Sports Ticker #157 - Josh Kerr breaks one-mile world record and Mayo break a 75-year long curse

In a fortnight that saw the XXIII Commonwealth Games take place in Glasgow and Tadej Pogačar win the Tour de France 2026 to become the competition’s joint most successful rider of all time, we bring you news of Josh Kerr’s new one-mile world record time and an end to County Mayo's 75-year long curse.

As always, if there are any issues on which you’d like more information (or if you have any questions or feedback), please do let us know or get in touch with your usual contact at RPC.

Sam-thing Special – Mayo breaks 75 year curse in blockbuster final
County Gaelic football team Mayo has lifted the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time in 75 years, and with it a curse. Legend has it that when the county’s 1951 winners passed a funeral in Foxford without stopping, the presiding priest proclaimed, “For as long as you all live, Mayo won’t win another all-Ireland.” No record of the incident has ever actually been found, but the drought was real enough. Eleven finals came and went, each ending in defeat. The last surviving member of the 1951 squad died in 2023 without seeing his team ever win again. But on Sunday 26 July, before a sold-out crowd of 82,300 at Croke Park, Mayo beat reigning champions Kerry 1-20 to 1-17, fatefully wearing white in a final for the first time since 1951 after a kit clash. The historic win united famous fans Joe Biden, Mark Carney and remarkably, both Gallagher brothers in celebration. ‘Sam’ is finally going home to Castlebar.

Passionate commentary of the final moments is available here.

Football is not for sale. FIFA’s $20bn commercial sell-off collapses inside a week
On 28 July, FIFA president Gianni Infantino unveiled plans to sell off a portion of FIFA’s broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing rights, along with responsibility for delivering its tournaments, to private investment. The plans would have seen the rights transferred to a new company, FIFA Forward Enterprise, of which a 20% minority stake would then be sold to an investor group led by Thrive Eternal, generating around $4.2 billion. Each of FIFA’s 211 member associations were offered up to $40 million to approve the deal by 19 September, but the response was overwhelmingly negative. Notably, UEFA and its 55 members voted to boycott FIFA competitions including the World Cup, which it said “cannot be treated as an investment product”. CONCACAF followed not long after, while the EU sport commissioner confirmed Brussels would examine the proposal under its antitrust powers. Infantino then withdrew the plans on 1 August, just four days after the initial announcement. With UEFA, among others, declaring it has lost confidence in him, we await to see how Infantino will respond.

Kerr goes the extra mile (faster than anyone else) at London’s Diamond League
On 18 July, London witnessed Josh Kerr shave 0.47 seconds off the long standing one-mile world record, crossing the line in just 3 minutes and 42.66 seconds. Kerr had publicly announced his intention to best El Guerrouj’s 1999 speed, documenting his progress over eight months on YouTube in the buildup, under the title ‘Project 222’ (representing the number of seconds it would take to best the existing record). His preparations included consulting with multiple experts, culminating in his use of Brooks-custom spikes and aerodynamic race kit to best equip him to achieve the feat. The Diamond League is athletics’ premier one-day meeting series, this year enticing a crowd of around 60,000 spectators, no doubt assisted by Kerr’s Project 222. All Diamond League events will air on the BBC until 2030 after a new multi-year deal signed last year. Josh Kerr becomes the seventh British man to hold the record, following in the footsteps of greats such as Sir Roger Bannister.

Redrice Ventures: The Lawn Tennis Association’s new doubles partner for capital investing
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has partnered with Redrice Ventures (where Andy Murray is an Associate Partner) to co-invest in sports-related start-ups, covering areas such as sports nutrition, smart court technology, and online coaching apps. The move signals a strategic push to diversify its revenue streams and reduce its dependence on the Wimbledon Championships, where rising operating costs for the flagship tournament, owed in part to higher prize money (as covered in Sports Ticker #155) have reduced the surpluses available to the organisation. Scott Lloyd, chief executive of the LTA, commented that, “the partnership with Redrice brings us closer to the entrepreneurs and technologies that can make our sports more accessible and inclusive, strengthen how players train and perform, and grow the game across Great Britain.” More broadly, the deal highlights a growing trend of sports governing bodies tapping private capital and venture backing to modernise ageing infrastructure and accelerate digital innovation. 

The Horse Racing League (HRL): Maffei’s new mane event involves the old kind of horsepower
Greg Maffei, the former president of Liberty Media and the man instrumental in turning F1 into a global entertainment empire, is now looking to swap starting grids for starting gates, by applying a similar playbook to horse racing. He has partnered with Skylark founder & CEO Danny Epstein to launch a new horse racing competition, consisting of 10 teams of eight horses which will be available to trade in an NFL draft-style system. Maffei is looking to raise $30 million before the league launches next February. BANN ventures, Maffei’s new firm, has committed to fund the competition. Founding team owners include Godolphin, WinStar Farm, Vinnie Viola, Gary Barber and Chris Pucillo. The HRL hopes to emulate F1’s financial strategy, generating revenue by selling teams to major brands, in addition to betting, hospitality, sponsorship, merchandise and media rights.

Extra time...

…and finally, footage from a Division Two fixture in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League allegedly shows a Saltburn Cricket Club fielder clicking his fingers as the ball passed the opposing batter’s bat, mimicking the faint nick that umpires listen for when judging a catch behind. The fielding side appealed and the batter was given out. The clip, preserved on the English Cricket Board’s Play-Cricket platform, has been viewed over 7.5 million times and christened ‘Clickgate’, with the fielder involved dubbed ‘Clicky Ponting’. The League has now opened a formal investigation and Saltburn has suspended the player and conceded a cup fixture, but the Bradford Premier League has declined to investigate earlier footage retrospectively. Punishments on the table range as far as expulsion from the league or lifetime bans. Meanwhile, the player has lost his personal sponsorship deal with a local Indian restaurant, which cut ties with him almost immediately.