Friendly matches are a big part of professional soccer. Friendlies are much like the exhibition matches found in most American sports. Friendlies, however, typically pit teams from different leagues, countries, or continents against each other to expand a given team or leagues presence in another part of the world. Often, a smaller team will pay a more recognizable franchise an appearance fee to come an play a friendly match to boost interest and to raise money.
With this in mind, the Wellington Phoenix of New Zealand has announced that the Los Angeles Galaxy will play them in a friendly match to be host in New Zealand this December. The team has agreed to pay the Galaxy two million dollars for the teams appearance. There is one catch however - David Beckham must play at least 55 minutes of the match.
This is yet another opportunity for the Galaxy to cash in on Beckham - making two million dollars for their star to play for less than one hour. The financial gain is not limited to just the Galaxy, though. The mayor of Wellington, New Zealand, Kerry Prendergast, expects the city to make at least six million dollars due to Beckham's visit. David Beckham continues to turn everything around him into gold, and one would expect the scheduling of friendly matches to continue.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment