MPs set to vote on making some Premier League matches free to air
FREE FOOTIE BID MPs set to vote on making some Premier League matches free to air
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
A BID to make at least ten Premier League matches free to air will be voted on by MPs today.
It would see a legal requirement for the games to be shown on non-subscription telly like the BBC or ITV.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
Fans fork out as much as £660 each year to watch top-flight football under existing commercial deals, according to the Lib Dems.
The party has tabled an amendment to the Football Governance Bill trying to force through the changes, although it is unlikely to pass without government support.
Culture spokesman Max Wilkinson said: 'For too long, the jewel in the crown of British football has been locked behind an expensive barrier.
"It keeps fans out while lining the pockets of broadcasters.
'Fans are being rinsed of every last penny to watch the beautiful game.
"The next generation of Bellinghams and Bronzes are priced out of the chance to see football played at the very top level.
'That must end today.
"With a free to air revolution that gives the Premier League back to the country.'
Premier League reveal new ball for next season after major brand change
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leader Live
14 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Cole Palmer stars as Chelsea claim stunning Club World Cup victory against PSG
Palmer scored two fine goals and created another for Joao Pedro, all in the first half, as the Premier League side defied huge odds in New York to shock the reigning European champions. Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was also outstanding as the Blues, who had been clear underdogs at the MetLife Stadium, secured a jackpot in excess of £90million as the first winners of FIFA's new 32-team tournament. FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP WINNERS!!! 🏆 — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 13, 2025 PSG lost their discipline in the closing stages and Joao Neves was sent off with five minutes remaining for pulling the hair of Marc Cucurella. FIFA, the world governing body, had been determined to make the occasion, which was attended by US President Donald Trump, a huge success. The pre-match programme, which included a performance from Robbie Williams and a US Air Force flyover, overran and led to a kick-off delay – but Chelsea all but had the game wrapped up before Doja Cat appeared at half-time. It was a remarkable achievement against a PSG side that had been chasing their fifth trophy of a glorious season. Palmer, the Conference League final match-winner, was at his dazzling best and many in the stadium thought he had opened the scoring after eight minutes when he curled narrowly wide from a Pedro flick. PSG should have made the most of that reprieve and taken the lead themselves after Fabian Ruiz played in Desire Doue, but he opted to pass instead of shoot and Cucurella cleared. Doue did get an effort on goal shortly afterwards but Sanchez reacted well. Palmer took charge of the match after 22 minutes when he placed a left-foot shot perfectly into the bottom corner after Malo Gusto had seen his own attempt blocked. PSG were left reeling when he repeated the feat just eight minutes later. This time Palmer created the opportunity himself, latching onto a long ball from Levi Colwill and cutting inside from the right, and the finish was every bit as composed. He was not finished there either, turning provider before the interval to slip Pedro through on goal. The Brazilian, who scored twice on his full debut in the semi-final win over Fluminense, showed equally great composure to lift the ball over Gianluigi Donnarumma. Mr Trump said he was 'having a really great time' when interviewed by broadcaster DAZN at half-time and the Chelsea fans in the 81,118 crowd would doubtless have said likewise after such a scintillating display. PSG rallied but Sanchez kept out a header from Neves and then showed brilliant reflexes to paw away a close-range snap-shot on the turn from Ousmane Dembele. Liam Delap had a superb effort pushed away by Donnarumma within moments of coming off the Chelsea bench and went close again soon after. PSG were beaten and frustration was evident as Neves clashed with Cucurella and earned a red card after tugging at the Spaniard's hair. There were further scuffles after the final whistle as Chelsea's squad and staff poured onto the field to celebrate and PSG manager Luis Enrique was involved in an ugly incident with Pedro.
Scottish Sun
17 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Inside Amazon's new AI megacity building machine as powerful as human brain – and why it's bad news for Britain
Scroll down to read why some have been forced out of their homes by the project BLIND DATA Inside Amazon's new AI megacity building machine as powerful as human brain – and why it's bad news for Britain Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IT was once sprawling fields, but now a 1,200-acre stretch of fertile farmland is home to a single gigantic AI data centre. The former cornfields outside New Carlisle, Indiana, have been transformed by Amazon's latest megabucks tech investment. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 A 1,200-acre stretch of fertile farmland is now home to a single gigantic AI data centre, owned by Amazon Credit: Getty 4 The move is a bid from Jeff Bezos's company to become a heavyweight in the AI sphere Credit: Splash Inside seven massive buildings are hundreds of thousands of specialised computer chips and miles of fibre optic cable, connecting every chip and computer to create a giant machine ready for artificial intelligence. And by the time the site is finished, it will be home to 30 gigantic warehouses, all for AI start-up Anthropic. With Amazon investment, it hopes to build an AI machine that matches the power of the human brain. And the company claims it will be 'the world's largest AI compute cluster'. The beast, spanning the entire plot, will use 2.2gigawatts of electricity and millions of gallons of water to keep the chips from overheating. To put that into perspective, it is estimated that a single request to ChatGPT requires the equivalent of a small bottle of water to keep the chips cool. And this is just the beginning of the AI industrial revolution, which is leaving the UK scratching around in the USA's and China's dust. AI is the next industrial revolution and likely to be bigger than the last one. But the UK is playing catch-up AI expert Tom Edwards The global data centre market is set to be worth $517billion by 2030, according to Barclays Research. But are we in danger of missing the boat? AI expert Tom Edwards told The Sun: 'AI is the next industrial revolution and is likely to be bigger than the last one. AI deciphers hymn on 4,000-year-old clay tablet to unlock mystery of ancient city of Babylon 'The biggest problem the UK has in getting involved is the energy infrastructure. 'We're playing catch- up to the US because we're switching off North Sea oil and gas. 