FFA quiet on funding Bolt’s $3m contract
USAIN Bolt is vying for a $3 million contract with the Central Coast Mariners, although how one of the richest payments in A-League history is paid for remains undecided.
While the Bolt story has already reached a global audience, Football Federation Australia is yet to guarantee how much of its famed Marquee Player Fund will be used on the Jamaican should he earn a Mariners contract.
The Gosford club is offering to pay the world’s fastest man $3 million for the 2018-19 season – a large chunk of which will be fronted millionaire Mariners owner Mike Charlesworth.
While the agreement is among the richest in Australian soccer history, Bolt could still have earned more than double the amount internationally, most notably in the US and Turkey.
It is also worth noting that should the Mariners sign the Olympic legend, they will see an explosion of revenue streams in areas like sponsorship, membership, crowds and merchandise.
According to Isentia, a global media monitoring service, Bolt’s football story on the NSW Central Coast has already reached 300 million people and generated $16 million in publicity for the club.
The A-League, too, would receive global exposure.
Yet while the game is reportedly deriving an earn from Bolt, nobody at A-League HQ can confirm how his contract will be split. Charlesworth is expected to fund 70 per cent of the deal.