Who owns it, what it pays, and how big it really is.

A tall modern brick and steel football stand joined to an older lower stand, seen from street level on an overcast day

Anfield Capacity: 45,000 to 61,000 Without Moving

Anfield grew by 16,000 seats in 13 years through two stand rebuilds. At roughly $10,300 a seat it is half the cost per seat of a new stadium.

A vast empty single-tier standing terrace in a football stadium, rows of yellow crush barriers receding steeply upward under a dark steel roof

Signal Iduna Park Capacity: 81,365 or 65,829

Germany's largest stadium holds 81,365 for the Bundesliga and 65,829 for UEFA matches. The 15,536-seat gap is the Yellow Wall being sat down.

The interior of a large empty stadium seen from the lower tier, its retractable roof half open with a bright slot of overcast sky above rows of grey seats

Principality Stadium Capacity: 73,931 and a Roof

Cardiff holds 73,931 for rugby and about 78,000 for boxing. And the famous rule that both teams must agree to close the roof no longer applies.

A vast empty oval stadium bowl seen from a high upper tier at golden hour, tiers of grey and green seats sweeping around a bright open playing surface

Biggest Stadiums in Australia and New Zealand

The MCG holds 100,024 — more than Eden Park and Wellington combined. And almost every ground in the region has two capacities, which is why lists disagree.

A large stadium under construction at dusk, a partly completed concrete bowl with exposed steel roof trusses and tower cranes standing over it

How Long to Build a Stadium: 26 Months or 12 Years

AT&T Stadium took 26 months. Croke Park took twelve years. The difference isn't engineering — it's whether the ground has to keep hosting matches.

A weathered mid-century concrete stadium colonnade and worn tiered seating in strong low sun, palm-frond shadows falling across the pale concrete

LA 2028 Venues: No New Stadiums, 35% Over Budget

Every LA 2028 venue, sport by sport — and why the first Games since London 1948 to build nothing has still gone from $5.3bn to $7.145bn.

Prize Money

A carbon-fibre front wing endplate and a brass balance scale on a dark workshop bench, lit by a single warm lamp

F1 Prize Money: Ferrari Gets Paid for Existing

F1 splits roughly $1.25 billion three ways — 75% on standings, 20% on past success, and 5% to Ferrari alone. How the 2026 Concorde changed it.

Three blank unmarked medals on ribbons laid on a dark slate surface, lit by a single warm lamp against deep shadow

Olympic Medal Bonus: Same Gold, 21x the Money

The IOC pays nothing. Singapore pays about $792,000 for gold, the USA $37,500. Why the smallest nations pay the most — every 2026 figure.

Three brass-barrelled darts with dark flights embedded in a worn plain sisal dartboard, lit from the side against a dim out-of-focus hall

Darts Prize Money: £5m, and £15,000 for Losing

The 2026 World Darts Championship paid £5 million. The winner took £1 million — and every one of the 128 entrants was guaranteed £15,000.

A white cue ball and a single red ball resting on green snooker baize beside a corner pocket, lit from above, with rows of empty dark auditorium seats behind

Snooker Prize Money: £2.4m for 17 Days

The World Snooker Championship pays £500,000 to the winner from a £2,395,000 fund. Darts pays double, for one night's work.

An empty football goal with plain white netting on stadium turf at dusk, the tiers of a vast empty national stadium out of focus behind it

Premier League Promotion: £205m for One Match

The Championship play-off final is the richest game in football. Deloitte puts the winner's uplift at £205m — because central payments jump from £11m to £109m.

A muddy leather football in wet grass beside a peeling white corner post on a rough pitch, a small tin-roofed terrace out of focus behind

FA Cup Prize Money: £2,250 to £2,000,000

Winning a first qualifying round tie pays £2,250. Winning the final pays £2m. No other competition in football spans four orders of magnitude.

Ownership

An empty boardroom table with leather chairs beside a tall window overlooking a floodlit football stadium at dusk

Premier League Owners: Three Clubs Left in British Hands

Eleven of the twenty Premier League clubs are American-owned, including four of the big six. Only Brentford, Brighton and Tottenham remain fully British.

