The eagerly anticipated clash to be held at Al Ahli’s Rashid Stadium is sure to be star-studded affair with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Brazilian superstars Robinho and Alexandre Pato for AC Milan, plus Javier Pastore, Jérémy Ménez and Kevin Gameiro for PSG likely to be on show.

If that wasn’t enough the fixture also throws up the mouth-watering prospect of both David Beckham and Carlos Tevez making their debuts for PSG and Milan respectively should their rumoured moves be completed in the coming weeks.

Beckham, 36, has been heavily linked with a move to PSG in recent months and is said to be close to penning a lucrative 18-month deal at the Parc des Princes, while Milan yesterday confirmed they have been given permission by Manchester City to talk to wantaway star Carlos Tevez.

Another intriguing sub-plot should Beckham seal his switch to the ‘City of Light’ would see the former England captain come up against the club he enjoyed two three-month loan spells with in 2009 and 2010, the last of which under the guidance of Leonardo, PSG’s current sporting director.

Dubai promotion

The Dubai Football Challenge will be the culmination of Milan’s annual Emirates-sponsored winter training camp, which will see the 18-time Serie A champions make the most of Dubai’s fantastic weather and training facilities as they did 12 months ago.

PSG, who are also sponsored by Emirates, will jet into the UAE to step up their preparations for the season’s resumption on January 14 following Ligue 1′s enforced winter break which gets underway on December 22.

Hamad Mohammad Bin Mejren, Executive Director Business Tourism at DTCM, said: “We are looking forward to a successful fourth edition of the Dubai Football Challenge with two great teams like AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.

“As part of The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing strategies to promote Dubai, this event will contribute to positioning Dubai as a leading tourism and sport destination and stimulate visitors from key targeted markets around the world.”

Ahmad Khoory, Emirates Senior Vice President for the Gulf, Middle East and Iran, said: “As the shirt sponsor of both AC Milan and PSG, it is a real coup for us to bring these two world-class teams to Dubai.

“Emirates is involved with football sponsorships around the globe so being able to offer fans in the UAE the chance to experience top-class international teams up close is an excellent way of leveraging our sponsorship benefits.”

Source: sport360.com

The Galaxy has reached a broadcast agreement to jump from Fox Sports West to Time Warner Cable’s fledgling regional sports channels — one in English, one in Spanish — beginning in 2012.

The 10-year deal is valued at $55 million for an undetermined number of games, an official close to the talks confirmed. Time Warner Cable, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment Tuesday as did the Galaxy.

The value of the regional contract, $5.1 million per season, dwarfs the three-year $30-million national deal between Major League Soccer and NBC and will provide a welcome financial boost for the Galaxy. The team has said it will lose money this season despite
advancing to Sunday’s championship game with the league’s best record.

Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, the entertainment group that owns the Galaxy and hockey’s Kings, hinted last week that a lucrative TV
deal was coming and credited that to midfielder David Beckham, who might be making his last appearance for the Galaxy on Sunday.

“It’s a major deal for our team and I’m telling you it never happens without David Beckham,” Leiweke said.

Although the Galaxy has been the league’s marquee franchise since signing Beckham before the 2007 season, it has not been a
ratings winner for FSW, never drawing more than 16,000 homes, a .28 rating. In the last few years, ratings have dropping as low as .11%.

Fox, which has been paying less than $500,000 a season for the Galaxy’s broadcast rights, carried 19 games this year.

Of greater consequence is that the Galaxy is the second pro team to jump to Time Warner Cable, following the Lakers, who in February
signed a 20-year broadcast deal valued at $3 billion. The Lakers, who have been on FSW, will move to Time Warner Cable’s stations
beginning with the 2012-13 season.

Time Warner Cable is also expected to pursue the Dodgers. The team’s current contract with Fox forbids them from talking to any
other broadcast outlet until Nov. 30, 2012, but outgoing owner Frank McCourt has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to let the Dodgers
solicit bids now from Time Warner Cable and any other interested parties.

Source: latimes.com

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer has surpassed the NBA and NHL in attendance and is now the third-most attended professional sport in America on a per-game basis.

Yep, you read that right.

Sporting News reports that this season, average attendance for the MLS’s 18 teams rose 7.2 percent to 17,872 per game, enough to leapfrog both last season’s NBA (17,323) and NHL average (17,132). The sport, however, is still miles behind the NFL (66,960) and MLB (30,352).

The MLS says that in this nation of immigrants, the world’s most popular sport is booming in the country because of its foreign influence. The teams’ rosters include players from 60 countries. Sixteen percent of MLS players are Latino, no doubt attracting the MLS’ strong Hispanic following that accounts for a third the league’s fan base.

