Sunday Sport
Template:Short description Template:For-multi Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox newspaper
The Sunday Sport is a British tabloid newspaper that was founded by David Sullivan in 1986. It mainly publishes images of topless female glamour models, and is well known for publishing sensationalised, fictionalised, and satirical content, alongside celebrity gossip and sports coverage. It has changed from including legitimate journalism throughout its history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A sister title, the Daily Sport, was published from 1991 to 2011, when it ceased publication and went online-only, under separate ownership.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:As of, the tabloid publishes three times a week as the Sunday Sport (Sundays), the Midweek Sport (Wednesdays), and the Weekend Sport (Fridays). The tabloid was previously available in mainstream retailers such as Tesco and The Co-op. However following the decline of lads' mags and Page 3 from the late 2000s, it has since only become available in independent newsagents, and remains the only remaining British tabloid to feature glamour models and nudity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Founded by David Sullivan, the Sunday Sport first appeared on newsstands on 14 September 1986.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It quickly became known for its outlandish and farcical content, with headlines such as "Adolf Hitler Was A Woman", "Aliens Turned Our Son Into A Fish Finger", and "Donkey Robs Bank".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its editors have included Michael Gabbert, Tony Livesey, Paul Carter, and Nick Appleyard. A sister daily title, the Daily Sport, launched in 1991. Livesey's 1998 book Babes, Booze, Orgies and Aliens: The Inside Story of Sport Newspapers offers an insider's perspective on the tabloid's first decade.
The Sunday Sport capitalised on the popularity of The SunTemplate:'s Page 3 feature by making sexualised content its primary focus. Topless glamour models were printed across multiple pages and a "nipple count" was published to highlight how many exposed breasts the issue featured.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The tabloid courted controversy by featuring 15-year-old aspiring glamour models in scantily clad poses, counting down the days until it could legally show them topless on their 16th birthdays, as it did with Linsey Dawn McKenzie and Hannah Claydon,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> among others.
The Sunday SportTemplate:'s circulation reached an all-time high of 167,473 in 2005,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Sullivan sold his Sunday Sport and Daily Sport titles in 2007 for £40 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Circulation declined markedly thereafter, with the new owner, Sport Media Group, withdrawing the titles from the newspaper industry's monthly circulation audit in 2009. In the same year, Sullivan stepped in to save Sport Media Group with a £1.68 million loan. The company entered administration on 1 April 2011, at which point publisher Richard Desmond refused to continue printing the titles because of outstanding debts.<ref name="Burrell">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Sweney040611">Template:Cite news</ref> The Sunday Sport returned to newsstands several weeks later on 8 May 2011, after Sullivan reacquired it for £50,000.<ref name="Sweney040611" /> The Daily Sport was sold off separately to Grant Miller.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sullivan's new company, Sunday Sport (2011) Limited, continued to publish the Sunday Sport as a single weekly title until 2013, when it added a Wednesday edition, the Midweek Sport.<ref name="Relaunch" /> Template:As of, the paper appears three times a week as the Sunday Sport (Sundays), the Midweek Sport (Wednesdays), and the Weekend Sport (Fridays).
In late July 2025, the Website and online-version of the paper was taken down indefinitely due to the passing of the Online Safety Act and the requirement for sites similar to the Sunday Sport to provide Age Verification for its users accessing the online service.<ref>https://www.sundaysportonline.co.uk/
Website as retrieved on 18/September/2025 reads:
"Due to age verification process coming into affect on 25th July we are no longer able to provide a digital edition.
We thank our digital customers for their custom over the years and ask them to contact their local newsagent to deliver/reserve a physical copy going forwards. Any who has made a payment in the last month will be refunded in full.
All future PayPal subscriptions will be cancelled.
We ask customers to cancel their payment to us in their PayPal account AFTER they have received their refund!"</ref>
Controversies
The tabloid contains extensive advertising for sexual services, mainly adult telephone chat lines.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, the Advertising Standards Authority banned sexually explicit advertisements for chat lines from the back page of the Sunday Sport over concerns that children could easily see them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
Template:Media in the United Kingdom Template:British pornography