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View Full Version : How about a title sponsor for the league



Canary Canuck
08-29-2009, 09:42 PM
We're always discussing ways to raise more revenue throughout the league for a higher salary cap. How about a title sponsor for the league? This is par for the course in Europe. I can't even think of a league that doesn't have a title sponsor. What if a company was willing to pay tens of millions a year that could go towards raising the cap? What do you guys think? Too whorish?

cy43
08-29-2009, 09:45 PM
as long as it isn't Sierra Mist, it would be fine with me.

I mean Major League Soccer is pretty bad but Sierra Mist Major League is just not right at all... but give me Dick's Sporting Good's Major League Soccer and I'm fine with it........................

Canary Canuck
08-29-2009, 09:46 PM
as long as it isn't Sierra Mist, it would be fine with me.

I mean Major League Soccer is pretty bad but Sierra Mist Major League is just not right at all... but give me Dick's Sporting Good's Major League Soccer and I'm fine with it........................

The Dick's League! LOL

cy43
08-29-2009, 09:55 PM
sex sells no?

Blazer
08-29-2009, 10:43 PM
http://willpen.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/walmart-evil-2.jpg

Juanito
08-29-2009, 10:49 PM
In all seriousness, maybe Nike or someone like that would be a good idea.

Blazer
08-29-2009, 10:52 PM
I think it's a great idea, just not sure if it would make a huge difference as far as revenue to promote additional spending or not?!

Interesting thought.

Sonny Cheeba
08-29-2009, 10:57 PM
CondomDepot.com

Darlofletch
08-29-2009, 10:57 PM
Please no. One thing the big North American sports do right is not having sponsors everywhere. I was disappointed that tfc and a lot of the other clubs have shirt sponsorship, and haven't bought a shirt mainly because of that. The less corporate sponsor crap the better.

Blazer
08-29-2009, 11:00 PM
^ I think having a Barclay's type sponsor would make sense, no?

Look at hockey, can't get any worse than that?! (Boards, Ice, Waterbottles, etc.)

SilverSamurai
08-29-2009, 11:01 PM
Please no. One thing the big North American sports do right is not having sponsors everywhere. I was disappointed that tfc and a lot of the other clubs have shirt sponsorship, and haven't bought a shirt mainly because of that. The less corporate sponsor crap the better.
+1.
Just leave this alone. No sponsors please.

TFCtoMUFC
08-29-2009, 11:04 PM
The freexxxporn.com Major League Soccer.

madcow
08-29-2009, 11:21 PM
Now that sounds like something I could get behind.

Inklink
08-29-2009, 11:42 PM
as long as it isn't Sierra Mist, it would be fine with me.



And as long as it isn't the same jackass that says "This is the Sierra Mist goal of the week" while spitting into a microphone, sitting in his parent's basement in the middle of the night.

Super
08-30-2009, 12:31 AM
If it makes the league stronger, then YES!

Cashcleaner
08-30-2009, 12:32 AM
No thank-you. Major League Soccer works just nicely for me without "Presented by..." or anything like that.

We gotta stop obsessing with what the other leagues do and recognize the good things about sports in North America. The NHL, NBA, MLB, etc. haven't whored out their identities or that of their championship series and they don't seem to be doing too badly.

We've already let business encroach too much into sports as it is.

egoodwin
08-30-2009, 12:44 AM
yes, but only if it's a worthy sponsor. Just no WALMART or KMART or anything like that

Blizzard
08-30-2009, 01:04 AM
yes, but only if it's a worthy sponsor. Just no WALMART or KMART or anything like that

.... or Herbalife!

ilikemusic
08-30-2009, 01:43 AM
The Wal Mart Major League Soccer, or the Sierra Mist Major League Soccer just dont sound right. The name Major League Soccer doesnt lend itself to a branding like the Premiership. It would have to just be something like 'Major League Soccer presented by Wal-Mart' or something.

I maintain that 'The American Premiership' would have been a bad-****ing-ass name for the American top flight. Then they could call it the 'Wal-Mart American Premiership' or the 'Home Depot American Premiership' and it wouldnt sound quite as bad.

