International Champions Cup heads to Melbourne

[dvas987]

This would be fantastic if it eventuated. All games would sell-out in no time.

http://www.afr.com/p/business/marke...icc_soccer_powerhouses_7bZGbiE9KWJBVrP9g7r3kN

 

[giggler99]

ICC coming to Melbourne.

International Champions Cup heads to Melbourne

A big international football tournament featuring famous clubs such as Manchester City and Real Madrid will be played in Australia next year under an agreement set to be struck by Nine Entertainment Co.

The Australian Financial Review understands a deal is imminent to play three matches of the off-season International Champions Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next July.

This year’s ICC tournament was played in July and August in the United States, with English Premier League club Manchester United beating Liverpool in the final in Miami.

Other teams taking part included Inter Milan and AC Milan from Italy, Real Madrid and Greek side Olympiakos.

The 2015 tournament will be expanded to also have a presence in Asia, with matches also being playing in Beijing alongside those in Melbourne.

Nine, though its Nine Live entertainment division entered into a joint venture with sports consultancy TLA Worldwide in June to bring the ICC tournament to the Asia-Pacific Region for three years from 2015.

The chairman of TLA, Bart Campbell, is also the chairman and part-owner of NRL side Melbourne Storm. The ICC event is owned by Relevent Sports, a division of RSE Ventures Inc.

Mr Campbell and a consortium of investors, including BRW Rich List member Gerry Ryan, hold a 20 per cent stake in A-League club Melbourne City. The remaining 80 per cent is owned by Manchester City.

The ICC matches in Melbourne, first revealed by the Financial Review in July, are also being backed by the Victorian state government through its Victorian Major Events Corporation.

The matches have preliminary approval from Football Federation Australia, which organised last week’s A-League All Stars match against Italian giants Juventus in Sydney.

http://www.afr.com/Page/Uuid/42a58b44-21d2-11e4-8478-96786c9d6792?articleGift=TRUE

 

[dvas987]

Awesome news!

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Great stuff! Hope it gets finalised and made official soon!

 

[Munga]

Thanks heavens Sydney didn't get their dirty hands on this. They've always have sub-standard attendances since the big Socceroos matches were shifted there about ten years ago. MCG will always be packed.

 

[Greasyrhys]

Would've been great if there were more matches, as well as being spread around Australia...

 

[nobbyiscool]

So... why isn't there more excitement about these games here? Am I missing another thread?

I was really hoping for a big thread with lots of discussion and people talking about extra tickets that they need to move at face value to fellow BFers... it's looking like I may be relocating to Melbourne in time for the games, which means attending is doable. I'd love to be able to take my brother (a huge Real game) to the City game on the Friday night before his Western Bulldogs play on the Saturday as a uni graduation present... I feel like I'm going to end up taking my chances with gumtree.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

So... why isn't there more excitement about these games here?

They're practice matches.

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

I'd still be excited. When else will we see these guys play here?

 

[Steven Gerrard]

The Vic Government has secured this event for Melbourne for at least the next 3 years.

Link (best one I could find, the Herald Sun wants to charge me):

http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/redirect.php?h=Melbourne_lands_huge_soccer_cup_deal&artid=4127768

 

[NUFC Tiger]

$150m deal I think I saw?

Must bring in plenty of tourism which is great for the local economy and help promotes the game here.

Just need to get the Toon and this will be epic!

 

[nobbyiscool]

I was at the game discussing with my brother the other day as the theatre-goers got bored and started throwing paper planes as soon as Ronaldo went off... how many teams are there that Australians will pay that much money for? I think we sore on Tuesday night (Roma vs City) that Real were the real drawcard; we saw when Ronaldo went off that, within the Real side, there was one real drawcard.

To look at the other ICC matches around the world, how many of these teams would sell out the G? Barca, Man U, Juve, Milan probably... but as good and expensive as sides like Chelsea, PSG and Bayern are, I'm not sure I see Australians paying that much money to see them (especially when you consider that at least 20% of that crowd the other night had spent the extra $100 on the jersey).

 

[BlueBen]

Liverpool (already done), Man United, Real Madrid (already done) and Barcelona are the only four that have/would definitely sell out the MCG. Juventus probably the next most likely.

 

[LFC2010]

Liverpool (already done), Man United, Real Madrid (already done) and Barcelona are the only four that have/would definitely sell out the MCG. Juventus probably the next most likely.

Liv v Man Utd will be epic.

I wonder when those tickets will go on sale?

 

[nobbyiscool]

Liverpool (already done), Man United, Real Madrid (already done) and Barcelona are the only four that have/would definitely sell out the MCG. Juventus probably the next most likely.

I wonder if we don't all underestimate the different ethnicities in Australia and the attachments to them. There's no doubt in my mind that Juventus and probably Milan would sell out. I reckon given the right opponent, Newcastle United could even go close. And then I started thinking about Olympiakos and/or Panathanaikos and thought even they could get over 90k with the right opponent.

I dunno... I'm not saying that these are teams that I want to see. But no one really goes for Manchester City and they still got 100k. I wonder if there aren't more possibilities than we imagine.

 

[Milanista28]

AC Milan, Easily most followed Italian side in Australia.

But I'd love to see Man U vs Liverpool at the G, Would feel like a real game IMO.