'We should be building more data centres, but we'd have to build the energy infrastructure to support them, which is a huge challenge in itself. 'These centres require so much energy because they are running thousands of computations in parallel to create AI and that needs a huge amount of energy. 'It's much more energy-intensive than using a traditional computer. 'The UK has some of the best minds coming out of Oxford and Cambridge when it comes to computing, but we're woefully behind China and the US as it stands. 'Without these data centres, we're just going to keep falling behind. 'Just to get up to speed with China and the US, we would need to do a huge amount of work, and we aren't doing that fast enough.' As it stands, the UK government is keen to support AI development, and has plans for a 176-hectare site in Scunthorpe, Lincs, and one in Watford that would be the size of 17 football pitches. But neither have yet been given a green light, and would require billions of pounds in investment to build. Number Ten has vowed to use AI to turbo-charge its Plan For Change. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle insisted the UK was just in the 'foothills' of the AI revolution and that investing in the new technology would inject billions of pounds into the economy. He told The Sun: 'Data centres are the lifeblood of the AI revolution and we're determined that the UK will seize this incredible opportunity. 'This government is boosting our AI capability, bringing investment to former industrial heartlands for this new Industrial Revolution. 'With more than £6billion of private investment into data centres committed in the last year, we are cementing Britain's place as a global AI leader.' Back in America, Amazon's Project Rainer — the site in Indiana — is so large it can only be fully viewed from above. 'I can't live in my home' And the building work does not stop here. There are plans for facilities in Mississippi and potentially North Carolina and Pennsylvania. It's a bid from Jeff Bezos's company to become a heavyweight in the AI sphere which, until now, has been dominated by Facebook's parent company Meta and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. 4 Inside seven massive buildings are hundreds of thousands of specialised computer chips and miles of fibre optic cable Credit: Supplied Not to be left out, OpenAI is building a 1.2-gigawatt facility in Texas and another, nearly as large, in the United Arab Emirates. These new sites are miles bigger than the data centres built before the AI boom in 2022 sparked by ChatGPT. And the huge change does not only create work for computer geniuses. AI guru Tom added: 'These sites bring loads of construction jobs.' For the Indiana site, Amazon has four different construction crews working simultaneously. The New York Times was told by Bill Schalliol, a community economic development official, that there are 4,000 workers on the plant each day. 'I don't know if they're competing for cash or steak dinner, but it's crazy how much they're getting up,' he said. 'Steel starts to go up here, the next day it's going up over there.' Nearby hotels have been filled with the workers, and there has been such a rise in traffic accidents and congestion that Amazon agreed to pay £90,000 to cover overtime for traffic enforcement. They also threw in an additional £5.5million for local road improvements. But the investment and jobs are not sitting well with all the locals. In order to bury the fibre optic cables to connect the warehouses, and install other buried infrastructure, Amazon had to pump water out of the wet ground nearby. Wildlife depends on those wetlands Dan Caruso, a retired mail carrier from New Carlisle According to one permit, the company pumped 2.2million gallons of water per hour for 730 days. The process, known as dewatering, is now being investigated as locals report wells drying up. 'You can see the mountain of dirt they are ready to shove on those wetlands,' Dan Caruso, a retired mail carrier from New Carlisle, told The New York Times. 'Wildlife depends on those wetlands.' It's not the first time a data centre has been investigated for causing environmental damage. One built in the US state of Georgia for Meta has faced allegations it is making the area uninhabitable due to contaminated water. Beverly Morris told The BBC: 'I can't live in my home with half of my home functioning and no water.' Meta denied being to blame for Beverly's private well drying up, saying the water issues were not connected to their data centre. Objections to the huge projects by locals have cost £47billion in projects delayed or blocked nationwide, according to Data Center Watch. But with AI use booming, there are sure to be more plants built worldwide. And it's one revolution we will need to be part of — or risk being left behind.
North Wales Chronicle
27 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Italy celebrates first Wimbledon singles winner after Jannik Sinner success
Sinner, the world number one, dethroned two-time defending champion Alcaraz with a 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory to become the first winner, male or female, from Italy. Prime minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X: 'Another page of history for Italian sport: Un'altra pagina di storia per lo sport italiano: Jannik Sinner trionfa a Wimbledon e fa sognare un'intera Nazione. Orgogliosi di te, campione! — Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) July 13, 2025 'Jannik Sinner triumphs at Wimbledon and makes an entire nation dream. Proud of you, champion!' A first Wimbledon title was sweet revenge for the 23-year-old, who lost an epic five-setter to Alcaraz in the French Open final lust last month. Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, commentating on BBC 5 Live, said: 'It's so rightly deserved. 'To be able to come back from that, play another grand slam final against the same opponent and be in the same situation, serving for the match and pull out the game he has put together – I can't imagine what they've been going through until this final.' Australian Pat Cash, the 1987 champion, felt Sinner's gameplan worked to perfection. 'A great performance. Just great serving, nullifying the drop shots of Alcaraz,' said the BBC pundit. What a winner from Carlos Alcaraz for the first set! 🔥👉👂 Incredible entertainment here at SW19 💫#Wimbledon — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 13, 2025 'Alcaraz was below par on his serve and that made a big difference.' Alcaraz's stunning shot to take the first set, a flicked backhand cross-court winner on the stretch, had former British number one Tim Henman purring. 'That was a moment of magic,' he said. 'Such a great rally at set point, the control of the racket face from Alcaraz to direct a winner from that position. There is no one else who has that athletic ability.' Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal posted on his Instagram story: 'Congratulations Jannik Sinner. Special moments! 'I know it wont be an easy day, but congratulations Carlos Alcaraz for another new grand slam final and for the great season you are having.'
