Restaurants elsewhere in the world are more than ready to cash in on the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer championship in South Africa, a sporting event of global magnitude that trumps even the Olympics. But in the U.S.? Not so much, even though there might be more soccer-related business to be had here than many operators imagine. It’s not too late to get in on the action.

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Here's another spin on restaurant reservation revenue optimization—the same process the airlines call yield management. It's from the impossible-to-get-into Rao's in Manhattan. The restaurant has successfully listed and sold a reservation for a table for four on eBay, with an opening bid of $5,000. This move demonstrates just one of the ways an online auction platform could enable restaurant owners to get a greater return on their most desirable reservations.

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Still feeling bad you didn't put in the high bid last year when owner New York City put Tavern on the Green, the Central Park restaurant that grosses $40 million a year, up for lease? Don't. The person who prevailed, Dean Poll, has already given up after six months of fruitless labor negotiations. Now TOG, once perhaps the greatest money machine in the full-service segment, is shuttered, destined to become a visitor center and snack bar…unless and until new bids come forth.

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