Usain Bolt: Mystery surrounds sprinter’s monster A-League payday
USAIN Bolt is vying for a $3 million contract with the Central Coast Mariners, although how one of the richest deals in A-League history will be paid for remains contentiously undecided.
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USAIN Bolt is vying for a $3 million contract with the Central Coast Mariners, although how one of the richest deals in A-League history is paid for remains contentiously undecided.
While the Bolt story has already reached a global audience of over 300 million, Football Federation Australia is yet to guarantee how much of its famed Marquee Player Fund will be used on the Jamaican should he earn a Mariners contract.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the Gosford club is offering to pay the world’s fastest man $3 million for the 2018/19 season — a large chunk of which will be fronted by millionaire Mariners owner Mike Charlesworth.
While the agreement is among the richest in Australian football history, Bolt could still have earned more than double the amount internationally, most notably in the United States and Turkey.
It is also worth noting that should the Mariners sign the Olympic legend, they will see an explosion of revenue streams in areas like sponsorship, membership, crowds and merchandise.
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According to Isentia, a global media monitoring service, Bolt’s football story on the Coast has already reached 300 million people and generated $16 million in free publicity for the Central Coast.
The A-League, too, would receive immense global exposure.
In fact, the FFA is already exploring the option of selling international TV rights to the Mariners trial game next Friday night — which doubles as Bolt’s first appearance in the bright yellow.
Yet while the game is already deriving an earn from Project Bolt, nobody at A-League HQ can confirm how his contract will be split.
While Charlesworth is expected to fund 70 per cent of the deal, it was hoped the FFA would toss in around $900,000 from its marquee war chest.
However, an FFA spokesman has said the organisation would not be making any decisions until after Bolt was contracted.
Privately, it’s understood members of the governing body want to see how well the world’s greatest athlete kicks a ball — and if he can even play — before deciding the amount of cash they throw his way.
As a result, nobody knows if the FFA will commit $900,000 or $90,000 — or nothing.
Asked about the Bolt deal, Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp refused to be drawn on a figure.
“But Usain isn’t here because of the money,” he stressed. “I can assure you, if all this was just about the money he wouldn’t be here with us on the Central Coast.”
Indeed, sources close to Bolt insist the man worth $50 million would have been far better off financially to sign with a Turkish franchise or Texas-based outfit Austin Bold FC, who are entering the second-tier United Soccer League next year.
The owner of eight Olympic golds also had offers from Spain and France, with the highest of his rival offers said to have exceeded $6 million.
“But his dream is to play football,” one said. “And he believes the Central Coast Mariners is the club that provides him the best chance of doing that.”
And if he does prove A-League worthy, what sort of financial support are the Mariners expecting from head office?
“There’s no guarantee,” Mielekamp said. “But we are expecting FFA will come to the party and they’ve indicated to us that they will.
“FFA have given us their word that they’re on this journey with us. So our expectation is that if Usain proves himself up to A-League level they will help out.”
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