And look so far as any teenage girl’s bedroom wall to know the most famous foreign player of them all: Englishman David Beckham, who transferred nearly five years ago to the league from Spanish giants Real Madrid for a cool $250 million. The LA Galaxy midfielder, whose contract expires after this season, has spectators flocking to stadiums all over the country, and he has paved the way for legends like Frenchman Thierry Henry to join ranks, as well.

Major League Soccer has also made some savvy business moves along the way, signing television deals with networks like ESPN and FOX, and partnering with NBC in 2012.

Finally, the MLS recognized the Northwest as a passionate soccer hotbed (who knew?), aggressively expanding with the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps. The Seattle Sounders lead the league in attendance with 38,496 per game, more than doubling the league average.

The league’s tally surpasses even the inaugural season, when it averaged 17,406 spectators a game. “It’s historic for us — we exceeded our best with 18 teams, and we only had 10 back then,” said MLS President Mark Abbott. “We have Montreal joining next year, and we believe that we will have a very positive story in that market as well.”

And watch out, English Premier League: the MLS is now the tenth-most attended soccer league in the world.

Source: slatest.slate.com

The main focus for Beckham’s activity will be supporting the highly successful Active Kids campaign which has now donated over £115 million worth of equipment and experiences to nurseries, schools, Scout and Guide groups, and Clubmark accredited sports clubs. He joins existing Active Kids ambassador Ellie Simmonds.

Ahead of London 2012, Beckham will also become Sainsbury’s ambassador for its London 2012 Paralympic Games sponsorship getting involved in campaigns such as the 1 Million Kids Challenge designed to encourage school children of all ages and abilities to have a go at a Paralympic sport through the distribution of free equipment to schools.

Launched by Sainsbury’s in April 2011, the 1 Million Kids Challenge has already received pledges from just under 6,000 schools representing 1.9 million children, almost doubling the target initially set.

Justin King, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive commented: “We’re thrilled to have David on board as an ambassador of our Active Kids campaign. As a world class athlete and father of four, David is the ideal ambassador to support our commitment to encourage children to get active and live healthier lifestyles for less money. And with a year to go until the Paralympic Games, David’s involvement in the 1 Million Kids Challenge will raise the profile even further of disability sport, to help us make this the best Paralympic Games yet.”

David Beckham said: “I know the difference leading a healthier and more active life can make to kidsand I have been really impressed with the long-term commitment that Sainsbury’s has made. I am looking forward to working with Sainsbury’s to help UK kids have fun, become even more active and introduce them to Paralympic Sports through the 1 Million Kids Challenge.”

Beckham will front a marketing campaign for Sainsbury’s, beginning with an in-cinema advert, which will launch on 25th November.

Source: sainsbury

In 2007, David Beckham transferred to the Los Angeles Galaxy from Real Madrid, where he had also been a mega-money signing, for a reported $250 million in total potential earnings over a five-year deal, including endorsements. The hype was nearly out of control.

The “next Pelé” angle was great in theory, except that David Beckham isn’t Pelé, and soccer in America has grown exponentially since that much-lauded Pelé arrival.

The teams have endorsements of their own, well-maintained soccer-specific grounds and legitimate, ever-growing fan-bases complete with wildly passionate ultras groups.

The Galaxy, to give a great example of this, play in the $150 million soccer-specific Home Depot Center and had an average 2011 fan attendance of 23,335, a number which is increasing. They have three organized groups for the hardest-core of supporters: the Galaxians, the L.A. Riot Squad and the Angel City Brigade.

Furthermore, not only have American soccer clubs been importing
players from Europe and South America for a while now (Thierry Henry
at the New York Red Bulls; Robbie Keane and Juninho at the Galaxy),
but there’s also a host of homegrown stars whose profiles are
rising. Landon Donovan has nearly 600,000 fans on Facebook; FC Dallas
upstart Brek Shea has more than 12,000 followers on Twitter.

But even with all these changes, can the increase in interest and
attendance and rising profile of the L.A. Galaxy and the MLS at large
be attributed, at least in part, to the arrival of Becks? Did he play
a role in speeding up this transformation and helping American soccer
gain legitimacy?

Has the English superstar given the Galaxy a return on their
multimillion-dollar investment?

If we’re just talking money, absolutely. If we’re talking
overall attendance, yes.

It’s easy to write him off as a disappointment (we’ll get to
why he was to an extent in a minute), but the arrival of Becks was
the equivalent of Jed Clampett hitting that oil well on The Beverly
Hillbillies.

