NEW YORK -- Martin Panza celebrated California Chromes charge to Preakness Stakes victory three weeks ago like most fans at the packed Pimlico Race Course -- bumping fists, slapping hands and thinking ahead to Saturday and the possibility of the first Triple Crown winner in 36 years. And then Belmont Parks director of racing operations thought about everything else: the tens of thousands of additional people who show up for the Belmont Stakes whenever a horse has a chance at history; the millions more in expected wagers; and the need for more of everything, from seating, concessions to bathrooms, security and about 1,000 additional workers. You can watch the Belmont Stakes on TSN this Saturday, with coverage beginning at 2:30pm et/11:30am pt. Local officials and business leaders celebrated too, seeing the race and the added interest of a Triple Crown contender as a boon of sold-out hotel rooms, dinners out and free publicity, so long as the writers and broadcasters were aware the track is actually on Long Island, as NBCs Bob Costas noted Wednesday, and not in New York City. If California Chrome triumphs, it will happen on Panzas turf -- or rather, his dirt -- at an marquee New York-area event that the tracks new management team reimagined earlier this year as a fusion of sports and entertainment worth attending even when the Triple Crown is not on the line. They have filled the undercard with high-stakes races, increased the days total purse to $8 million -- the second-richest day in American horse racing behind the final slate of the Breeders Cup -- and surrounded the action with music from rapper and actor LL Cool J, former New York Yankees centre fielder Bernie Williams and Frank Sinatra Jr. singing "New York, New York." "For the first year of us doing this, under this new format, its not going to get any better than this," Panza said in an interview near his track office, which was filled with boxes of Belmont Stakes caps and bags of other race souvenirs. "From our end, what we need to do now is observe how the day goes and see what we can do for next year, always thinking that there could be another Triple Crown on the line." California Chrome is the 12th horse to reach Long Island with wins in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, since Affirmed won all three in 1978. Attendance for those 11 races averaged nearly 30,000 more than in years without a contender -- going from a low of 37,171 in 1995 when Thunder Gulch and Timber Country split the Derby and the Preakness, to a record 120,139 in 2004 when Birdstone upset Smarty Jones in the last of a three-year stretch of Triple Crown contenders in the Belmont Stakes. On-site wagering on the race-day program also surged in those years, according to track records, jumping from $6.8 million in contender-less 1996 to $9.2 million the following year when Silver Charm took the first two races, and from $8.8 million in contender-less 2007 to $13.3 million when Big Brown raced for history in 2008. Ill Have Anothers wins in Louisville and Baltimore sent attendance for the 2012 Belmont Stakes to nearly 86,000 and on-site wagering to $13.8 million even though the horse was withdrawn the day before the race due to a leg injury. The head of the tracks management team said ticket sales for this years Belmont Stakes, with its emphasis on high-level racing and daylong entertainment, were already brisk before California Chrome broke from the gate at Churchill Downs in May. More than 70 per cent of tickets and premium tables for the race were sold before the Derby and all were gone before the Preakness, according to New York Racing Association president and chief executive officer Christopher Kay. After the Preakness, Kay said, they added a trackside tent and additional seating to accommodate the surge of interest in a potential California Chrome coronation. General admission and grandstand tickets costing $10 remained available through the track late in the week and more than 3,000 tickets, ranging from $12 for grandstand to $2,300 for a table for two at the Garden Terrace Restaurant, were available on the secondary ticket sales website StubHub.com. Good weather -- 82 degrees and sunny, according to the National Weather Service -- could push the crowd into record territory. "Our intent is to make Belmont Stakes day an important day year in and year out," Kay said. This year it has been an important day -- and week -- for business. The largest hotel on Long Island, a Marriott with more than 600 rooms in Uniondale, and the ornate Garden City Hotel -- where management said all of the owners, trainers and jockeys in the Belmont Stakes were staying and where the menu includes a cocktail named for each horse -- have sold out under race-related demand. Other hotels were also booked solid, officials said, forcing some out-of-town fans to find lodging in Suffolk County, about 20 miles east, or stay in Manhattan, about 15 miles west. "This Triple Crown opportunity doesnt come too often," state hotel association chairman John Tsunis said. "But, whoever wins in the race, the real winners will be Long Island and New York State." 