A glass-walled executive suite high inside a large stadium, looking down over an empty bowl at dusk, with an empty desk in the foreground

Most Valuable Sports Teams: The NFL Owns the List

The Dallas Cowboys are worth $13bn — and NFL franchises take 13 of the top 20. Real Madrid leads world football on $9.5bn and still ranks outside the top five.

Six identical grey model football stadiums arranged on a polished boardroom table, each linked by a fine thread to a single brass pin at the centre

Multi-Club Ownership: 42% of Europe's Biggest Clubs

City Football Group owns 13 clubs. Nearly 42% of Big Five league clubs sit under multi-club ownership — and UEFA's expanded format makes collisions likelier.

A plain grey ballot box and a stack of blank folded paper slips on a wooden committee-room table, with empty stacking chairs out of focus behind

Bundesliga 50+1 Rule: Upheld, With Conditions

On 12 August 2026 Germany's competition authority closed its case and ruled 50+1 permissible — but gave the DFL and four clubs homework to do.

Two old brass door keys of noticeably different sizes lying side by side on a green leather-topped desk beside a closed leather ledger

Who Owns Manchester United: 69% vs 29%

The Glazers hold about 69% and the votes. Ratcliffe's INEOS holds 28.94% and runs football. Ownership and control sit with different people.

An empty motor-racing pit lane at dusk, a long row of identical closed grey garage shutters receding into the distance above wet reflective tarmac

Who Owns Formula 1: And Why Red Bull Owns Two

Liberty Media bought F1 for $8bn in 2017 and it is now valued near $22bn. One group owns two of the eleven teams — something football would not permit.

Salaries & Earnings

An empty technical area beside a floodlit pitch at night, with a folded coat over the back of a dugout seat and a whiteboard face down

Highest Paid Football Managers: Simeone Leads on €35m

Diego Simeone earns a reported €35m a year at Atlético, well clear of Guardiola's £20m. Every figure is an estimate — here's why, and which to distrust.

An empty indoor basketball arena with polished hardwood floor and tiered seating, lit by overhead spotlights from above the court

Highest Paid WNBA Players: The $1.4m Ceiling

Three players share the WNBA's 2026 maximum of $1.4m. Why A'ja Wilson is also reported at $1.67m — and why both figures are correct.

An empty floodlit tennis court at dusk with a racket bag resting against the net post and a scoreboard switched off

Highest Paid Female Athletes: Shut Out of the Top 50

Coco Gauff earned an estimated $33m — and still missed Forbes' top 50, which had no women for a third straight year. The cut-off was $54.6m.

A referee's whistle, yellow and red cards and a folded flag laid on a wooden bench in a dim changing room, lit by a single overhead lamp

Premier League Referee Salary: 21 People, £250k Ceiling

Select Group One has 21 full-time referees on £72k–£148k basic plus £1,116 a match. The best earn £250,000 — about 1/80th of Guardiola's reported pay.

Two golf tees of noticeably different heights standing side by side on mown turf, each holding a plain white ball, casting long unequal shadows in low sun

LPGA vs PGA Prize Money: 3.4x, Not 1.7x

The PGA Tour pays $450m a season against the LPGA's $132m. But at major level the gap is half that — the majors have closed, the schedule has not.

An empty aluminium coach's sideline bench on stadium turf at dawn with a coiled headset cable and a blank clipboard, empty tiers behind

Highest Paid College Football Coaches: $13.3m Top

Kirby Smart leads on $13.3m. Nine coaches clear $10m — and unlike football managers, these salaries are public record rather than reported estimates.

Tickets & Access

A links golf course at dawn with a stone road bridge over a burn in the foreground, dunes and a distant grandstand behind under grey sky

Open Championship Tickets: Under-16s Go Free

The 2027 Open at St Andrews costs £150–£190, practice days £40–£70, and under-16s are free. The ballot closed in July — results land by end of September.

An empty modern stadium bowl at dusk with a lattice roof, floodlights on and the pitch bright below, seen from the upper tier

Champions League Final Tickets: Applications Open March 2027

The 2027 final is at the Metropolitano on 5 June. UEFA's neutral ballot opens in March — and it is a random draw, not first-come-first-served.

