Wimbledon and the transatlantic class system “The only thing championship about Wimbledon is its prestige”, John McEnroe substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

The secret's out, Asian football clubs are among the best in the world FIFA's Club World Cup is highlighting how strong football across the continent has become, even if attitudes towards it elsewhere are lagging behind substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

When the archives run dry: Football's crisis of nostalgia Living through a great age of retro substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

How fashion partnerships amplify elite football's industrial scale gentrification Luxury brand deals are now the name of the game for the sport's top clubs substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Attendance concerns deepen ahead of FIFA's opening Club World Cup game ICE and CPD officers will be at the match, even if large numbers of fans are not profchadwick.substack.com/p/attendance... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Are sluggish Club World Cup ticket sales a matter of pricing strategy or of fan expectations? Commercial ambitions are high for a tournament that still involves kicking a ball substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

What sponsors of FIFA's new Club World Cup tell us about football's geopolitical economy Europe will have twelve teams competing at a tournament where it will have no sponsors substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

“Here we go” The Gatekeepers - transfer insiders and the networked power of 21st century football substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Who were the real winners of UEFA's 2025 men's Champions League final? Paris Saint Germain wasn't the only victor substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Are European football club tours to Asia an anachronism? Manchester United's challenging recent visit to Asia highlights problems facing many European clubs substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

We wrote a few words on the Champions League Final

The rise of the Sportister: Football, fashion, and the new global code Football, fashion and culture converge like never before substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

The FIA - a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma? Motorsport's global governing body just announced a return to profitability, yet it is haemorrhaging senior staff substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Controlled spaces and English football's tifos - is the beginning of the end already here? Commercial pressures and public sensitivities look set to moderate tifo culture substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Miami's vice like grip takes hold of global sport How the Florida city is fast becoming one of the industry's most important hubs substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Football prepares itself for a summer of authenticity From tour games to overseas fans, shirt launches and beyond, there's a quest ahead to be genuine, real and true substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Nostalgia, soft power, and the forgotten value of the English FA Cup “Nostalgia – it’s delicate, but potent.” — Don Draper, Mad Men substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

How a Harvard professor shaped 21st century sport Joseph Nye and his ideas about soft power will leave an indelible mark on the industry substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

Donald says, "Let Russia take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup" How US president Trump and his predilections continue to play games with sport substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

Mohammed Ali, mimetic isomorphism, and the return of big-time boxing to Qatar Copying a neighbour's behaviour is commonplace in the Gulf region substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Webinar 14th May 14.00 UK time | 15.00 French time SKEMA Publika sport & soft power ranking Which countries topped the ranking? Who are the ones to watch? What will Trump mean for soft power? Register via events.teams.microsoft.com/event/6de825... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

Why Zhao Xintong's snooker world championship win will deliver less then the hype suggests State policy, concerns about gambling, and changing consumer preferences will moderate what happens next in Chinese snooker substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Snookered!!! Britain's sporting ambitions are in a difficult position as 21st century realities hit substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

From April 2023... How Wrexham’s football fairy tale is fuelled by Disney and Hollywood glamour theconversation.com/how-wrexhams... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

Where do you draw your red lines? UEFA Champions League semi-final poses some awkward questions for football fans substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

We have developed a new model and framework | Paper is coming shortly | We think its going to be great The Football Cultural Audit (FCA) Clubs aren’t businesses with cultural value. They’re cultural institutions that operate commercially. 5 dimensions. Football’s cultural operating system.

@paulwiddop.bsky.social @drcpenfold.bsky.social @fansumption.bsky.social

China refocuses on sport as government moves on from a challenging decade Country will soon publish its fifteenth five-year plan, of which sport will be a part substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

India rising - the world's most populous country has big ambitions for its sport An interview with India journalist and former professional athlete Taruka Srivastav substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Kazakh boxer tasked with leading his country's sports diplomacy substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

What will a post-global world mean for sport? After thirty years of unfettered growth, the sport industry faces an uncertain future substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

As FIFA's first post-globalisation events loom, its partners prepare to drive off a cliff Trump administration’s tariffs will create big challenges as the world becomes more complex and sensitive substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Submissions welcome... substack.com/@geosport200 @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Gulf nations gain ground in sport soft power ranking The Gulf's three big spenders all appear on the soft power list, but might well wish they were higher www.agbi.com/opinion/busi... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

Nike's share price fell by 14% in the 24 hours following Liberation Day Why the global sport industry should be worried about Trump's Liberation Day Raft of global tariffs leaves sport exposed to a multitude of threats substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

The tariff menace: A new trade hope for the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup? Tournament is set to be about spatial fix dynamics as much as it is about football substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

From Viktor Orbán's populism to Victor Osimhen's goals - reflections on sport and soft power SKEMA Publika sport and soft power ranking raises yet more questions substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

US sporting soft power rules, but for how long? Country tops new ranking at a time when its image and reputation overseas are diminishing substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

Sport & Soft Power ranking 2025 Our full ranking & accompanying report are now available via publika.skema.edu/sport-soft-p... On 14th May, we will be staging a webinar in which we will discuss the ranking. Register via publika.skema.edu/evenement/sk... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

26th March SKEMA Publika to publish its sport & soft power ranking Ranking/report will be available via publika.skema.edu 14th May 15.00 CET | 14.00 UK, we will be staging a live webinar to discuss our findings. Details to follow @paulwiddop.bsky.social

How a global hegemonic shift is playing out in motorsport Turbulence inside the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile illustrates the significance of changes in global power substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Thank you Alessio Norrito & @paulwiddop.bsky.social for inviting to become involved in this project Belonging, nostalgia, and enchantment in the city: marketing a football shirt through diasporic emotions BIG congratulations for the ways in which you are developing the study

Pitcher-hitter Shohei Ohtani and the business of baseball How a Japanese MLB player is helping drive the popularity of US baseball but creating challenges for his own country substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Get the badge in: Stone Island, football's Casuals, and geopolitical branding The importance of sport and fashion brands in countercultural movements substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

The iconography of getting what you want Lewis Hamilton appears in a classic film recreation ahead of his Ferrari F1 debut substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Game on! How Trump's tariffs turned sport into a political battleground US president goes head-to-head with his country's sporting rivals substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Dubai announces the world's first sports free zone cluster Could this be one of the global sport industry's most significant developments in years? substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Projecting soft power through sport, which countries hit the target? Ahead of a new country ranking being launched, Geosport asks ten important questions about the countries that might appear in it substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Sovereign wealth funds and sport - the UK's missed opportunity Government decisions made in the 1970s are one reason why the likes of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are now invested in the country's football clubs substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

A challenging week in Saudi Arabia carries important lessons for sport Oil price fall and PwC ban imply a bumpy road ahead for overseas sport organisations substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport