘marketplace of algorithms’ could fix social media… so why hasn’t it?
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Low users, sex predators kill Korean metaverses, 3AC sues Terra: Asia Express
-
Business9 hours ago
How Labour donor’s largesse tarnished government’s squeaky clean image
-
Science & Environment13 hours ago
‘Running of the bulls’ festival crowds move like charged particles
-
CryptoCurrency9 hours ago
Ethereum is a 'contrarian bet' into 2025, says Bitwise exec
-
Science & Environment13 hours ago
Rethinking space and time could let us do away with dark matter
-
Science & Environment10 hours ago
We may have spotted a parallel universe going backwards in time
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Arthur Hayes’ ‘sub $50K’ Bitcoin call, Mt. Gox CEO’s new exchange, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 1 – 7
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Treason in Taiwan paid in Tether, East’s crypto exchange resurgence: Asia Express
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Leaked Chainalysis video suggests Monero transactions may be traceable
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Journeys: Robby Yung on Animoca’s Web3 investments, TON and the Mocaverse
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Louisiana takes first crypto payment over Bitcoin Lightning
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Are there ‘too many’ blockchains for gaming? Sui’s randomness feature: Web3 Gamer
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Crypto whales like Humpy are gaming DAO votes — but there are solutions
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Help! My parents are addicted to Pi Network crypto tapper
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
$12.1M fraud suspect with ‘new face’ arrested, crypto scam boiler rooms busted: Asia Express
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
‘Everything feels like it’s going to shit’: Peter McCormack reveals new podcast
-
Science & Environment13 hours ago
Future of fusion: How the UK’s JET reactor paved the way for ITER
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
SEC sues ‘fake’ crypto exchanges in first action on pig butchering scams
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Fed rate cut may be politically motivated, will increase inflation: Arthur Hayes
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Decentraland X account hacked, phishing scam targets MANA airdrop
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
CZ and Binance face new lawsuit, RFK Jr suspends campaign, and more: Hodler’s Digest Aug. 18 – 24
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
CertiK Ventures discloses $45M investment plan to boost Web3
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Memecoins not the ‘right move’ for celebs, but DApps might be — Skale Labs CMO
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Telegram bot Banana Gun’s users drained of over $1.9M
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
DZ Bank partners with Boerse Stuttgart for crypto trading
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
RedStone integrates first oracle price feeds on TON blockchain
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Bitcoin bulls target $64K BTC price hurdle as US stocks eye new record
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
SEC asks court for four months to produce documents for Coinbase
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
‘No matter how bad it gets, there’s a lot going on with NFTs’: 24 Hours of Art, NFT Creator
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Blockdaemon mulls 2026 IPO: Report
-
Business10 hours ago
Thames Water seeks extension on debt terms to avoid renationalisation
-
Politics10 hours ago
I’m in control, says Keir Starmer after Sue Gray pay leaks
-
Politics9 hours ago
‘Appalling’ rows over Sue Gray must stop, senior ministers say | Sue Gray
-
Business8 hours ago
Axel Springer top team close to making eight times their money in KKR deal
-
News8 hours ago
“Beast Games” contestants sue MrBeast’s production company over “chronic mistreatment”
-
News8 hours ago
Sean “Diddy” Combs denied bail again in federal sex trafficking case in New York
-
News8 hours ago
Brian Tyree Henry on his love for playing villains ahead of “Transformers One” release
-
News8 hours ago
Brian Tyree Henry on voicing young Megatron, his love for villain roles
-
CryptoCurrency8 hours ago
Coinbase’s cbBTC surges to third-largest wrapped BTC token in just one week
-
Technology3 days ago
YouTube restricts teenager access to fitness videos
-
Politics1 day ago
What is the House of Lords, how does it work and how is it changing?
