Manchester United will play in Shanghai tonight for a
"match the club hopes will boost its commercial power" in
China, the "world's largest potential market." The move is
"the latest step in the club's aim at building a global
image." Manchester United Int'l Managing Dir Michael Farnan:
"We are looking to extend the Manchester United brand and
merchandising activities into Asia" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 7/21).
OTHER NOTES: Expecting a big crowd for Thursday's
matinee against the Cardinals, the Reds announced that they
will give each downtown worker who parks at Cinergy Field
during the day two free tickets to a future game in exchange
for the use of the parking space. The ticket vouchers are
for those with monthly parking passes at the stadium
(CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 7/21)....Despite the Devil Rays' 41-53
record and its 29% drop in attendance, "most" team sponsors
still find the "pricey business marriage ... still worth
every penny." Devil Rays' VP/Sales & Marketing John Browne:
"No sponsors have come to the forefront and expressed their
concerns about it. Most of them are in this for the long
haul and have just wanted to hear from us about what we're
going to do to improve things" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 7/20)....The
Stars are projecting season-ticket renewals at 95-96%, and
800 people are on a priority waiting list for season tickets
for the upcoming season, up from 450 last year. The team
generated about $800,000 in revenue per game from tickets,
merchandise and concession sales, and took in about $1.8M
per game during the Stanley Cup Finals. Owner Tom Hicks:
"We'll lose several million dollars this year, but we
could've lost quite a bit more" (STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/21).