Shakes McQueen
08-30-2009, 06:27 AM
I think calling it the "Adidas Major League" or something, doesn't sound too bad.

Ideally it'd be nice to keep this kind of advertising out of the league, but it does have a certain inevitability to it. THe NHL, NBA, etc. all have tons of corporate sponsoring all over the place - they just haven't sold off the name of their actual league or championship trophies yet, like the "Barclays Premier League", or the "Liga BBVA"

EDIT: It's also worth noting that this kind of sponsorship really wouldn't be worth enough money to impact the cap substantially.

- Scott

Blazer
08-30-2009, 10:19 AM
^ Couldn't agree more. I like the idea of Adidas or Nike Major League Soccer. Citigroup or Bank of America?

kitchener-TFC
08-30-2009, 10:59 AM
Yes, as long as it's a good sponsor.
Definition of good is still unknown btw.

Sonny Cheeba
08-30-2009, 11:03 AM
NFL, MLB and NBA are just as bad if not worse for advertising despite not having title corporation.

"this pitcher change brought to you by toyota" or whoever.

this replay brought to you by. blah blah blah. all sports are saturated with advertising even if it's not on the jersey or league title. so it wouldn't bother me one bit if it was CondomDepot.com Major League Soccer. doesn't really change anything in the game.

Bobo
08-30-2009, 03:19 PM
The Dick's League! LOL

League sucks balls anyway...

Heart of Stone
08-30-2009, 05:51 PM
something crazy like having the Bank of Montreal sponser a club in Toronto... that would be like having the Montreal club sponsered by Toronto Dominion or the Toronto Transit Commission

prizby
08-30-2009, 06:22 PM
as long as it isn't Sierra Mist, it would be fine with me.

I mean Major League Soccer is pretty bad but Sierra Mist Major League is just not right at all... but give me Dick's Sporting Good's Major League Soccer and I'm fine with it........................


neither would work, cuz neither have any market in Toronto or Canada for that matter

Fort York Redcoat
08-30-2009, 09:30 PM
Not a fan of a league sponsor but it won't really cheapen an already lousy league name.

Canary Canuck
08-30-2009, 10:42 PM
I would guess that the league would slightly alter the name and drop the "major league" part. It would probably be just like the Miller League or the T Mobile Superleague or something like that. You won't see anything like what Portugal did by allowing their league to be called the "betandwin.com liga" for a year.

I think a lot of you are too quick to dismiss this idea without seriously considering the benefit. The league would only do this for a financial figure large enough to give the cap a significant bump. Would you consider a sponsor if it meant a 4 or 5 million dollar cap as opposed to the 2.3 million we have now?? Think about that.

Super
08-30-2009, 10:59 PM
100% YES! Coca Cola cup, Coca Cola league, Barclays, whatever. At first it's a bit wierd, but you get used to it after a while. The Danish league used to be the Faxe league, now it's the SAS (Scandinavian airlines) league. Nobody cares. But the money that comes from this sort of sponsorship helps the league a lot.

Super
08-30-2009, 11:09 PM
Would you consider a sponsor if it meant a 4 or 5 million dollar cap as opposed to the 2.3 million we have now??

I seriously doubt a sponsorship like this would be worth that much money. 16 teams in the league x 2 million to bump up the salary cap would result in a 32 million dollar a year cost. I'm not sure what sponsors pay for similar deals abroad, but I highly doubt we would be able to command more than 5-10 million a year. Barclays paid 65.8 million pounds for a 3-year deal - which is a little less than 40 million CDN bucks per year. No way we can get more than 1/4th. Or even 1/8th of that - which would be 5 million bucks. Divided amongst 16 teams 5 million dollars would be around $300,000 CDN.

twistedchinaman
08-30-2009, 11:25 PM
It's a good idea, and hey, England (Barclays, Coca Cola, etc.), Australia (Hyundai), China (Pirelli) and Spain (for the Segunda Division), etc. do it...so why not?

