Big Bolt match an event
USAIN Bolt is set to headline a Big Bash-style extravaganza at Central Coast Stadium on Friday night — on the proviso it doesn’t hurt his push for a $3 million ALeague contract.
As Bolt prepares to make his football debut on Australian soil, the Mariners are putting the final touches to a blockbuster event involving fireworks, dancers, a DJ and the distribution of 100,000 Bolt masks.
Early in discussions, there were talks about having Mariners players — and potentially Bolt — mic’d up for the match against a team of the Coast’s strongest park footballers.
However, that was quickly knocked on the head given the efforts required by Bolt to make the squad for 2018-19.
If everything goes as expected in training this week, the fastest man alive will play up to 15 minutes at left wing.
What crowd will the Bolt show attract? Mariners management cannot even guess.
Normally, this match would be played on the club’s training ground at Lisarow.
Thanks to the Bolt Effect, the trial has shifted to the 20,000-seat Central Coast Stadium, with Fox Sports broadcasting the event live and Football Federation Australia looking to sell the vision globally.
“So this isn’t simply a game, it’s an event,” Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp said yesterday.
“We’re expecting an atmosphere similar to that of a Big Bash game. An experience that’s really something out of the box.’’