McLaren Chair Ron Dennis was "at pains to point out on Saturday that Jenson Button was not retiring" from Formula 1 at the end of the season "but there are no guarantees" the '09 champion will race again either. Dennis said of Button, who outlined plans at the Italian Grand Prix to step back next year, "Forget the word 'retirement.' That is not in the vocabulary, that is not what we are saying." The deal includes an option to return in '18 as a race driver "but a number of factors will have to come into play for that to happen." One is Button's own desire, "which remains uncertain given the Honda-powered team's lack of performance." Button: "I'm really excited about this. I don't really know where it is going to take us in the future but it gives me the opportunity to live my life like I haven't as an adult, ever" (REUTERS, 9/3).
NEW FAN ZONES: Liverpool revealed plans to open two new fan zones at Anfield on Saturday when the club hosts Leicester City. Fan Zone-Anfield Road and Fan Zone-Paisley Square were designed to enable supporters to gather together. Entertainment will begin four hours before kickoff (Liverpool).
FRANCHISE BRIEFS ...
Scottish Championship side Hibernian "kicked off a third successive season in the second tier of Scottish football" -- but its "attendances are truly in the top league." Only three clubs in Scotland "can boast better home crowds than the Easter Road outfit so far this season." Celtic, Rangers and Hearts lead the way. But then Hibs, which have had "almost 31,000 people through the turnstiles" in its two home league matches combined, is well ahead of fifth-placed Aberdeen, which has an average 12,300 from its opening two home fixtures. The team's crowds "are a huge improvement on their average last season which tailed off to just under 10,000 by the end of the season" (Scotland DAILY RECORD, 9/5).
Barcelona is set to open its new U.S. office in NYC. The facility continues the club's int'l expansion. A delegation from Barcelona will be there to open the new premises at an event that will be accompanied by a series of institutional, social and charity acts around the city (Barcelona).
