A very interesting web article from yahoo! soccer:
Chelsea announce deal to break into US market
AFP - Mar 29, 11:53 am EST
LONDON (AFP) - Chelsea have signed a ground-breaking deal with an American sports conglomerate that they hope will help them become the most popular European football club in the United States.
The Premiership champions said the alliance with AEG, who run four Major League Soccer Teams as well as several sports venues, would see them involved in all levels of football in the United States from grassroots up.
The deal will see Chelsea forge close links with Los Angeles Galaxy, and commits the London club to playing in an exhibition tournament against an MLS side every two years.
"Chelsea is absolutely delighted to be partnering with AEG, the leading backer of soccer in the US," Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said in a statement on the club's website.
"This is a unique, ground-breaking relationship that not only demonstrates our commitment to the development of US soccer, but will also help Chelsea work towards its aim of becoming the most popular European club in the US, one of our key target markets."
The statement said the alliance with LA Galaxy would eventually involve exchange programmes with young players, as well as the pooling of ideas on sports medicine and coaching.
Chelsea business affairs director Paul Smith insisted the deal would involve more than just exhibition matches.
"Chelsea's involvement in US football will be from top to bottom. We will not just fly in and fly out for the tournaments," Smith said. "We will seek to develop a programme of activity that will also cover the huge interest in soccer at youth level, as well as the professional game."
Although hailed by Chelsea as the first of its kind, the deal echoes the strategic partnership set up between Manchester United and baseball giants the New York Yankees in 2001.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Chelsea and US Soccer via Anshutz
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2 comments:
Very Interesting! If the MLS or other U.S. based org cannot get thier act together and build a professional path for US youth through to pro, then who better than the Brits to come here and show us how. A respectable path to professional soccer is what we need here and Chelsea already carries the respect here in the US. Attending the MLS games are more like going to a clown show than a football match. No wonder the game gets no respect from non-soccer people in the US. I love the game and can hardly stand to attend an MLS match.
Hey man...
It's not the players I have a problem with. It's the bloody circus kid show environment that the MLS puts on in the stands, the pre-game, the half time, the bigscreen/scoreboard antics, inflate-a-farts running into each other, and so on. How are non-soccer folk supposed to take the sport serious when the atmosphere at the games is anything but?
The people putting on the stadium circus show just cannot be serious soccer people.... I can get that kind of atmosphere at Chuck-E Cheese :o)
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