The Bird's Nest, the main stadium of last year's Olympics, is to auction the rights to name its 80,000 seats for the Italian Super Cup game.

The naming rights of all seats in National Stadium, popularly known as the Bird's Nest, will go up for auction for a major football game marking the first anniversary of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 8.

Ma Jian, spokesman for the Italian Supercup football competition, told the media Sunday it was the organizer's wish to auction away naming rights of the 80,000 seats of the stadium for a one-off day when Inter Milan take on Lazio in Beijing.

Seemingly, a fresh new approach for raising money in sport, this will be the first time the base for last year's mega Olympic opening ceremonies is commercializing its seats.

"The winners of the auction will have their companies' names on the seat covers -- instead of being inscribed on the seats itself -- which not only can achieve the same effect of promotion, but the covers can also be used to dispose off garbage after the game," Ma said.

"The auction will set no bottom price for each seat, and all parties are welcome," he said.

(Chinadaily.com.cn July 13, 2009)