One of two things could happen next year when the Vancouver MLS team joins in the fun (along side Portland of course). Either BMO the main sponsor of Toronto FC drops them to sponsor Vancouver or they decide to sponsor both.

Honestly looking at it the latter of the two will likely happen. Thanks to a WVH reader Ethan for sending in this link earlier (the bit I’m referring to is at the end of the article). Vancouver is already looking for a kit sponsor to go on their new adidas jerseys next year.

Lenarduzzi said BMO -a major Whitecaps sponsor -wants to bid on the team’s MLS jersey sponsorship.

“I think they have really liked the success they’ve had with Toronto FC and to have that exposure in both the east and west would be good for their brand,” he said.

BMO looking to expand their footprint as a sponsor in Canada and in MLS is a good thing though I know some in Vancouver are hoping for an even bigger sponsor to rival Seattle’s jersey sponsor X-Box 360. Seattle gets about $4 million a year from that deal with Microsoft, while Toronto only brings in between $1 and 1.5 million from BMO.

Maybe a bidding war for their jersey sponsorship would be a fun thing to watch for the new club.

FC Dallas will finally have a new addition to their red striped kits for the next couple games. Call it a test run for a kit sponsor if you will but according to the team today the team has partnered up with ESPN to help launch ESPNDallas.com, the newest destination for Dallas/Fort Worth sports news and information.

ESPNDallas.com’s logo will be on the front of the FC Dallas game jersey for two games starting with tomorrow’s game and then on Wednesday’s game versus the New England Revolution at the Cotton Bowl.

While it is only a two game deal for Dallas and ESPN it is pretty cool to see this sort of thing happen since no one has lined up to be a jersey sponsor for this club just yet. Maybe it is the sort of drive the club needs to get a few more folks interested in them and a few more sponsors interested in putting their logo on the front of the Dallas jersey.

I am glad to say it is Friday. Somehow this week has flown by me here but thankfully we have a weekend full of soccer ahead of us here. Two games tonight, with one just about underway in New York, and plenty more tomorrow and Sunday. Nearly every game has playoff implications surrounding them. I’d say all games do except for the Dallas-KC game, since those two really have no shot at the playoffs despite not being eliminated from contention yet.

Tonight I do have a couple links worth throwing out there with a couple other random thoughts mixed in.

First up a quick note about the progress of the U20 National team, who are on their way to play in the U20 World Cup later this month. Today they took down Trinidad and Tobago 2-0. Bryan Arguez and Brek Shea scored goals in friendly victory that was the final World Cup tune up for the squad. I know a lot was said yesterday about this club thanks to Thomas Rongen’s comments about the lack of depth if you will surrounding this year’s team.

The US is in a tough group with Germany, Cameroon and South Korea. Germany won the European qualifying for this tournament last year and Cameroon placed second in the African qualifying. Needless to say this could be a really difficult group for the US.

Continue Reading…

Normally this wouldn’t be a real big deal but during a tough economy this kind of breaks that point. Real Salt Lake announced today that they have agreed to extend their current jersey sponsorship with energy drink company Xango for another three years to 2013.

What’s more interesting to some may be the new look at the jersey the club will sport next season. A couple simple changes to the current one and I have to say the simple changes are pleasing to the eye.

2010 RSL home jersey. (Photo via Behind the Sheild)

You can read more about the deal here.

What do you make of the updated kit for next season? Miss the yellow three stripes down the sleeves or is blue a good update?

The Colorado Rapids put up a gallery of their new kits today. Apparently they are having a jersey sale too for those who want their Rapids gear for 2009.

Below are a couple shots of the new kits (photos via ColoradoRapids.com)

What do you think? Kind of smells like someone will get a jersey sponsor this year. Remember how DC did this a year ago with removing the middle portion of their kit to be blank? That’s how this verison of the Rapids kits are.

I will say this, I do like’m a little plain like this for some reason. Getting rid of the tacky “COLORADO” in the middle always bothered me. Now if Dallas, Kansas City and New England would follow suit we’d be all set I think.

Continue Reading…

As promised, San Jose showed off their new kits. Photos come via the club. It’s pretty much what I expected the new kits to look like with the sponsor logo in the middle.

What do you make of it? Not bad really.

San Jose shows off new kits. (San Jose Earthquakes)

Another view of the new Quakes jerseys. (San Jose Earthquakes)

Add San Jose to the list of clubs with shirt sponsors. Reuters is now reporting that the Quakes will unveil Amway as their jersey sponsor in 2009.

The deal sounds pretty good too.

It is expected to earn the club between $2 million and $3 million a year. According to the report, the Quakes lost $2.2 million last year, and the deal should reduce their losses to around $1 million.

The Quakes join Chicago, Chivas, Columbus, DC, Houston, LA, New York, RSL, Toronto and Seattle as clubs with sponsors on their kits. Leaving Colorado, Dallas, New England, and Kansas City as the only clubs without a kit sponsor. No word yet on if any of those four will have a sponsor this year. I know Dallas has been working long and hard at getting one but haven’t been able to find the right fit just yet.

Once images come out of what the new kits will look like I will post them here.