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Post by Macmoish on Jul 13, 2011 6:33:54 GMT
We'd play them for a lot less!Guardian
Napoli offer Manchester United €1m to play friendly
• Proposal is worth nearly £880,000 • Serie A side keen to raise international profileThe Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has offered Manchester United €1m to play his team in a friendly. The proposal – worth nearly £880,000 – is for United to play at the San Paolo stadium in Naples. The Serie A outfit want to raise their international profile and hope the Premier League champions will accept the invitation. Speaking at a press conference, De Laurentiis said: "I have offered Manchester United €1m to come here and play a friendly against Napoli. I am awaiting a reply. "My aim is to bring Napoli to be among the top teams, not just in Italy, but at international level. There is a lot of work to be done." Napoli, who finished third in Serie A last term, will play in the Champions League next season. www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jul/12/napoli-manchester-united-friendly
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 13, 2011 6:38:26 GMT
And money to be made from Overseas... INDEPENDENT Playing in a sauna delivers healthy dividends United and Arsenal profit in Asia as City try to 'break' America By Tim Rich in Guangzhou Wednesday, 13 July 2011 Last year a market research company asked the young and wealthy of China what they made of certain Premier League clubs. Click HERE to view graphic (135k jpg) www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00623/preseasonG_623252a.jpgThe most common adjectives associated with Manchester United were "successful" and "aggressive". Arsenal were "young" and "sexy". Chelsea were characterised as "wealthy" and "superficial" while Liverpool were "honest" and "reliable". No one asked about Manchester City. This week "successful and aggressive", "young and sexy", "wealthy and superficial" and "honest and reliable" will be in the far corners of the planet, earning money, pressing the flesh, building the brand. Since three of them will be playing in Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Jalil Stadium, where night temperatures hover around 30 degrees and humidity levels range from 80 to 90 per cent, it is not about preparing for a long English winter. However, this is a dog that is being wagged by a very long and powerful tail. When Gavin Laws, the head of Liverpool's sponsors, Standard Chartered, said that it might help if the club signed some Asian players, his statement was met with ridicule. And yet Sir Alex Ferguson's signing of Park Ji-sung from PSV Eindhoven for a modest £4m is one of the reasons 1.2million Koreans hold a Manchester United credit card. When Laws defended Standard Chartered's $132m deal with Liverpool, he said that the first instalment of $33m had already been recouped in "advertising value" in Asia. Asia and the United States are the two great prizes of football touring. The players prefer America. They are not mobbed when they set foot outside their hotel room, they can have a beer in familiar surroundings and do not have to play in a sauna. The financiers prefer Asia. The audiences are more pliable. Once, after an excruciating goalless draw between Bayern Munich and Manchester United at Chicago's Soldier Field, both teams were booed off. That would never happen in Hong Kong or Bangkok. Yesterday Charlie Adam, Liverpool's newest signing, was screamed at like a Harry Potter star in Leicester Square as he made a hand print in a shopping centre in Guangzhou. However, there are rules to obey. You should not, as Real Madrid did on their 2005 world tour, demand that whole shopping centres are closed to enable galacticos to choose Rolexes in peace. You should not – as Rio Ferdinand once did in Tokyo – stick two fingers up at your fans. The US is the hardest market. A couple of years ago David Gill, the Manchester United chief executive, conceded that America may be beyond even Old Trafford's reach and yet, for the second successive summer, United will be ploughing into America's interior. This, however, is the kind of doggedness that David Bowie and the Rolling Stones demonstrated when they "broke" America with endless shows in nameless towns. The advice to British artists was to stick to the eastern and western seaboards, where they were less likely to ask who you were. This, in effect, is the strategy Manchester City have adopted. Last year they spent plenty of time in New York; this summer it will be California. There is much good work mixed in with the money making. This morning in Guangzhou, Ian Rush will coach partially-sighted children. At Manchester United, Dimitar Berbatov has regularly given his time to Unicef. Three years ago in South Africa a United footballer led a campaign against sexual promiscuity, Brothers for Life. However, Ryan Giggs is unlikely to be asked back. www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/playing-in-a-sauna-delivers-healthy-dividends-2312552.html
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 13, 2011 6:38:53 GMT
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Post by Zamoraaaah on Jul 13, 2011 7:49:48 GMT
There is much good work mixed in with the money making. This morning in Guangzhou, Ian Rush will coach partially-sighted children. At Manchester United, Dimitar Berbatov has regularly given his time to Unicef. Three years ago in South Africa a United footballer led a campaign against sexual promiscuity, Brothers for Life. However, Ryan Giggs is unlikely to be asked back.
Made me chuckle.
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Post by gibraltar on Jul 13, 2011 11:39:14 GMT
F*** yeah, qpr keeping it real.
no jet lag for us.
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Post by cpr on Jul 13, 2011 12:13:20 GMT
In case you are looking for a football fix.
ESPN has Guangdong v Liverpool friendly on now.
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Post by cpr on Jul 13, 2011 12:14:55 GMT
There is much good work mixed in with the money making. This morning in Guangzhou, Ian Rush will coach partially-sighted children. At Manchester United, Dimitar Berbatov has regularly given his time to Unicef. Three years ago in South Africa a United footballer led a campaign against sexual promiscuity, Brothers for Life. However, Ryan Giggs is unlikely to be asked back.Made me chuckle. ;D
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Post by RoryTheRanger on Jul 13, 2011 12:28:30 GMT
In case you are looking for a football fix. ESPN has Guangdong v Liverpool friendly on now. Ah bugger, I don't have ESPN and I'm missing football
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Post by RoryTheRanger on Jul 13, 2011 12:32:02 GMT
Worry not, I have found a stream on the interent.
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Post by Zamoraaaah on Jul 13, 2011 12:49:32 GMT
If you need a dose of Prem football atmosphere then tune into the House of Commons, hacking debate on News24.
Close your eyes and it's just like sitting in the Hammersmith End at Craven Cottage.
I SAY BRRRRRRR RHUBARB RHUBARB, YOU WHITES BRRRR RAHHH I SAY...
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 13, 2011 12:50:43 GMT
Womens World Cup Semi Final Today USA vs France (I think 5pm UK Time kickoff. Have to check
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Post by Macmoish on Jul 24, 2011 5:26:02 GMT
Come on over QPR.... Telegraph - By Mark Ogden, in Chicago
Manchester United hit jackpot as United States tour reaches fever pitch both on and off the fieldWhen Manchester United toured the United States in the summer of 2003, the anonymity of the players was such that Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad were free to roam the streets of Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Seattle with all the presence of the Invisible Man. Manchester United hit jackpot as United States tour reaches fever pitch both on and off the pitch The average American sports fan would not have been able to tell Roy Keane apart from Kleberson, yet eight years on, as the Premier League champions prepare to face Chicago Fire at a 61,500 sell-out at Soldier Field later on Saturday, Manchester United’s age of innocence in the US is no more. Thanks to the Premier League’s increasing popularity and a sustained push by the club’s commercial team, plus Nike’s ability to propel United onto the American market, just as in Manchester, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, United are now big business in the United States. More than 67,000 spectators turned out to see the 7-0 victory against Seattle Sounders last Wednesday, while next Saturday’s Champions League final rematch against Barcelona at FedEx Field, the home of the Washington Redskins, is expected to test the stadium’s 82,000 capacity.The financial benefit to United of their five-game tour has not been divulged by the club or the tour organisers, but a flat fee in excess of £3 million, plus commercial and attendance-related spin-offs, is understood to be close to the figure the club can expect to generate. Their presence in the States also helps promote the brand to the world’s leading companies. In a survey commissioned by the club, United have 333 million fans worldwide, with 6.5 million apparently based in the US. Those numbers explain why the likes of DHL, Audi, Epson and Singha are determined to pay handsomely for association with United.But the big money all stems from the United States, with Chicago-based insurance giant Aon paying £80 million over four years to have its logo on the United shirts and Nike eager to extend its £303 million kit deal with the club.“When the opportunity to sponsor United became available to us in 2009, we realised it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to align with the number one brand in the world’s number one sport.” said David Prosperi, Aon’s head of Global Public Relations. “The most interesting thing is that it has caused more people to ask about what we do. When we launched the sponsorship in June 2010, hits to our website increased over 150 per cent. But on match days, we have seen dramatic increases in hits to the site from specific countries that have come close to 500 per cent, so there has been significant uplift in brand recognition from clients and prospects as well as from the general public.” United’s visit to Chicago is a clear nod to their major sponsors, but demand for the team now ensures that the club can pitch up practically anywhere in the States and be sure of a capacity crowd. Last summer in Kansas City, an unremarkable, isolated mid-West city, traffic jams led to gridlock outside the 76,000-capacity Arrowhead Stadium prior to United’s defeat against the Kansas City Wizards. In Seattle, the city’s Nike Town store (think Oxford Street, but bigger) was emblazoned with images of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ji-sung Park without an NBA or NFL star in sight. Charlie Brooks, Nike global communications director, said: “The event we staged in Seattle Nike Town to launch the new away kit last week was hugely oversubscribed. The appetite for the game there is huge and we had a great reaction to the United merchandising and imagery in the Nike Town store there. There’s definitely more awareness and recognition of United now in the US and this tour will only increase that. “United is the biggest club in the world, and Nike, as the leading football brand in the world, want to work with the best teams and players. United are huge for us in that sense, but we have also been able to help the club elevate their presence and commercial impact globally since the partnership began.” KC Johnson, the reporter responsible for covering the NBA fortunes of the Chicago Bulls for the Chicago Tribune, has shadowed United on tour and he admits the interest in the club is now well-established and growing rapidly. “It’s like the New York Yankees,” Johnson said. “United are increasingly popular in the States and Chicago, certainly, is crazy about having them play here this weekend. “Not many soccer teams have an impact in the States, but United are the biggest, with Real Madrid and Barcelona some way behind. Other English clubs have been out here this summer, but none has the same recognition as United.” Next summer, the United bandwagon is likely to head back to the Far East, but Ferguson admits that the States is now firmly on the map for United — and vice versa. “The big tradition at the club has always been about going to the Far East,” Ferguson said. “But we’ve had fans outside our hotels here and the fanaticism is there to see. You cannot help but feel strongly that the United States is now an emerging soccer spot.” www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/8656207/Manchester-United-hit-jackpot-as-United-States-tour-reaches-fever-pitch-both-on-and-off-the-field.html
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