Soccer Business News for September 1, 2010

Adidas Extends Contract with Major League Soccer

MLS announced that they have extended their partnership with Adidas until 2018.  The original agreement still had four years remaining on a 10-year $150 million agreement. The new deal will be worth $200 million and will allow Adidas to remain the official athletic sponsor and product supplier for the league.

Adidas has been a sponsor of the league since its inception in 1996. It’s believed that MLS will use part of the Adidas money to assist in youth development and football academies as well as the currently defunct reserve league.

“The goal will be to make a very direct link between our academies, our reserve league, our youth programs with a lot of the other youth programs going on in this country; Adidas can play a very important role in creating that bridge and solidifying all those ties,” said MLS Commissionaire Don Garber.

Recently, Adidas has extend their contract with the Mexican Football Federation through 2018.

US World Cup Bid Committee Announces 2 Sponsorships

Both AT&T and American Airlines have both agreed to partner with the US World Cup Bid Committee.

AT&T
“As a major supporter of professional soccer in this country, AT&T is the perfect communications sponsor for the USA Bid Committee’s mission to show the world that the United States would be honored to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022,” said Sunil Gulati, Chairman of the USA Bid Committee and President of U.S. Soccer. “Their global presence as an innovator in communications technology will be a significant asset to our bid and we’re proud to welcome them to our team.”

AT&T had signed a major sponsorship deal with MLS in July of ’09 and is the Exclusive Communications Services Sponsor of U.S. Soccer and Major League Soccer as well as the title sponsor of the annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. The company is also an official sponsor of the Mexican National Soccer Team. The deal with MLS promised to yield exclusive soccer-themed content across mobile handsets, televisions and PCs.

American Airlines
On Tuesday the Bid Committee also announced American Airlines as an official sponsor. American Airlines was the official airline of the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in the United States and currently serves and the official airline of Major League Soccer as well as several professional soccer clubs. The company also holds the title of the official airline of SuperLiga.

American Airlines will use a variety of the company’s communications channels to promote the online petition drive of the U.S. bid that has already attracted more than 990,000 supporters to www.goUSAbid.com. The agreement also allows the USA Bid Committee and American Airlines to use each other’s logos, marks and slogans, in press releases, advertising materials, and marketing materials. The American Airlines logo will be included on the Bid Committee’s website with a link to the American Airlines website, www.aa.com. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.