BOB GELDOF has secured £10 million in loans and sponsorship to help to cover the rising costs of next month’s global network of Live 8 concerts.

The £3 million raised by text-message entries for the Hyde Park ticket lottery fell far short of the funds needed to stage the expanding number of “Free Africa” awareness events on July 2. Staging simultaneous concerts at the Palais de Versailles in Paris and Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate is straining the resources of the organisers.

Further shows will take place in Tokyo, Philadelphia, Rome, Cornwall and Edinburgh.

Geldof has secured a $5 million (£2.75 million) loan to underwrite the concerts and raised a further £7 million from sponsors including Nokia and AOL. Geldof has raised additional funds by auctioning the rights to sell a DVD of the concerts.

Live 8 has agreed to give £1.6 million to The Prince’s Trust in compensation for it handing over its annual Party in the Park date to the show.

Nokia has signed a £5 million deal to become a global sponsor, while the BBC has paid around £2 million for the British TV rights. The corporation said it had secured a good deal for licence fee-payers.

AOL will pay about £3 million as an official sponsor. It will transmit the concerts via broadband and receive a number of corporate hospitality packages to offer guests.

Geldof denied that artists were being told not to criticise President Bush or Tony Blair. He said: “I don’t care what artists say or think. They can say what they like, and should.”

British artists are being bumped from the Hyde Park bill to make way for big-name late additions. Muse and The Cure have been transferred to Paris because the London show is restricted to seven hours.

BALANCING ACT

Expenditure

Expected staging costs: £20-25 million

Income

Nokia: £5 million; DVD profits: £5 million; text message ticket lottery: £3 million (minus £1.6 million to Prince’s Trust); AOL: £3 million; underwriting loan: £2.75 million; BBC rights: £2 million; Hyde Park hospitality: £1.5 million; merchandise: £1 million

Total £21.65 million

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