The Jockey Club announced a £4.2M ($5.6M) increase in its prize money contribution in '18. Total race values at the 15 tracks owned by the group are set to exceed £53M ($71M), which is an increase of £8M ($10.7M) year-on-year, with the values including around £1.6M ($2.1M) on offer from the new industry appearance money scheme (RTÉ, 12/19).
London benefited from £107M ($143.2M) of extra income "as a direct result" of hosting the World and Para-athletics Championships. More than 1 million people bought tickets to visit London Stadium "as the capital became the first city to host both events in the same year" (BBC, 12/19).
Northern Ireland Football League Championship side Portadown "could be forced to fold because of financial pressures," board members admitted. However, directors said that they were "working to resolve the problems and have pledged to continue paying wages until the end of the season." The club is "facing considerable debts and revenue has slumped following the team's relegation from the Irish Premiership earlier this year" (BBC, 12/19).
The Dublin Gaelic Athletic Association generated more than €1.6M ($1.9M) in commercial revenue in '17, a "hike" of €130,000 ($153,970) that "comfortably cancelled out a similar figure spent on the preparation of inter-county teams." Dublin's main sponsor is AIG but it has entered into partnerships with 12 other brands, allowing it to increase its overall take to €1,462,529 ($1,732,204). Team expenditure climbed by €90,000 ($106,595) to €1,604,353 ($1,900,180), second only to Cork, which spent more than €1.74M ($2M) (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 12/19).
Top14 side Stade Toulousain shareholders voted to increase the club’s capital. Club President Didier Lacroix said, "They voted in a large majority to a capital increase of €5M ($5.9M) over the next 26 months." Stade Toulousain has faced a "tough financial situation" for the past few years, with a structural deficit of €1M-€1.5M ($1.2M-$1.8M) (L'ÉQUIPE, 12/18).
