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 Episode 73 [24:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (246)

By Alex Kotler

In for three, not for five. Or not.

Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, having put the club on the sales block, have admitted that their three year investment may, in fact, extend to five.

Despite being quoted in SportsBusiness Journal in March as saying, “We’ve owned it three years. We won’t own it for five,” Hicks - facing reality - has relented.

Meanwhile, the Glazer family has rebuffed a supposed £1.5 billion offer for Manchester United. The Red Knights have vowed not to overpay, calling their efforts into question should the American owners prefer not to hear a bid for sub-£1.5 billion.

Are some ‘Reds’ worth more than others? What say you?

Read more in SportBusiness

Read more about the Red Knights and United the Guardian

Heavy hands, big boots

FIFA, the governing body of world football, takes its intellectual property seriously. To date, the organization has launched over 2,500 legal actions against those it deems to have violated its rights - and those of its sponsors.

Read more in SportBusiness

MLS makes big Impact

MLS has announced a third Canadian-based soccer franchise: the Montreal Impact.

In 2012, Saputo Stadium - named after team president Joey Saputo - will open its doors to other Major League Soccer. Said Saputo: “Montreal will finally have the soccer it deserves; a major-league team for a major-league city,” Saputo said.

Should Canada have a third team before Montana or Georgia or Hawaii get a first?

Read more in the Montreal Gazette

G’day World Cup

Football may be coming home to the fans of the Socceroos, as Australia is set to bid on the World Cup for 2018 or 2022.

FFA chief executive Ben Buckley believes that the tournament is in safe hands in Oz: “We have the experience, stability and certainty to hold such a major event,” Buckley said. “The host cities and stadia we are using in our bid will showcase Australia to the rest of the world and combined with our sports loving culture and the friendliest volunteers in the world it will be a fantastic FIFA World Cup.”

Are they ready or is Australia too un-roo-ly? (Apologies.)

Read more in ESPN

Togo a go-go

Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA and master negotiator, has brokered an arrangement that will see Togo return to the African Cup of Nations in 2012 and 2014.

After being ambushed by gunmen during last year’s tournament, the team - and its emotionally-scarred players - pulled out. Togo was then banned from future participation for its government’s involvement in the affair.

Fair or unfair? Need we even ask?

Read more in the NY Times

By Alex Kotler

Fears of ‘Terror’Blanche uprisals

The death of Eugene Terre’Blanche has sparked fears of repercussions in the build up to the 2010 World Cup.

Terre’Blanche, a right-wing secessionist of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) group, was killed by laborers on his farm in Ventersdorp on April 3. Pieter Steyn, a general in the AWB, has assured fans and fellow South Africans that no retaliation should be expected.

Should FIFA be concerned? Will this further impact ticket sales for the World Cup?

Read Giles Richards account in the Guardian

Weight loss: United drop £15 million

Defeat by German side Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League will cost Manchester United £15 million.

According to a study by International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, as reported by Matt Cutler in SportBusiness, the Red Devils’ quarter final exit will hit the bottom line.

Cutler writes: “UEFA distributes £3.5 million to each [Champions League] semi-finalist and £4.5 million to the beaten finalist.” Further, “United would also have earned a likely £3 million plus from gate receipts and commercial revenues from hosting a semi-final.”

After being knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round to Leed United, the only thing one can say is: Dang!

More detail in SportBusiness

Red Bulls go Continental

Major League Soccer club Red Bull New York have reached an agreement with Continental Airlines to be the team’s exclusive airline.

According to Continental’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Programs, Mark Bergsrud, the deal will “help the airline tell customers about its service in the New York area.”

Learn a tad more in BusinessWeek

The World Cup: Avatar Style

Soccer may yet recruit a new and unlikely fanbase: Sci-Fi theatre goers.

With the acquisition of exclusive 3-D cinema and entertainment-venue rights by Swiss-based company Aruna Media AG, this year’s World Cup will be screened in theatres across 26 countries.

Would you watch the World Cup in 3-D?

More (again) in SportBusiness

¡Huelga! ¡Huelga! ¡Huelga! ¡Huelga!

El Clásico behind us, the rest of the Spanish season may be too.

Players in Spain’s lower tiers have not been paid and the AFE, the players’ union, has called for a strike. A meeting is set for today to address the situation.

Scoop it in the WSJ

By Alex Kotler

69 days, over 690,000 tickets available

With the 2010 World Cup rapidly approaching, sources report that nearly one third of available tickets for soccer’s signature tournament remain unsold. Equally disturbing, over 375,000 tickets have been returned by sponsors and 650,000 by the world’s football associations.

The news, published by the Mirror, reflects the economic downtown and the inflationary costs of flights and accommodations for visitors to South Africa.

Will this affect the spirit of the competition? Will FIFA give away these tickets to the South African people? Voice your opinion.

Read about it in the Mirror

MLS DP @ 3 OK’d

With the career of David Beckham in jeopardy, Major League Soccer is opening doors for more high profile stars to populate its teams by increasing the number of designated player spots allotted each side from one to two.

