Sports Ticker (25 May 2021) - Tokyo Olympics' vaccinations, Premier League NFTs and Lineker v HMRC

Welcome to the latest edition of the RPC Sports Ticker - providing fortnightly bite-size updates from around the sports industry.

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Preparation for the Olympics continues

With the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics well and truly underway (see Ticker 36), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has agreed a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to vaccinate the athletes ahead of the Olympic Games. The IOC has confirmed that these doses “will not be taken out of existing programmes” but instead will be extra doses, which could be donated by National Olympic and Paralympic Committees around the world. Read more

A new venture for the Premier League?

The Premier League is reportedly considering a move into the growing market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are pieces of digital content, authenticated using blockchain technology, which can be used to connect someone with a variety of different assets such as digital artwork, music or a short highlight from a sporting event. Read more

Gary Lineker vs HMRC

Match of the Day presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker is currently involved in a £4.9m dispute with HMRC. Documents published by the tax tribunal last month show that Lineker has been at odds with HMRC for well over a year. Read more

Luck of the Irish: London Irish rugby club bid for a women's Premier 15s team

The London Irish have recently announced that they intend to start a women's rugby 15s team in the women's Premier 15s. Every three years the RFU opens up bidding for new teams for the league, which currently consists of 10 teams. Read more

Show me the money: Lewis Hamilton wants a new contract with Mercedes before the summer break

The seven-time F1 world champion will be out of contract with Mercedes after the end of this season, having signed a one-year contract last year. Lewis Hamilton clearly wants to continue his winning ways with Mercedes and has indicated that he would want to have a new contract in place before the beginning of the F1's summer break in August. Read more

Extra time...

… and finally, award winning music artist Ed Sheeran is Ipswich Town football club's new shirt sponsor, for both the men and women's next season team kits. Some fans have been left wondering about the logo to be added to the shirts (multiple symbols and the word “tour”), but not to worry, Ed Sheeran has confirmed “all will be revealed in time”. After agreeing to the one-year deal with the club, Ed Sheeran said “the Football Club is a big part of the local community and this is my way of showing my support”. A wholesome move for Sheeran, who has shown his support to Ipswich Town as a loyal fan over the years, including selling a special shirt at the end of his record-breaking Divide tour at Chantry Park, Ipswich, in August 2019. Read more here.