* All plans for Tuesday's memorial not set yet

* Many tickets will be for overflow venue

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES, July 3 (Reuters) - Organizers of an elaborate Michael Jackson memorial said on Friday they would give away 17,500 tickets for Tuesday's event for the late "King of Pop" but have to yet to set the program for the event.

It also was unclear how organizers and the city would pay for the memorial, which was expected to draw legions of Jackson fans and could cost the millions of dollars.

Police urged Jackson fans to stay home and watch on television if they do not have tickets.

The memorial will be in the 20,000-seat Staples Center sports area -- the same venue where Jackson rehearsed two nights before his death. Jackson was preparing for a 50-concert stand in London starting July 13 and video of the rehearsal showed him performing like his old superstar self.

Entertainment company AEG, which owns the Staples Center, said it increased the number of public tickets to 17,500 from a previously announced 11,000, but many of those tickets will be for an overflow venue, the nearby Nokia Live theater.

Jackson's death on June 25 after suffering cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles mansion has prompted tributes from fans around the world who stuck by him through his 2005 trial on child molestation charges and stories of bizarre behavior.