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Nike Shoes China Wholesale Paypal . -- The Orlando Magic finally are showing the patience in critical moments that coach Jacque Vaughn has been waiting for all season.Excerpts from the statement Thursday by Hans Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee, on the findings of the investigation into the 2018/2022 World Cup bidding:AUSTRALIAThe Australia 2022 bid team did undertake specific efforts to gain the support of a then FIFA executive committee member and it suggests that there have been efforts to conceal key relationships in this context.Report identified certain payments from the Football Federation of Australia to CONCACAF which, according to the report, appear to have been commingled, at least in part, with personal funds of the then CONCACAF president, who at the time also was a FIFA executive committee member. (Jack Warner)BELGIUM/NETHERLANDSNo issuesENGLANDMr. (Jack) Warner also asked England 2018 for favours and benefits related to a Trinidad and Tobago football club he owned, the Joe Public Football Club. Whether the England 2018 bid team ultimately provided any benefits to Mr. Warners club is unclear.England 2018 agreed to provide substantial assistance for a Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 team training camp in Britain in 2009.Mr. Warners conduct demonstrated an expectation that the bidding teams would react favourably and seek to curry favour with a voting member of the FIFA executive committee. According to the report, England 2018s response showed a willingness, time and again, to meet such expectation, thereby damaging the image of FIFA and the bidding process.The England 2018 bid team sponsored a gala dinner for the Caribbean Football Union at its annual congress in Trinidad in 2010, once again in an effort to curry favour with Jack Warner. ... The relevant support amounted to $55,000.England 2018 accommodated or at least attempted to satisfy, the improper requests of at least two FIFA executive committee members.JAPANThe Japan 2022 bid team distributed in 2010 several different gifts to senior FIFA officials, members of the FIFA executive committee and some of their wives. The value of the gifts (which included ... special balls, digital cameras and clutch bags) ranged from approximately $700 to approximately $2,000 each. ... Executive committee members concerned denied receiving any improper or valuable gifts from a bid team or did not attribute any significant relevance to the gifts.QATARAccording to the report, the conduct of two individuals who acted as consultants or advisers to the Qatar 2022 bid team raised concerns. The investigation identified certain questionable conduct.Qatar 2022 sponsored in January 2010 the CAF (Confederation of African Football) congress in Angola. The sponsorship agreement granted Qatar 2022 exclusive rights to markket its bid during the event.dddddddddddd For this privilege, the bid team paid CAF approximately $1.8 million.During previous investigations of Mr. (Mohammed) Bin Hammam (former Asian Football Confederation president and former FIFA executive committee member), it had been established that he had made several different improper payments to high-ranking CAF football officials during the time before the Dec. 2, 2010, FIFA executive committee vote. ... The record ... does not support the conclusion that the purpose of these payments was to promote the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid. Rather, the evidence ... strongly suggests that Mr. Bin Hamman paid CAF officials to influence their votes in the June 2011 election for FIFA president where he was a candidate. ... The same applies to a payment of $1,212,000 Mr. Hamman appears to have made to Mr. Jack Warner.Among the recipients of payments made by Mr. Mohamed Bin Hamman ... was also one to Mr. Reynald Temarii, the OFC (Oceania Football Confederation) president and a FIFA executive committee member. ... There is no direct link between Qatar 2022 and any payments of Mr. Bin Hammam to Mr. Temarii.RUSSIAThe Russia 2018 bid committee made only a limited amount of documents available for review, which was explained by the fact that the computers used at the time by the Russia bid committee had been leased and then returned to their owner after the bidding process. The owner has confirmed that the computers were destroyed. The bid committee also attempted to obtain access to the Gmail accounts used during the bidding process from Google USA. However, the Russia bid committee confirmed in a letter dated Aug. 1, 2014, that Google USA had not responded.SOUTH KOREAMoon-Joon Chung, a vice-president on the FIFA executive committee and honorary president of the Korean Football Association sent letters to executive committee members in 2010 stating Korea intended to raise $777 million from 2011 to 2022 to aid confederation and member associations to build new football infrastructure and renovate existing facilities. ... The report concludes that the Global Football Fund letters created at least the appearance of a conflict or an offer of benefits to FIFA executive committee members in an effort to influence their votes.SPAIN/PORTUGALNo mentionUNITED STATESThere appear to have been certain discrepancies in the documentation and contact reports submitted by the USA 2022 bid committee to FIFA on the one hand and the testimonies of U.S. football officials on the other. ... (The investigation) concluded that the USA bid committee might not have fully complied with the relevant reporting requirements. ' ' '