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SEATTLE (AP)—Microsoft will sponsor the new MLS team in Seattle.
The Seattle Sounders FC will be sponsored by Microsoft and Xbox Live 360, the team announced Wednesday. Microsoft will pay a reported $20 million over five years.
Microsoft executive Robbie Bach said the growth and global scope of soccer enticed the company to get involved with sponsoring a sports franchise.
The team will begin play in the 2009 season.
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Mr. Henry, meet Mr. Gates.....
Yet another reason to hate Seattle. :)
fuck X-box PS3 is were it is at!
Nice sponsorship grab for Seattle Sounders
Hopefully this team works from the get go and don't encounter too many BSOD "blue screen of death" and then have to upgrate to Seattle Sounders Service Pack 2
Awesome, there'll be so many bugs & they'll have to restart at least once a half.
So, thats the highest paid amount for jersey sponsership in the MLS right??? I think it beats us and DC no??
Isn't it essentially from 1 pocket to the other?
Still a lot of cash though.
Sounders FC find match with Xbox
Seattle expansion team inks sponsorship deal with Microsoft
By Laurence Moroney / MLSnet.com Staff
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http://web.mlsnet.com/images/2008/05/28/ik6ZejNc.jpg Members of the Seattle Sounders FC administration unveil the club's new jersey sponsorship. (AP Photos)
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The Seattle Sounders FC announced a multi-year sponsorship with Microsoft and Xbox 360, unveiling the jersey that the team will wear when it takes the field for the first time in Spring 2009.
Majority Owner, Joe Roth said, "We wanted the best for our team, so we took a very strategic approach in our search for a partner for our team. They [Microsoft] have never done anything like this before, but we didn't want that to stop us. They have a culture similar to our own and a commitment to our community, so we went after them, and we got them!"
Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division added, "We haven't done anything like this before, but when we saw what Sounders FC are doing in our home state, and the fact that they are bringing the world's most popular sport to Seattle, it was the perfect fit. Xbox 360 is the new home for sports, and our goal is to entertain a global audience. By sponsoring our hometown team we have a perfect fit."
The sponsorship has many faces, but the most obvious is in having 'Xbox 360 Live' emblazoned on the Sounders jersey, which is green in color with blue highlights. Additionally, the sponsorship gives Xbox 360 the right to use MLS League and team marks and logos, as well as banner advertisements at every MLS game and sponsorship of major events such as the Pepsi MLS All-Star Game and the MLS Cup Final. Xbox 360 will also be a sponsor of MLS grassroots and community initiatives.
The popularity of the team isn't waning either. A lunchtime press conference at Qwest Field drew around 200 noisy fans, and Todd Leiweke, CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, announced that the team now has more than 16,200 season ticket deposits.
Sounders FC have also been scouring the globe for talent. Adrian Hanauer listed Brazil, Argentina, Holland, England and Ghana as some of the countries they they had been looking at.
Indeed it appears that Xbox 360 is probably the perfect sponsor for the team as he relayed an experience he had recently in Ghana were he and director of football Chris Henderson scouted some 'magical' young players who didn't want to talk with him as they were busy playing with their Xbox 360 devices once their practice was done. Laurence Moroney is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
They're paying themselves? Great advert. This is gonna mean another year of protecting only so many players...
that's great for them. That's a sponsor that a lot of young folk can identify with. Think of the giveaway's at those games!
I like the jersey's too.
Seattle seems to be pulling the pieces together nicely.
DAAAAAAAAMN!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Chevy
There goes our efforts to have RPB sponsor Seatle! LOL Philly it will be!
we NEED a red ring of death tifo lol
seattle is building this up very nicely - they will be a solid franchise
this isn't gamespotQuote:
Originally Posted by tfc_4_ever
Great sponsor - 16K season's tickets - Drew Carey pushing soccer on US tv - sounds great!
Now if Vancouver gets in that would be a terrific rivalry - and even more terrific for TFC to beat them both!
and if they were sponsored by apple or playstation 3 it would be even betterQuote:
Originally Posted by Red Adder
lol, imagine Apple sponsoring the whitecaps!
Microsoft is their jersey sponsor? Haha, Seattle is doomed! Just when the Sounders are about to score, they get the blue screen of death.:noidea:
damn i wish i had a 360 to relate to you guys :(