As critics were still writing off the MLS as generally being
unprofitable following the arrival of Becks, the L.A. Galaxy was one
of three clubs that turned out a profit that season and generated
nearly double the revenue of any other MLS team.

Shortly after his arrival, weight-loss supplement company
Herbalife signed a $4 million annual jersey sponsorship deal,
breaking league records. Big-money sponsors like Delta Airlines,
American Express and Valero Energy soon followed. Even before ticket
sales, Becks helped generate mass revenue for the Galaxy.

Beckham did account for an increase in attendance and ticket sales
in his first two seasons with the club. A 2008 study from the
International Journal of Sport Finance suggests that the presence of
Beckham nearly doubled ticket sales when he was on the roster, even
more so when he actually played.

During the 2008 season, when average MLS attendances were on the
decline, they not only shot up more than seven percent for the
Galaxy, but team attendance hit record highs. An increase in fans to
away matches where Beckham was present was also evident, indicating
his appeal not just with the Galaxy and the possibility of bringing
in fans of other teams.

When Beckham and captain Landon Donovan went to Europe, on loan
spells at AC Milan and Bayern Munich and Everton respectively,
attendance sharply dropped. Correlation is not causation, but it’s
certainly something to consider.

Attendance has since been on the upswing and is now at the highest
it’s been since that 2008 season, which could have something to do
with the return of Beckham, or at the very least the retention of
some fans whose interest in the club may have piqued with his
arrival.

If we’re talking his performance on the pitch, it’s a toss-up.
The first two seasons he was with the Galaxy didn’t fare too well
for the team, despite the increase in attendance, and Becks struggled
initially in his debut season thanks to ankle and knee injury.

The Galaxy failed to make the playoffs, and the special treatment
given to the megastar—particularly his immediate appointment as
captain, edging out longtime skipper Landon Donovan—caused a lot of
discord between him and the rest of the team.

He did have a share of high-impact moments in spite of this, most
notably helping the Galaxy win the North American SuperLiga
semi-final against DC United and advance to the final with a goal and
a solid assist to Donovan.

Even though he was mostly nonexistent through the 2009 season due
to his AC Milan loan deal, drawing ire from fans, he did come back at
the end and played a role in bringing the Galaxy a Western Conference
championship—scoring one of the goals in the final penalty
shootout.

He helped clinch the regular-season Western Conference
championships for them in 2010 with a goal against FC Dallas, and
contributed to their earning the MLS Supporters’ Shield.

In the 2011 season, the same old song and dance. He trained with
Tottenham Hotspur, sparking rumors about another loan move which is
still the subject of speculation today. More recently, Beckham has
made headlines through rumors of a move to Paris Saint-Germain more
than for his prowess on the pitch.

That being said, he did reasonably well as a player, making a very
respectable 15 assists and raising eyebrows with an impressive
free-kick goal against Sporting Kansas City (a contender for Goal of
the Season) and another against the Chicago Fire taken directly from
a corner. The Galaxy also saw a second consecutive Supporters’
Shield come home.

So his tenure with the Galaxy wasn’t all bad in terms of
on-pitch performance, and the Galaxy certainly saw some success. But
while he had some standout moments, was it enough over the course of
five seasons to really merit all that money, purely from a playing
perspective? Probably not.

If we’re talking his status as an icon within the club, his
relationship with the game itself and spurring that impassioned fan
base that makes international football so engaging—no.

His loan spells with Milan, and his handling of the situation,
caused a rift with the fans, who booed him upon his return to the
Home Depot Center and greeted him with signs that read “Part-Time
Player” and other such slogans. A scuffle almost started between
him and a fan, and Beckham’s attempts to extend his loan spell at
Milan don’t really help his case in terms of commitment to the
Galaxy.

So Beckham may not be Pelé and he may not have been the spiritual
savior of American soccer in the way the MLS might have hoped, and he
wasn’t exactly a hit with the league’s most passionate fans. But
he did generate a whole lot of revenue, bring attendance to record
highs, likely converted a few casual fans and score a few really
great goals in the process.

The full extent of his impact remains to be seen as the MLS
continues to grow and will do so regardless of whether or not he goes
to PSG, but he wasn’t a total bust.

Source: bleacherreport.com

Reports in media suggest that the sale of PSG jerseys could reach record levels this season.

Far exceeding the sales of Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais, PSG are already finding it hard to manufacture shirts for fans which means that the club’s growing popularity is not showing any signs of stopping.

The club has already made a lot of profit through jersey sale and it has been predicted that by the end of the campaign shirt sales would hit an all-time record.

In order to meet the growing demand of fans, PSG have asked sponsor Nike to manufacture 20,000 jerseys in Thailand and ship them to France via the Netherlands within a week.

