In the week that the government published the White Paper (GWP) on its plan to introduce an independent regulator for professional clubs in the English football pyramid, this edition of The BackPage Weekly focuses on one element of the GWP - the club financial sustainability proposals and considers the significance of such a framework for the top five tiers of English football.

In its infancy, AI was viewed as a tool to assist in simple data analytics and calculation. However, such a narrow outlook of its potential is now very antiquated. As our understanding of AI’s capacities has increased, so has the drive to push the limits of its potential; challenging it to provide new solutions and opportunities across a huge range of industries.

The rise of episodic behind-the-scenes sports documentaries continues apace in 2023, with breakthrough series in tennis (Break Point), golf (Full Swing – released this week), rugby (Six Nations) and cycling (Tour de France) all hitting our screens this year. The eagerly anticipated fifth season of Formula 1’s hit series, Drive to Survive, is also due to premiere on Netflix later this month, illustrating the potential longevity of a successful docuseries. We’ve also seen a host of hugely successful behind-the-scenes athlete documentaries, featuring the lives and careers of the likes of cricket’s Ben Stokes (Phoenix from the Ashes) and Brazilian legend Ronaldo (The Phenomenon).

The NFL Super Bowl has become widely recognised as the world’s largest single annual sporting event with a global viewing audience of well over 200 million people. Its impact now transcends the spectacle of the sporting event beyond the gridiron itself, with its Half Time Show becoming a firm fixture in the wider entertainment and music calendars.

The January transfer window closed on Tuesday with Premier League clubs spending a record breaking £815m. The most notable contributor has been Chelsea who spent £288m (more than La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 combined).

Florentino Perez and countless other football administrators believe the game needs to change to cater for changing viewing habits and shortened attention spans. Many believe it’s more nuanced than that. Whilst we certainly have more distractions readily and constantly available to us, with endless social media streams, instant messages and email at our fingertips on mobile phones, tablets and other screens, young people are regularly spending hours on YouTube, Tiktok, Fortnite, Netflix, Roblox and plenty of other platforms.

As has been widely reported, in June of this year, the England and Wales Cricket Board (the “ECB”) charged seven individuals with regulatory breaches arising from racism allegations. The allegations were made by former Yorkshire bowler, Azeem Rafiq, against former teammates and coaches. Yorkshire was also charged over its alleged mismanagement of allegations that were brought to its attention.

With FIFA publishing its new Agent Regulations (FFAR) in early January, many agents, lawyers and industry professionals alike have been reading the small print to understand the potentially seismic changes impacting the industry. Whilst this isn’t a comprehensive note on the FFAR, it highlights some of the pressing issues for agents, lawyers, national associations and FIFA to consider.

In this article, Nii considers the key takeaways from the story for sports teams, brands and agents when negotiating ambassador and endorsement deals with athletes/talent.

Most fans who tuned in to the final round of EPL matches will have witnessed a thrilling finale to the season in which two west-midlands clubs, Aston Villa and Wolves, ultimately played a decisive role in the title race.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen a number of traditional sports rights holders enter into lucrative sponsorship deals with crypto brands, with obvious financial incentives and the attractive commercial opportunities associated with tapping into a younger and more digitally-native audience that’s embracing the world of Web3, blockchain and the metaverse.

However, partnering with a crypto brand undoubtedly brings with it significant additional risk - both from a commercial and legal standpoint, but also from a wider reputational perspective – and in this article Alex Harvey and Jonny Madill look to identify some of those risks and explore ways in which rights holders across the sports and esports industries can seek to mitigate them.

Former professional footballers Sol Campbell, Louis Saha and Arianna Criscione talk with Sports Lawyer Daniel Geey about Life After Football

Jonny Madill was a guest contributor for Jordan Williamson’s blog “Face of the Brand”, which explores and shares insights on the unique relationships between brands and ambassadors. Jordan is Commercial Manager at global sports agency CSM Sport & Entertainment.

Daniel Geey recently spoke on the LawInSport podcast series about networking in the sports industry.

Jonny Madill and Ollie Raggett have put together this article aimed at breaking down the legal position in the UK and Ireland - with a focus on whether sporting clubs and bodies can make being vaccinated a pre-condition of athletes competing, and the wider issues at play.

In the latest episode of the Dan and Omar Show, Daniel Geey and Omar Chaudhuri discuss the Newcastle United takeover, piracy and the Owners & Directors Test; the value of playing WC qualifiers against San Marino and Andorra; and the UK's 3pm TV black-out rule.

Given recent reports of the relatively low uptake of the vaccine among Premier League and English Football League players, this article from Nii Anteson considers whether the same situation could conceivably occur in those leagues.

We speak to four key industry leaders and get their insights on the trends, opportunities and challenges, and their own experiences of working in the space in the past 12 months.

Daniel Geey attended the World Football Summit in Madrid last month to moderate the panel 'A responsibility for success: Ushering in sports governance over the next decade'.

Andrew Nixon and Daniel Geey spoke to SportsPro senior contributor Matt Rogan about what goes on under the bonnet at a sports service company, from the demands of a typical working day to the balance between working in the business – bringing in fees – and working on it by leading and managing.