Just as long as it isn't like a Wal Mart or a Kmart. Home Depot League is definitely not it. But a good, top level sponsor, like Chase -- now that would be good. And it won't upset the applecart with BMO since Chase isn't up here in Canada, where as Bank of America has MBNA which issues competing Mastercards.

Canary Canuck
08-30-2009, 11:29 PM
I seriously doubt a sponsorship like this would be worth that much money. 16 teams in the league x 2 million to bump up the salary cap would result in a 32 million dollar a year cost. I'm not sure what sponsors pay for similar deals abroad, but I highly doubt we would be able to command more than 5-10 million a year. Barclays paid 65.8 million pounds for a 3-year deal - which is a little less than 40 million CDN bucks per year. No way we can get more than 1/4th. Or even 1/8th of that - which would be 5 million bucks. Divided amongst 16 teams 5 million dollars would be around $300,000 CDN.


Firstly, the Barclays deal is actually for 2 years.

I get what you're saying and doubt we'd see a dollar figure lucrative enough for the league to consider it. But, remember that Adidas is already paying 10 million a year just for exclusivity on kits and balls. What does that make naming rights to the whole league worth? Certainly a lot more than 10 million.

Super
08-30-2009, 11:35 PM
Firstly, the Barclays deal is actually for 2 years.

I get what you're saying and doubt we'd see a dollar figure lucrative enough for the league to consider it. But, remember that Adidas is already paying 10 million a year just for exclusivity on kits and balls. What does that make naming rights to the whole league worth? Certainly a lot more than 10 million.

Well, if it's 2 years that changes the number - but not to the point where I feel confident that we'll sign a big enough deal to make a huge difference. Still, though, I'm all for it. The kits and balls deal with Adidas also includes sale of jerseys, etc. I think, so they're factoring in a greater immediate return than just sponsoring the league itself.

twistedchinaman
08-31-2009, 12:10 AM
Firstly, the Barclays deal is actually for 2 years.

I get what you're saying and doubt we'd see a dollar figure lucrative enough for the league to consider it. But, remember that Adidas is already paying 10 million a year just for exclusivity on kits and balls. What does that make naming rights to the whole league worth? Certainly a lot more than 10 million.


65 million pounds is 40 million Canadian? That doesn't work out...I thought the pound was more expensive? 65 million pounds is like 115 million Canadian/105 mil American.

A fair price is about $50 mil deal for 3 years = Approx. $1 mil. for each of the 16 teams. That's a couple more youngster they could pay. Remember, the brand will go with the league logo, and you will have first dibs of adspace at every stadium and at a lot of league events. You could have players sell your products for you.

Or maye I'm going too high?

Canary Canuck
08-31-2009, 01:10 AM
65 million pounds is 40 million Canadian? That doesn't work out...I thought the pound was more expensive? 65 million pounds is like 115 million Canadian/105 mil American.

65 million pounds is the entire value of the Barclays deal. It's not 65 million pounds annually. I made the same mistake when I first read super's post.

jaahuuu
08-31-2009, 09:34 AM
something crazy like having the Bank of Montreal sponser a club in Toronto... that would be like having the Montreal club sponsered by Toronto Dominion or the Toronto Transit Commission
They already sponsor an arena in Boston. And the RBC sponsors an arena in North Carolina. There are a few others like that too, but I can't think of them right now.

Belfast_Boy
08-31-2009, 09:57 AM
what if we get some crappy name like Playtex or some Douchebag league???? not such a good idea then huh!!!

TFCRegina
08-31-2009, 03:20 PM
I wouldn't mind "Volkswagon's Major League [of] Soccer." Something like that.

twistedchinaman
09-02-2009, 09:47 PM
what if we get some crappy name like Playtex or some Douchebag league???? not such a good idea then huh!!!

Unless the deal is too good to be true, that can't happen. I'm sure a company would want some sort of stake in the game (ergo, a sporting manufacturer (Adidas), beverage maker (Gatorade), car (Volkswagen), airline (American), bank (Chase), etc.) but someone who makes fishing lure better be ready to pony up some serious cash, let alone risk a helluva lot.