In terms of name of jerseys, Javier Pastore and Kevin Gameiro are the biggest trendsetters followed closely by Nene and Jeremey Menez. According to a statistic, every second fan who buys a PSG shirt buys a shirt with Pastore’s name on it. Nene and Gameiro are far behind the Argentine star.

David Beckham is on the verge of joining Les Parisiens which means that shirt-sales would go even higher given the international profile of the former Manchester United man. Nike and PSG are already rubbing their hands over the prospect of having a world brand like Beckham on their side.

With the advent of a new era at the Parc des Princes, one can only imagine PSG to become one of the biggest clubs in Europe the way Qataris are doing things at the club. Currently PSG boast one of the most formidable attacking units in Europe and it’s only a matter of time when PSG would be rubbing shoulders with the best teams in world.

The recent shirt sale phenomena could be considered as a start to an era of dominance of a club that has not won a league title for over a decade.

Source: bettor.com/

A history of red cards and losing his temper? No problem.

Occasional off-field misbehaviour, including marital infidelity? That’s OK.

Father interviewed by police about alleged match fixing? Can overlook that.

Wayne Rooney’s chequered personal history has the football purists wringing their hands in dismay. But when it comes his global marketability, the sometimes-dubious exploits of the Manchester United star can actually serve to enhance his appeal.

As the Liverpool-born striker prepares to enter his late 20′s (he turns 26 on October 24), he shows few signs of growing up, despite almost a decade as a professional and more than eight years as an England international.

It is probably a fair bet to assume that during his post-playing career that Rooney’s maturity and wisdom will be comparable to that of Paul Gascoigne and the late George Best.

And his lack of the smooth media skills of former pros like Alan Hansen and Gary Lineker means that he’s never likely to be sharing sharp, analytical insights on cosy TV couches.

But Rooney’s brawling, street footballer image is what many fans love most about him.

Here’s a man who will lose his cool against Montenegro with qualification for Euro 2012 all but sewn up – simply because he is ‘in the moment’, contesting every kick as if his life depended on it. He will never be a ‘big picture’ kind of guy.

Bad boy

“We knew what Rooney was like and these kind of events only really serve to confirm what we thought he was: a very talented, badly behaved footballer,” said Nathaniel Milner of sports marketing company, VSM.

“He was never going to be the glamorous Beckham-esque poster boy for every grooming product and personal care brand.

“What’s happened may not even affect his appeal in the short term. Last year, Nike even used his off field issues and subsequent loss of form to very publicly rehabilitate him in the US to the current, on-field Wayne Rooney.”

This week, his club manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, publicly defended his favourite forward, saying that Rooney’s temperament had improved and that having a fiery streak wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It is noticeable that Rooney is usually better behaved when wearing the red of Manchester United compared to the white of his country.

His Montenegro meltdown saw him join ex-teammate David Beckham as the only England players to have been red-carded twice.

As repeated national coaches have failed, Sir Alex has mastered the knack of not only keeping a lid on the Rooney rage – but channelling it to great effect.

As a result, he’s scored 18 goals in his last 21 Premier League appearances ahead and only three in his last 18 England caps.

Brand Rooney

Rooney may one day reflect on an England career that failed to match his Old Trafford achievements, but that isn’t likely to affect his earning ability, given how big the Manchester United brand has become.

Even Sir Alex – and his possible Red Devils’ successor Jose Mourinho – have surreptitiously devalued the international game by suggesting that the UEFA Champions League had overtaken the FIFA World Cup in becoming the new benchmark for the sport.

The fact that Rooney’s suspension means that he will be missing for the start of Euro 2012 merely gives marketers a new angle to pursue: the comeback kid.

He will have the chance to jump to his nation’s rescue and return as their talisman in Poland and Ukraine next June – assuming England make it beyond the knockout stages.

“The majority of major sponsors are in the US and it is an undeniable fact that Americans love a comeback story,” said the San Diego-based Milner.

“Amongst the most heavily endorsed athletes in the world today are Michael Vick, Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan who’ve had alleged off-field issues including adultery, dog fighting, drugs and sexual assault.

“Their popularity and skill on the field are always going to outweigh these issues and the larger brands know this.”

Milner pointed out that Rooney’s most lucrative endorsements with companies like Nike and EA Sports were heavily focused on his on-field performance instead of his public persona.

Niall Donnelly, of Hong Kong media firm Two Up Front, added: “Even though he is a global star with all the trappings of success, the young male working class demographic can identify because they still see him as one of them.”

