What on earth is our football coming to? Apparently Gareth Bale's management company are going to trademark the lad's heart shaped hands celebration, which will catapult him into the endorsement bracket of Beckham. WTF?? For real?? What is next? A player running onto the pitch backwards to be trademarked as an "image right"? Bale didn't invent his celebration, so how can he register it as his "image"? The world is going mad. It is said he will earn a minimum of £10m from this move. In a world where people are struggling to provide for their families, footballers are earning more and more for delivering average "entertainment" and the game is becoming more distant from the people that matter - the fans. Where will this madness end up? This Bale thing once again demonstrates the pure greed that exists in football. After all, it is just a GAME and footballers, for me, are not on the same level as doctors, nurses, firefighters etc. I find this image rights nonsense just laughable, and reprehensible, especially in today's economy.
I can only say that I agree. Football ceased to become a sport when it became a business. Clubs quoted on the Stock Market and tens of millions changing hands. Football has priced itself out of the market for me to go to matches now,I prefer to listen on the radio. It's the same with other sports like golf and tennis with huge prize money and they are as you say only sportsmen providing average entertainment. They foul and get booked and sent off,they dive and feign injury,get suspended and get £150,000 a week in some cases. It's pathetic but I still like the game and would be lost in the winter without it.
He's not trademarking the celebration. He's trademarking the following logo: please log in to view this image
Agree with the general point, but not sure this is the best example. Anything that Bale can do, that stops him feeling he needs to move is good with me.
Beat me to it. And there falls apart the whole argument, no one's going to get sued for celebrating with their hands in a heart shape but were you to put it on hats and clothes with 11 incorporated into it and then start selling them you may find you're in trouble. Fuss about nothing but if greed in football annoys you so much I suggest you start following a Sunday League team because money is everywhere in football.
The first thing that popped into my head was the image rights to this Iconic celebration. It is all over the SKY adds, and if Bale is going to BT they will not want him all over sky posters and adverts with a heart shapped celebration apparently loving Sky. At the end of the day, it is his image and he can do as he pleases. It's not like he is saying no one else in the world can make heart shapes with their hands.... the real story here is....what the hell is going on at Hearts! They've put their whole team up for sale.
Footballers could be on £150 a week and we'd still be up to our necks in it. Bankers, Labour, Tories, Capitalism. Immigration, The EC; Footballers are just another scapegoat and they are just doing exactly what we would all do; maximising their earnings. Football is their job and the days of players getting the bus to the ground with the fans is over; It has been over for decades. The "fans" make it difficult for players to mix with them anyway, at least the drunken trappy one, who always seems to have an unwanted opinion on the game, or wants to give a player from a rival team a dig. As for them not being on the same "level" as doctors, nurses, firefighters etc, while they do amazing work, I can't imagine thousands paying to watch any of them live and millions more on TV. That generates a hell of a lot money and interest It is not just a game, it is a multi-billion dollar industry. If you don't like the "entertainment" cancel your Sky subscription and stop going to games. At the moment, the world seems to disagree and football is the flavour of the month. That may change, but football will never be "our" game again, if it ever was.
I actually think that GPs are more overpaid than footballers. Anyone can tell someone to "see if it goes away in 2-3 weeks" and "take an ibuprofen". They get paid £2k+ a week for that ****
Which, if true, will ensure that the "geniuses" who thought up this little wheeze will make at least £1mil for themselves - probably a lot more! Happy days!
Looks like some kind of Labial stimulation guide You sure he's not submitting an entry for the updated version of the Karma Sutra
Out of interest, are you contemplating trying out "Bale style"? Or you could try "Hargreaves style" - asking to be pulled off after 5 minutes..