The white-painted timber rail of a horse racing track with dirt against its base and morning mist over the surface, an old grandstand out of focus behind

Kentucky Derby Tickets: The Sale Opened in June 2026

2027 Derby tickets went on sale at noon on 4 June 2026 — eleven months early. And unlike the Masters or the Ryder Cup, this one is not a ballot.

An empty Mediterranean harbour street circuit at dawn, steel debris fencing and stacked tyre barriers lining a narrow road, moored yachts out of focus beyond

Monaco Grand Prix Tickets: The Sale Opens in September

2027 Monaco prices are unannounced with sales expected in September 2026. The 2026 ladder ran €45 on Le Rocher to €4,500 for a yacht — same race.

The white timber running rail of a turf racecourse on bright green grass, an open lawn and the pale roofline of an old grandstand out of focus behind

Melbourne Cup Tickets: Members First, Public Later

The 2026 Cup is on 3 November and the general public sale still hasn't opened. Members are already in — and a four-day Carnival pass costs $199.

An embossed event ticket stub and a banded stack of banknotes on a concrete ledge, with a floodlit stadium bowl blurred behind at dusk

Super Bowl Ticket Prices: What They Really Cost

What a Super Bowl ticket costs, why every site quotes a different average, and why face value is almost impossible to get. Prices checked August 2026.

Records & Rankings

Illustration in the style of a mid-century press photograph: a vast packed open standing terrace of spectators in black and white, faces indistinct. Not an archive image

Highest Attendance Records, and Why Capacity Lies

173,850 watched the 1950 World Cup final — a record that can never be broken. Why attendance and capacity diverge in two opposite directions.

Rows of identical televisions stacked in a dark room, each screen showing the same blank grey glow

Most Watched Sporting Event: 12x the Super Bowl

The World Cup final reached about 1.5 billion people. The Super Bowl's record is 127.7 million — and charges far more per advert. Why size isn't value.

Editorial illustration of an anonymous male artistic gymnast on the rings with high bar and pommel horse silhouettes

Top 10 Male Gymnasts of All Time, Ranked by Achievement

The greatest male gymnasts ranked by all-around dominance, Olympic and World results, innovation and longevity, with a transparent comparison.

Anonymous women gymnasts performing on beam, bars and floor in a lit arena

Top 10 Female Gymnasts of All Time, Ranked

The 10 greatest female gymnasts ranked by Olympic and World medals, difficulty innovation and longevity, with a full medal table verified to 2026.

Latest updated

F1 Prize Money: Ferrari Gets Paid for Existing

F1 splits roughly $1.25 billion three ways — 75% on standings, 20% on past success, and 5% to Ferrari alone. How the 2026 Concorde changed it.

Highest Attendance Records, and Why Capacity Lies

173,850 watched the 1950 World Cup final — a record that can never be broken. Why attendance and capacity diverge in two opposite directions.

Premier League Owners: Three Clubs Left in British Hands

Eleven of the twenty Premier League clubs are American-owned, including four of the big six. Only Brentford, Brighton and Tottenham remain fully British.

Highest Paid Football Managers: Simeone Leads on €35m

Diego Simeone earns a reported €35m a year at Atlético, well clear of Guardiola's £20m. Every figure is an estimate — here's why, and which to distrust.

Highest Paid WNBA Players: The $1.4m Ceiling

Three players share the WNBA's 2026 maximum of $1.4m. Why A'ja Wilson is also reported at $1.67m — and why both figures are correct.

A half-built concrete sports venue with exposed rebar and idle cranes under a bleached sky, weeds growing through the site

Cost to Host the Olympics: Every Games Goes Over

Every host city since the 1960s has exceeded its budget. Rio by 352%, Tokyo 280%. LA 2028 is already at $7.145bn — and the Games haven't started.

A darkened television control gallery with banks of blank monitors and an empty operator chair, lit only by desk lamps

Super Bowl Ad Cost: The Year Buyers Said No

Disney asked $10m for a 30-second Super Bowl LXI spot. Advertisers refused, it sold at $8–9m, then sold out. The first public pushback on Super Bowl pricing.

Highest Paid Female Athletes: Shut Out of the Top 50

Coco Gauff earned an estimated $33m — and still missed Forbes' top 50, which had no women for a third straight year. The cut-off was $54.6m.