-
Politics1 day ago
Keir Starmer facing flashpoints with the trade unions
-
Health & fitness2 days ago
Why you should take a cheat day from your diet, and how many calories to eat
-
Science & Environment1 day ago
Elon Musk’s SpaceX contracted to destroy retired space station
-
MMA10 hours ago
UFC’s Cory Sandhagen says Deiveson Figueiredo turned down fight offer
-
MMA10 hours ago
Diego Lopes declines Movsar Evloev’s request to step in at UFC 307
-
Football10 hours ago
Niamh Charles: Chelsea defender has successful shoulder surgery
-
Football10 hours ago
Slot's midfield tweak key to Liverpool victory in Milan
-
Science & Environment13 hours ago
Hyperelastic gel is one of the stretchiest materials known to science
-
Science & Environment13 hours ago
How to wrap your head around the most mind-bending theories of reality
-
Technology2 days ago
Can technology fix the ‘broken’ concert ticketing system?
-
Fashion Models9 hours ago
Miranda Kerr nude
-
Fashion Models9 hours ago
“Playmate of the Year” magazine covers of Playboy from 1971–1980
-
Science & Environment18 hours ago
A new kind of experiment at the Large Hadron Collider could unravel quantum reality
-
Health & fitness2 days ago
11 reasons why you should stop your fizzy drink habit in 2022
-
Politics9 hours ago
Labour MP urges UK government to nationalise Grangemouth refinery
-
Technology2 days ago
What will future aerial dogfights look like?
-
Science & Environment12 hours ago
Odd quantum property may let us chill things closer to absolute zero
-
Science & Environment19 hours ago
Quantum forces used to automatically assemble tiny device
-
Entertainment8 hours ago
“Jimmy Carter 100” concert celebrates former president’s 100th birthday
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
SEC settles with Rari Capital over DeFi pools, unregistered broker activity
-
News8 hours ago
Joe Posnanski revisits iconic football moments in new book, “Why We Love Football”
-
Health & fitness2 days ago
How to adopt mindful drinking in 2022
-
Health & fitness2 days ago
What 10 days of a clean eating plan actually does to your body and why to adopt this diet in 2022
-
Health & fitness2 days ago
When Britons need GoFundMe to pay for surgery, it’s clear the NHS backlog is a political time bomb
-
Health & fitness2 days ago
The maps that could hold the secret to curing cancer
-
Health & fitness2 days ago
Covid v flu v cold and how to tell the difference between symptoms this winter
-
Science & Environment23 hours ago
Quantum to cosmos: Why scale is vital to our understanding of reality
-
Business2 days ago
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warns of threat to democracy
-
Science & Environment1 day ago
How to wrap your mind around the real multiverse
-
Technology3 days ago
Trump says Musk could head ‘government efficiency’ force
-
Science & Environment2 days ago
Particle physicists may have solved a strange mystery about the muon
-
Science & Environment1 day ago
Time may be an illusion created by quantum entanglement
-
Science & Environment1 day ago
How the weird and powerful pull of black holes made me a physicist
-
Politics23 hours ago
Is there a £22bn ‘black hole’ in the UK’s public finances?
-
Science & Environment23 hours ago
X-ray laser fires most powerful pulse ever recorded
-
Science & Environment22 hours ago
What are fractals and how can they help us understand the world?
-
Science & Environment22 hours ago
How indefinite causality could lead us to a theory of quantum gravity
-
Science & Environment21 hours ago
Doughnut-shaped swirls of laser light can be used to transmit images
-
Science & Environment21 hours ago
Being in two places at once could make a quantum battery charge faster
-
Science & Environment20 hours ago
Why we are finally within reach of a room-temperature superconductor
-
Science & Environment20 hours ago
Black holes scramble information – but may not be the best at it
-
Science & Environment19 hours ago
The galactic anomalies hinting dark matter is weirder than we thought
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Telegram CEO cannot leave France, OpenSea receives Wells notice, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Aug. 25 – 31
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Five crypto market predictions that haven’t come true — yet
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Solana unveils new Seeker device, says it’s not just a ‘memecoin phone’
-
CryptoCurrency10 hours ago
Crypto scammers orchestrate massive hack on X but barely made $8K
You must be logged in to post a comment Login