Opportunity Isn’t Priceless
A dozen years have passed since Italy’s Roberto Baggio stood forlornly at the penalty spot on the Rose Bowl turf, hands dejectedly clasped to hips, head hung in despair, the very symbol of the agony of defeat after his decisive penalty kick had sailed high over the crossbar, delivering the 1994 World Cup to Brazil.
How much would Baggio have paid for a second chance?
How about $250,000?
In any stadium in his homeland.
Or, $225,000 if he wanted to re-create the moment inside the same stadium where he faltered.
Now there is a price tag for revenge. An “experience gift” company called ExtravaGift is offering the chance to play the aging members of the 1994 Brazilian World Cup team in a 90-minute match inside the stadium of your choice.
“Just pick a field and the match is on!” reads the company’s promotional release. “The Brazilian team, which features legends like Bebeto, Dunga, Sergio and Romario, will reunite anywhere you name -- in North America (at $225K), Europe ($250K), or, if you’re brave enough, on their home turf in Brazil (for $250K).”
The Brazil soccer package, which includes airfare and hotel accommodations for an entire soccer team, is one of several high-priced “extravagant gifts” offered by the company. Others include a ride in a MiG-25 fighter plane at $21,000, a 24-hour hire of a Lamborghini Gallardo at $1,750 to $8,850, and a submarine dive to inspect the remains of the Titanic, $36,650.
These gifts, according to the company’s website, www.ExtravaGift.com, are “guaranteed to impress even the person who has everything.”
So, if you have a pair of soccer boots, 10 buddies and a quarter-million dollars lying around, you can book a match against the Brazil Masters team on the field of your dreams -- say, Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium, Barcelona’s Camp Nou or Milan’s San Siro.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said ExtravaGift co-founder Stephen Murphy. “It’s the chance to play against some of the all-time greats in the soccer forum of your choice.”
Murphy, 28, grew up playing soccer in England and now plays in a recreational league in New York. There he met a member of the Brazilian Embassy with contacts to the 1994 World Cup champions, who periodically reassemble for exhibition matches.
“He thought a match against Brazil would be ideal for us,” Murphy said.
Murphy ended up meeting with three diplomats from the United Nations who put him in touch with Diego Maradona’s cousin, the man who helps organize matches for Brazil’s Masters team. There is some irony associated with going through a relative of Argentina’s great Maradona to arrange a match with Brazil’s old-timers, but when hundreds of thousands of dollars are involved, an entrepreneur does what an entrepreneur has to do.
Murphy notes that some of the proceeds will be donated to charity. No one yet has taken the plunge, but Murphy said he has had feelers from “someone in royalty in Dubai” and “a celebrity, a budding football player, from the UK.” Murphy said he was not at liberty to name names.
“Someone asked me, ‘Can you pay more money to let you win?’ ” Murphy said with a laugh. “The $250,000 gets you a game. Anything else is up to you.”