The move, welcomed by some, demonstrates the desire to establish parity with some of the world’s top leagues. Others, however, see it as a continuance of the notion that MLS is a retirement home for past-prime players. Rumors of Thierry Henry and Jens Lehmann joining the New York Red Bulls after the 2010 World Cup are strong evidence of the latter.

Can MLS make strides in this manner?

Read it from an American perspective

From the bottom of my art

Brazilian football club Vasco da Gama is running a promotion that has some fans inked up.

According to a report in USA, Vasco is giving away a free jersey to anyone who agrees to get the team logo tattooed to their bodies. The initiative is part of a bid to break a Guinness World Record.

Would you- Should I even ask?

Get inked up Vasco fans!

Can FIFA claim ‘2010′ as its intellectual property?

Three South African calendar manufacturers are embroiled in a legal battle with FIFA over their ability to sell calendars bearing the date of this year’s World Cup, 2010.

While FIFA’s spokesperson, Delia Hunter, argues that football’s governing body must protect its commercial rights, patent attorney Richard Track claims that a date is regarded as ‘common goods’ and is therefore not protected under copyright law.

This matter follows a similar case involving Kulula.com over an advertisement in which the air carrier referred to itself at the ‘unofficial national carrier of the you-know-what’.

Should FIFA be able to protect the date of the you-know-what?

From the Pretoria News

Leiweke added to USA Bid Committee Board

Tim Leiweke, President & CEO of AEG, has reportedly accepted an offer to join the Board of Directors for the USA Bid Committee, which is campaigning to bring the 2018 or 2022 World Cup to the United States.

In support of the appointment, Chairman of the USA Bid Committee and President of US Soccer Sunil Gulati said: “AEG has an unparalleled history with soccer in the United States and Tim has played an important role in developing the sport’s legacy in this country for many years. He is a tireless worker whose international experience and industry connections will be invaluable assets to the USA Bid Committee moving forward.”

Are you surprised by the appointment? Was it a no-brainer?

Read more about it in the Potomac Soccer Wire

By Alex Kotler

Sufferin’ Becks-a-tash

AC Milan, LA Galaxy and England international midfielder David Beckham is out of the 2010 World Cup.

The global sports icon sustained an injury to his Achilles tendon in a match this Sunday, costing him a place on the English National Team for this summer’s tournament. Although considered more of a bit-part player at this stage in his career, his experience - both on the field and in front of camera - will be missed by his teammates.

A surgery performed today in Finland will determine the extent of the injury, which will almost certainly close the door on his international competitive career. What also remains to be seen is how and whether the injury will impact his endorsement deals, some of which may have World Cup clauses or activation initiatives.

What do you think? Will his commercial arrangements take a massive blow?

Read more Beckham’s injury

Barber puts his Whitecap on

Paul Barber, former Executive Director at Tottenham Hotspur and current CEO of USSF Division II side Vancouver Whitecaps, was officially introduced at a press conference last Wednesday in British Columbia.

The two-time guest on the Football Partnerships podcast counts the opportunity as his third dream job - the first being his role as Marketing & Communications Director at the FA and the second at his boyhood club of Spurs.

We wish him the best of luck in his new post.

Read more and watch the press conference video

Put a cap in it

Outgoing chairman of the Football League, Lord Brian Mawhinney, posits that a salary cap is inevitable.

According to an interview by the BBC, as reprinted in the Guardian, Mawhinney said that “the business model of professional football in [the UK] doesn’t work, it’s broke and you see that reflected in the administrations and all the rest of it.”

UEFA president Michel Platini also champions restrictions on spending throughout European. Meanwhile, in the United States, Major League Soccer - which imposes a salary cap - is involved in mediation proceedings with the MLS Players Union over a collective bargaining agreement which threaten to derail the start of the season in two weeks.

Which position is preferred? A system with limitless spending or one that imposes fiscal responsibility measures at the expense of globally competitive salaries?

Read more from Mawhinney

North Korea take home field advantage in South Africa

The North Korean National Team will apparently have home field advantage when they take on the Ivory Coast on June 25th at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.

According to the JoongAng Daily, North Korean workers are raising much needed capital for the rogue state by helping to build this 43,500-seat stadium and others.

“[An estimated 1,000] North Koreans have been put to work on four to five stadiums that require renovation, including Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, where the opening and closing ceremonies, plus the final will be staged,” said one source said.

What are your thoughts?

Read about it in the JoongAng Daily

Assauer lets comments out of the closet

Former Schalke boss Rudi Assauer has gone public with his opinions that gays have ‘no place’ in football.

The outspoken German went on to say: ‘If a player came to me and said he was gay I would say to him: “You have shown courage.” But then I would tell him to find something else to do.’

Despite rumors and whispering, there are zero openly gay footballers in England and Wales - out of 4,000 total players. Assauer’s opinions do little to encourage any to step forward.

Should Assauer ‘find something else to do’?

Read about it in the Daily Mail