Beckham crucial to shifting tickets
From Back Page final pick of 18 expected to be named at the end of May. But their names being made public ahead of the competition draw at Wembley next Tuesday, when Pearce is due to talk about his Team GB plans, has to be significant.
That is especially true in the case of Beckham, who scored on Monday as LA Galaxy returned to form with a 3-1 win over Portland Timbers.
The commercial pulling power of Beckham’s worldwide appeal is crucial to Games organisers LOCOG, who have 1.5million football tickets to shift. And Beckham has been interviewed by Michael Johnson for the BBC’S 100-days-to-go Olympic programme being shown tonight.
Bale and Bellamy will also help fill seats at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where Team GB will bizarrely stage one of their group matches despite the Welsh FA’S strong opposition to their players being part of a combined side.
William Hill have closed their betting market on the PFA Young Player of the Year. This follows punters trying to place bets of £1,000 on 5-6 favourite Kyle Walker (right), with the Tottenham defender being backed down from 33-1. Hills, who upset rival firms during the Aintree Grand National meeting with their excessive hype, fear the result has leaked before the union awards night on Sunday. A BREAKAWAY of sorts is being discussed by the middle and lower-tier clubs in the Premier League in an effort to increase their commercial revenue from perimeter advertising.
The 14 clubs outside the top six of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, who make more money going it alone, are talking about aggregating their rights from the boards.
It’s hoped an agency would make an offer to sell the advertising properties with a minimum guarantee worth more to the clubs than their individual average of around £2million a season from perimeter sales. The issue is expected to be on the agenda at the Premier League’s annual summer meeting.
strange owners John Henry and Tom Werner turn up for matches less often than their despised American predecessors Tom Hicks and George Gillett. And it hardly helped promote the Fenway Sports Group creed of engaging with fans that Henry and Werner returned to Boston after their sacking spree before not only the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, but also the Hillsborough anniversary service at Anfield. Worryingly for Liverpool personnel after last week’s cull, FSG are due back this week.