Dawn of the United?

Dear reader,

Just wanted to let y’all know that we are not carrying an original story this week. The one that we were working on, didn't shape up to our standards. and since we only want to deliver our best to you, we've decided to delay it by a week. We do have a short edition, with Quick Singles and Weekend Reads for you.

⚡️Quick Singles

🔴💵✅: The Premier League approved Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS’ proposed purchase of a minority stake (25%) in Manchester United. However, the club its still awaiting a green light from England’s Football Association. The club have also approached Newcastle United’s highly-regarded sporting director Dan Ashworth for a similar role at the club. Under INEOS, the club has already onboarded Omar Berrada as CEO, Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean Claude Blanc as directors. United are also looking at Southampton’s Jason Wilcox to join Ashworth, should both deals go through. In the 2022-23 season, United also created the most expensive team in European soccer history, spending $1.531 billion in transfer fees.

🐅🟥🧢: Golf legend Tiger Woods has partnered with American golf equipment giant TaylorMade to launch a new fashion line - SunDayRed. The brand is slated to launch in May with classic golf attires, besides offering a luxury line of t-shirts and hats. SunDayRed, the name, has its origins in Woods’ iconic look during the final days of tournaments. Woods is no stranger to TaylorMade, having joined the equipment manufacturer in 2016, using their clubs after Nike shut down its golf equipment line. Woods’ switch to TaylorMade comes after his 27-year-old partnership with Nike late last year. Woods, however, is done with his famous TW logo.

🏈📺🏆: Sunday’s Super Bowl classic between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers garnered a record 123.4 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched telecasts in US television history. The number was a 7% increase from the previous year (115.1 million). Women contributed significantly to the viewership numbers, comprising 47.5% of the audience, an uptick from 47.1% in 2015. Some of this is being attributed to pop star Taylor Swift, whose boyfriend Travis Kelce played tight end for the victorious Kansas City Chiefs in the game. However, the Chiefs’ victory parade in Kansas City turned violent, with one person dying and at least 21 others injured in a shooting. 

🏎️🔍❎: Formula One team Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner made an appearance during the launch of its 2024 RB20 car in Milton Keynes. Horner is the subject of an internal investigation by Red Bull after a female employee alleged inappropriate “controlling” behaviour earlier this month. Horner, who was not suspended by Red Bull, was questioned in London over the complaint for over eight hours last Friday. Horner is F1’s longest-serving team principal, having joined the team in 2005. Horner is reportedly confident of being exonerated when the investigation reaches its conclusion. 

🇫🇷➡️🇪🇸?: French footballer Kylian Mbappe will leave Paris Saint Germain (PSG) at the end of the season. Mbappe’s contract expires on June 30 2024, and Spanish giant Real Madrid are favourites for his signature as a free agent. However, The Athletic reported that Mbappe’s camp was left unimpressed by Madrid’s offer, which it said was lower than the previous conversations with the club in 2022. The report added that despite the lower offer, Mbappe would be the best-paid player in Real Madrid’s squad. PSG are lining up Nigerian international Victor Osimhen as Mbappe’s replacement. Osimhen currently plies his trade in Serie A club Napoli.

📖 Weekend Reading

How Bazball alters one of the fundamental truths of test cricket [ESPNCricinfo]

‘A thuggish flamingo’: Why China turned on Lionel Messi [The Athletic]

That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed reading The Playbook, please share it with your friends, family, and colleagues. Please also subscribe to it (for free) if you haven’t already. 

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Thanks for reading, and see you again next Friday!