Big Business lurv, just lurv football,except in Canberra?

Clive Palmer buys the Gold Coast Football Franchise, Bruce Gordon rumoured to be involved in the Gong bid, Perth has cashed up owners, The Jets the same. And while the Nation's Capital sleeps....

Football is being wined and down by BIG AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS...like never before.

Exporters hope Socceroos will kick open new markets


The SMH's John Huxley wrote:

BRITAIN once opened new marketsby building empires. This week Australian exporters hoped trade would follow football by joining the Socceroos' World Cup campaign.

The Australian Trade Commission has organised a series of business breakfasts in the Middle East to capitalise on local interest in the team's qualifying games in Dubai on Saturday and Doha a week later.

Austrade's chief economist, Tim Harcourt, said the popularity of the"world game", the profile of players such as captain Harry Kewell and Australia's World Cup finals success in 2006 provided a springboard into huge markets.

Common interests and cultural ties are an important part of the business potential of football, said Mr Harcourt, pointing to the role of migrants in the development of both the game and overseas trade.
"Exporting companies are more likely to be started by immigrants. Think Bing Lee, Crazy John's and Frank Lowy," he said. Mr Lowy is the president of Football Federation Australia and founder of the Westfield group.

Bonita Mersiades, the federation's head of corporate affairs, said it had approached Austrade because it believed football had the power and responsibility to "open foreign doors" to business and government. The Socceroos play Iraq tomorrow and Qatar a week later, before returning to play China at Homebush on June 22.

Big business, more than most, will be hoping they go all the way to the World Cup
finals in South Africa in 2010.