Friday news roundup 24/11: Formula 1 agreements, Toy Story 5 & more

Friday 24 November 2023 by Jonathan Victoria  News

Sky Sports new five-year partnership with ATP & WTA

Tennis is returning to Sky Sports as they have agreed a new five-year deal that will see the broadcaster hold the exclusive rights to the ATP and WTA tours.

From 2024, Sky Sports will show more than 80 tournaments and over 4000 matches including both season-ending finals and all Masters 1000 events live.

British tennis legend Tim Henman and Olympic silver medalist Laura Robson will join presenter Gigi Salmon in the broadcasting booth Sky Sports’ coverage across the season, with a host of other co-commenters and talent coming in to guest star at various events.

Squid Game: The Challenge potential lawsuit

Image credit: Netflix

British personal injury firm Express Solicitors shared news of a potential lawsuit against Netflix to get compensation for a number of contestants who appeared on the streaming service's real-life gameshow version of their popular Korean thriller Squid Game.

The original show, which pits hundreds of contestants against one another in a number of deadly games to win a grand cash prize, was a hit with viewers and as such, Netflix decided to create their own real-life less lethal version of the game show.

However, contestants have since come out to say that conditions on set were so poor that some suffered hypothermia and nerve damage.

THR was the first to report Express Solicitors' intentions to take legal action, stating that the complaints from contestants stem from one game in particular, the infamous ‘Red Light, Green Light’ shown in the show.

When asked for a comment by THR, executive producer of the show Stephen Lambert was quoted as saying “We’re giving away the largest prize in TV competition history. It wasn’t going to be a walk in the park to win $4.56 million.”

McLaren extends Mercedes power unit deal

Image credit: Formula 1

The McLaren F1 team has extended their partnership with Mercedes to keep using their power unit until 2030.

Mercedes has powered the Woking-based team since the 2021 season and they also currently supply their power unit to the Aston Martin and Williams teams as well as competing in the sport themselves as a works team.

The deal is significant as it will see McLaren locked in with the German manufacturer through the next engine regulations era that is coming for the 2026 season.

They are the first team to sign up with Mercedes for the next era, with Williams potentially signing on as well, while Aston Martin confirmed back in May this year that they will be partnering with the returning Honda for 2026.

Allen & Hanks returning for Toy Story 5 (potentially)

Tim Allen has revealed that Disney has reached out to himself and Tom Hanks about returning to their roles of Buzz Lightyear and Woody for Toy Story 5.

Previously, money-hungry Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that a fifth instalment of the beloved Toy Story series is in the works.

While appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Allen had this to say about Iger’s desire for a fifth film:

"Bob Iger, head of Disney, said it was on and said it was going to happen. They have reached out to Tom and I to reprise the roles... You wonder if four was too many. Is five going to be too much?"

While the previous four Toy Story films were received well, Disney’s recent trend of incessant wanting to rehash old projects has led to sub-par movies and series, so concerns such as Allen’s of a fifth being too much are being shared by many.

F1 commission agrees changes to Sprint

Back to Formula 1 news as the F1 Commission has agreed to rework the Sprint format after teams and fans alike complained about the format used this season.

This year saw six Sprint weekends where there would be only one practice session before leading into Qualifying for Sunday’s race. 

The problem with this was that once the cars go into Qualifying, their cars are put in parc ferme, which means they are not allowed any major setup tweaks. This meant that they only had one chance in FP1 to get the car properly set up for the weekend as opposed to the three practice sessions in a standard race weekend

Plans for the change are still being formulated and will likely be finalised during the offseason. The commission also agreed teams can’t work on their 2026 cars for the next era until the 2025 season.