Garber will announce today that MLS has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with ADT. No word yet as to whether that deal includes uniform sponsorship.
I see local TV coverage as a more pressing priority. Until we get Fox, NBC, ABC et al to give fair coverage (not like we are a freak show), then we will not demand the advertising revenue we deserve. For goodness sake, we can get the same attendances as Blackburn Rovers in the EPL but get very little coverage. Do teams in other areas also suffer from a lack of local coverage? However it is still good news.
lol, that's just what's missing on our jersey, a big fat "ADT"....on the other hand, the league needs all the extra financial support it can get. The next few years are going to hopefully witness the blossoming of MLS. What's the word on MLS getting a mainstream broadcast contract with ABC, NBC, or CBS?
I think that ADT will only be a league sponsor as opposed to a team sponsor, if I'm reading this right. It doesn't sound like their name/logo will be going on any team's jerseys: "The multi-year partnership enables ADT to utilize various Major League Soccer avenues, such as broadcast and in-stadium signage and use of MLS logos and player likenesses, to associate itself with the United States’ rapidly advancing professional soccer league. ADT Security Services also receives the title rights to the League’s annual Defensive Player of the Year Award." Link to the whole story: http://www.mlsnet.com/content/02/mls0801adt.html I believe that this is the same sponsor level as MasterCard, who no longer appear on our jerseys but still show up on in-stadium signage, the MLS website, etc...
*Fair* coverage? The revenue we *deserve*? C'mon, let's get over ourselves. Most TV viewers in teh US are not interested in soccer. Most have probably never heard of MLS, or confuse it with MSL or NASL ("does Pele still play?") We need to stop thinking that because we love a sport that most of the country has no interest in, we are somehow "owed" everything we'd *like*. Would it be nice to have major national broadcasters coming to MLS hat in hand and bidding for the rights to show MLS games? Of course it would. Is there any reason on God's green earth that they would, when people shooting clay targets with compound bows and steeplechase for small dogs draws as big a TV "sports" audience as professional soccer? Doubtful.