Rivals keen to cash in on Bolt

MANY turned down the chance to trial him themselves, but rival A-League clubs could reap some of the commercial rewards if Usain Bolt comes to town.

Sydney FC is among the outfits open to sharing the riches of any high-profile pre-season games involving Bolt, should Central Coast get the much-hyped six-week experiment over the line.

And Fox Sports could capitalise on the publicity as well, with the rights holder reportedly open to the prospect of televising any friendlies falling during the Jamaican speedster’s hopeful dalliance with football.

The Mariners have kept their pre-season schedule largely clear bar the August 25 clash against Newcastle Jets in Maitland, in which they have already confirmed Bolt will play no role.

It’s believed the aim would be to test the market with their attractive new asset and fashion their fixtures around whichever clubs come to the table with the best offer.

Ideally the Mariners would host at least one match themselves to engage with the local community while simultaneously injecting some cash into the Central Coast region.

But if the price is right, the road show would begin and Sydney chief executive Danny Townsend said it would be “silly” to rule out getting involved.

The Sky Blues already have a behind-closed-doors trial game pencilled in for October 11, eight days before their away season-opener against the Reds. Bolt may have come and gone by then if he doesn’t pass muster and earn a season-long contract but, in hypothetical terms, Townsend saw no harm if there was no risk.

“If it was commercially viable, I can’t see why not,” he said. “We do pre-season games to prepare our squad for the season, we don’t look at them as commercial opportunities.

“But this is a unique case, and if they said let’s open the gates and share the gate 50-50 and charge $20 a head, then we’d make a decision on that.”