On Manchester United’s Asian tour in 2009, a group of Malaysian Chinese fans at Kuala Lumpur’s National Stadium weren’t totally joking when they announced on national television that Rooney was their favourite player because: “He is fat, just like us.”

While it is inaccurate to describe a wonderful athlete like Rooney as overweight, his chunky frame doesn’t sit easily in the designer clothing that Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo or Fernando Torres might wear and no amount of advanced hair treatment will turn him into a pin-up boy.

The fact that he does break the mould – and pushes the boundaries of acceptable on-and-off field behaviour – only adds to his mystique.

There is always a line that cannot be crossed, but as Philadelphia NFL quarterback Michael Vick has shown, there can still be good money to be made, even after a lengthy jail sentence, as long as the former felon can do the business on the field.

The key is to have a sharp marketing and PR team around for damage limitation, effortlessly turning apparent stumbling blocks into stepping-stones. That’s why Rooney’s Podgorica pot-shot will be long forgotten when he becomes England’s saviour at the Euros.

Source: Aljazeera

The deal, announced at a press conference on Friday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, sees Emirates become a Partner and Official Airline to the world’s most successful football club.

With the aid of top players like Alfredo Di Stefano, Emilio Butragueño, Raul Gonzalez, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham and now Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Casillas, Real Madrid have clinched 31 La Liga titles, 18 Copa Del Rey trophies and have conquered the UEFA Champions League a record nine times.

“Emirates is a world-renowned company that has always respected and valued sport. The airline shares our belief in loyalty, effort, commitment and innovation and these common principles will create a special understanding. We strongly believe this is a strategic alliance bridging us with our many followers all over the world,” said Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid.

“Adding Real Madrid to our European football sponsorship line-up further enhances a superb list of European teams that we support including Arsenal, HSV, PSG, AC Milan and Olympiacos,” said Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

“Having launched flights to Madrid on 1st August last year, this is a tremendous way for Emirates to mark the first anniversary of the route, while demonstrating our on-going support to sports and sports followers around the world,” added Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation.

Obaidalla was present for the announcement in Madrid, along with Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Real Madrid President, Florentino Perez. Members of the first team also joined the event.

The sponsorship deal, over five seasons, gives Emirates international brand visibility at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and Real Madrid City, as well as promotional and hospitality rights worldwide.

Aside from European football club sponsorships, Emirates is also an Official Partner of the FIFA World Cup™, the Official Airline of 12 golf tournaments internationally and supports a range of high-profile horse racing, tennis, rugby, sailing, and cricket events across the globe.

Emirates flies daily to Madrid, using an Airbus 340-300. EK141 departs Dubai at 0750hrs and arrives in Madrid at 1345hrs. EK 142 leaves Madrid at 1525hrs and gets into Dubai at 0030hrs the following day.

Source: gulfnews.com

“We are very proud and excited to announce the extension of our successful partnership with the Argentine Football Association. adidas is the global leader in football andArgentinais without any doubt one of the strongest teams in the world,” said Herbert Hainer, CEO of the adidas Group. “Therefore, we are very much looking forward to continuing our successful partnership and to supporting AFA in their preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil and beyond.”

“We appreciate the continuity and the confidence of adidas. It contributes to building an unbreakable bond with AFA. This agreement fully satisfies AFA and brings important values to continue to develop football inArgentina,” said Julio Grondona, President of AFA, and added: “AFA is committed and will continue wearing the shirt with pride all around the world.”

In addition to this, both adidas and AFA will continue working together to promote football at all levels of the game and in all age groups, both inArgentinaand globally.

adidas is Official Sponsor, Supplier and Licensee of the FIFA World Cup™. adidas thus provides the Official Match Ball and supplies the equipment for all officials, referees, volunteers and ball kids. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ inSouth Africa, adidas equipped more than 200 players and 12 teams: World Champion Spain, host nationSouth Africa,Argentina,Mexico,Paraguay,Japan,Nigeria,Germany,France,Slovakia,DenmarkandGreece. In Latin America, adidas sponsors the football federations ofArgentina,Colombia,Mexico,ParaguayandVenezuela.

In addition, adidas is Official Partner of the European Football Union UEFA and the Confederation of African Football CAF. adidas is also Official Supplier to Major League Soccer (USA) and the UEFA Champions League. Moreover, adidas is Official Supplier to prominent football clubs including AC Milan, C.A. River Plate, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC, FC Bayern München, Olympique Marseille and Real Madrid. Additionally, stars such as Lionel Messi, Michael Ballack, David Beckham, Diego Forlán, Kaká, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger and David Villa represent their respective clubs wearing state-of-the-art adidas football equipment.

 Source: www.adidas-group.com