MJ on Bolt's stardom

[Dazed]

@Charlie_Francis

The isseu is really: "Who benefits from the cartel, Diamond League etc? There are clearly other issues that are forcing meet promoters into line, potentially against their own interests at times.
A clear example is Dwain Chambers. The Berlin meet promoter could see that he could stir up sales and controversy by bucking the trend- and he was, no doubt, influenced by the low price Dwain could command because of his lack of options. He was stymied by the others, most likely orchestrated by Diak.
Same goes for paying Bolt the 250,000. On a fast track in Berlin, a gigantic stadium, and the site of the WCs later, are you telling me the additional seats that Bolt would generate wouldn’t pay off for him?
Let’s do the math:
150 euro premium seats = 207usd. So he needs an extra 1300 seats to meet the 250,000 fee plus travel and expenses. Are you telling me that Bolt’s presence wouldn’t generate an extra 2000 or 3000 premium seats plus lesser seating as well??
Even at the minimum difference, the Berlin promoter was forced to give away 150,000usd in additional revenue. Best case, he might have made an extra 350,000. This is just gate and doesn’t include any TV premium or additional revenue sharing that could be arranged through related appearances in Berlin during what would otherwise be dead time. (Promoter arranges fee for Bolt to cut ribbon at bank, department store, appear on TV show, sip from a bottle of milk at the end of the race, etc, etc, for a 15 to 20% commission) I can guarantee from personal experience that this can happen.

No Charlie. I’m not telling you that. Disagree with me if you want, but please stop putting words in my mouth.