Shorts: Lord’s, IPC, Netflix
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has revealed that Lord’s will host its first women’s Test match in 2026.
Although England Women have previously played numerous white-ball matches at Lord’s in recent years, this will be the first ever Women’s Test match to be held at the iconic, 210-year-old ground dubbed the ‘Home of Cricket’.
Last Sunday, Lord’s welcomed a record crowd for the Women’s Hundred Final.
Guy Lavender, CEO and Secretary of MMC, said, “From being one of the first clubs to invest in a Head of Women’s Cricket role in 2017, to honouring the birthplace of the Women’s Ashes in a formal plaque ceremony in the Harris Garden in 2023, championing and supporting the advancement of women’s and girls’ cricket is a priority for MCC.”
Claire Taylor, Chair of the MCC Cricket Committee, added, “I played 15 Tests for England during my career but none of those were at Lord’s, so I’m delighted for the players who’ll make history playing in this fixture in 2026.
“Young girls playing up and down the country can now aspire to play Test match cricket at the Home of Cricket. It is a clear demonstration that cricket is a game for all.”
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has partnered with YouTube to bolster coverage of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
This year’s Paralympics, which will take place between 28th August and 8th September, will receive the most extensive coverage to date, including live streams across all 22 sports, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
Four live streams will be accessible simultaneously, while daily clips, highlights and athlete feature films will also be freely available across 175 territories.
IPC CEO Mike Peters said, “By teaming up with YouTube for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, we will maximise the worldwide reach of the event, engaging new audiences in the performances of Paralympians.”
Box to Box Films, the team behind the highly successful Drive To Survive series, is developing a new Matchroom Netflix documentary series, which will launch in 2025.
Titled ‘Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen’, the docuseries will offer behind the scenes content featuring of some of world’s biggest sports promoters.
Matchroom operates across a variety of sports, including boxing, snooker, darts and nineball.
The Greatest Showmen will provide full access to Barry and Eddie Hearn, as well as the broader Matchroom team, an insight into the family-led business that has become synonymous with British sporting culture.
Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport Chairman said “This is a game changer. For the first time ever, we have provided access all areas to a film crew to give fans an unprecedented glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes to power the Matchroom machine.”
Warren Smith, Box to Box Head of Sports & Factual added, “Now is time for the deal makers and there is none bigger than Barry and Eddie Hearn with their team at Matchroom.
“It’s a British success story that is going for global domination.”
The ATP Tour has announced record sponsorship revenue for 2024, which saw a 50% increase on last year.
The uptick in revenue follows the signing of nine new global partnerships, as well as multiple partnership renewals.
ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli said, “Our partners are committed to enhancing the promotion of the sport, attracting new fans and supporting our members and communities through ATP Serves.
This has laid the foundation for growth through more premium events, rights aggregation, and a game-changing profit-sharing agreement creating a true partnership between players and tournaments.”
Arsenal have extended their partnership with GPS tracker company STATSports.
Initially launched in 2021, the STATSports Arsenal FC Edtion GPS Tracker has brought 66 young players to the Emirates Stadium to display their skills for Arsenal Talent staff.
The collaboration helps to bring young players from around the glove to the attention of Arsenal’s Talent Staff. Through tracking the GPS data of these athletes, both STATSports and Arsenal can identify young athletes making significant progress on a seasonal basis.
Per Mertesacker, Academy Manager said, “Our Talent ID team have been really impressed by the standard of players brought to play at the Emirates so far, and we’re excited to see what’s to come.”
Sean O’Connor, Co-founder of STATSports added, “We’re delighted that the integration of our worldwide data pool has become an additional tool at the disposal of their recruitment and performance teams. Based on the quality of players we’ve seen come through via the GPS data, the future is very bright.”
The Premier League’s opening fixture round of the 2024/25 season on NBC, Peacock and USA Network was the most- watched on record in the US, according to Nielsen.
The first weekend of the new season generated an average of 820,000 viewers across six matches.
Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea added to the records by reaching a total audience delivery of 1.85 million viewers, making it the most watched opening weekend Premier League fixture in US history.
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