View source for Sunday Sport

{{Short description|British tabloid newspaper}}
{{for-multi|the RTÉ Radio 1 programme|Weekend Sport|sporting events on Sunday|Sunday sporting events}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name               = ''Sunday Sport''
| logo               = Sunday Sport logo.svg
| image              = Sunday Sport.jpg
| caption            = A 2021 example of the tabloid's satirical headlines
| type               = Sunday newspaper
| format             = [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|Tabloid]]
| founded            = 1986
| owners             = [[David Sullivan (publisher)|David Sullivan]]
| political_position = <!-- Purposefully left blank, do not add without reliable source -->
| headquarters       = City View House 5 Union Street, Ardwick, Manchester, M12 4JD, United Kingdom
| editor             = Nick Appleyard
| website            = 
| publisher          = Sunday Sport (2011) Ltd<ref name=Relaunch>{{cite news|author1=James Robinson|author2=Mark Sweney|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/aug/10/david-sullivan-daily-sport |title=David Sullivan could launch Friday edition of Daily Sport guardian.co.uk |work=Guardian |location=UK |access-date=11 June 2013 |date=10 August 2011}}</ref> <br />(original publisher [[Sport Newspapers]])
| circulation        = <!-- Purposefully left blank, No longer registered with the Audit Bureau of Circulations {{cite web |title=Sunday Sport - Data - Audit Bureau of Circulations |url=https://www.abc.org.uk/product/4460}} -->
}}

The '''''Sunday Sport''''' is a British [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] newspaper that was founded by [[David Sullivan (businessman)|David Sullivan]] in 1986. It mainly publishes images of [[Toplessness|topless]] female [[Glamour photography|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>{{cite news |date=4 April 2011 |title=R.I.P. Daily and Sunday Sport |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12958143 |access-date=27 June 2021}}</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>{{Cite web |last=flavellflave |title=Flave interviews Daily Sport owner Grant Miller and his ring girls |url=https://www.boxingevolution.com/boxing-evolution-tv/flave-interviews-daily-sport-owner-grant-miller-and-his-ring-girls/ |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=Boxing Evolution |language=en-GB}}</ref>

{{As of|June 2025}}, 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-operative Group|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>{{cite web |last=Turvill |first=William |date=3 September 2019 |title=Co-op ditches Sunday Sport and lads' mags as modesty bag deadline passes |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/co-op-ditches-sunday-sport-and-lads-mags-modesty-bag-deadline-passes/ |access-date=26 March 2022 |website=Press Gazette }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=16 July 2013 |title=The pornification of Britain's high streets: why enough is enough |url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/jul/16/pornification-britains-high-streets |access-date=26 March 2022 |website=The Guardian }}</ref>

==History==
Founded by David Sullivan, the ''Sunday Sport'' first appeared on newsstands on 14 September 1986.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Di Hand|author2=Steve Middleditch|title=Design for Media: A Handbook for Students and Professionals in Journalism, PR, and Advertising|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UrAABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-86402-8|page=8}}</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>{{cite web|date=17 August 2006|title=You couldn't make it up: 'Sport' editor quits for BBC|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/you-couldn-t-make-it-up-sport-editor-quits-for-bbc-412217.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/you-couldn-t-make-it-up-sport-editor-quits-for-bbc-412217.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=26 June 2021|website=The Independent}}</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 Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]''{{'}}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>{{cite news|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/steven-baxter/2011/04/sunday-sport-goodbye-news-crap-2|title=Farewell to the unloveliest newspaper|newspaper=New Statesman|date=4 April 2011|first=Steven|last=Baxter}}</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>{{cite news|url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/page-three-naked-truth-about-fame-game-2885917|title=Page Three: the naked truth about fame game|date=17 June 2020|website=Belfast News Letter}}</ref> among others.

The ''Sunday Sport''{{'s}} circulation reached an all-time high of 167,473 in 2005,<ref>{{cite news|date=1 April 2011|title=Daily Sport and Sunday Sport owner in administration|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-12942417|access-date=27 June 2021}}</ref> and Sullivan sold his ''Sunday Sport'' and ''Daily Sport'' titles in 2007 for £40 million.<ref>{{cite web|date=8 August 2007|title=David Sullivan sells stake in Sport titles for £40m|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/aug/08/pressandpublishing.citynews|access-date=26 June 2021|website=The Guardian}}</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 (law)|administration]] on 1 April 2011, at which point publisher [[Richard Desmond]] refused to continue printing the titles because of outstanding debts.<ref name="Burrell">{{cite news |last=Burrell |first=Ian |date=1 April 2011 |title=A headline you can believe: The 'Sport' closes |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/a-headline-you-can-believe-the-sport-closes-2260126.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/a-headline-you-can-believe-the-sport-closes-2260126.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=McNally|first=Paul|url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=46915&c=1|title=Daily Sport ceases publication and calls in administrators|work=Press Gazette|date=1 April 2011|access-date=10 June 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605201341/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=46915&c=1|archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref><ref name="Sweney040611">{{cite news|last=Sweney|first=Mark|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jun/04/david-sullivan-sunday-sport |title=David Sullivan paid just £50,000 for Sunday Sport|work=The Guardian|date=4 June 2011|access-date=10 June 2011}}</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>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-11 |title=Daily Sport launches 'The Bet' for all wagering audiences |url=https://sbcnews.co.uk/affiliatenews/2019/09/11/daily-sports-launches-the-bet-for-all-wagering-audiences/ |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=SBC News |language=en-US}}</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" /> {{As of|June 2025}}, 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 2023|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>{{cite news |last=Jackson |first=Jasper |date=21 September 2016 |title=Sexually explicit Sunday Sport ads banned despite 'censorship' claim |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/21/sexually-explicit-sunday-sports-ads-banned-censorship |access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> In 2016, the [[Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)|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>{{cite web|date=21 September 2016|title=Sexually explicit Sunday Sport ads banned despite 'censorship' claim|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/21/sexually-explicit-sunday-sports-ads-banned-censorship|access-date=4 July 2021|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Sport Newspapers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official website}}
*{{URL|https://www.sundaysport.com|SportPlus}}

{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Journalism|Erotica and pornography|Nudity}}

{{Media in the United Kingdom|newsmag}}
{{British pornography}}

[[Category:National newspapers published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1986]]
[[Category:1986 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sunday newspapers published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Nudity in print media]]
[[Category:Satirical newspapers]]
[[Category:Nude photography showing women]]