Orlando City Soccer Club welcomes MLS Commissioner Don Garber as he comes to town to discuss possible MLS expansion in the city.
Sporting Kansas City supporters driving around the Kansas City metropolitan area this week will be on the lookout to see two new billboards, featuring 2011 MLSSoccer.com Breakout Player of the Year Graham Zusi and 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year C.J. Sapong.
Now this is a really cool way to launch a football jersey.
Solid marketing idea by the Colorado Rapids:
The Colorado Rapids are thanking their most loyal fans with a unique opportunity to “Be Part of the Fabric of the Team,” as the club will feature the names of its Season Ticket holders on the 2013-2014 home jerseys. All fans that have renewed their season tickets for the 2012 season, as well as those that purchase new seats by March 1, 2012, will have their names printed into the design of the Rapids authentic home jerseys in 2013 and 2014.
Pictured is a new series of billboards for the 2012 MLS season by the Portland Timbers. The club has built on the minimal look of last year’s campaign, arguably going even less direct this time: no text at all on three of the four graphics, no taglines, no URLs, no calls to action.
There is not a soccer ball to be seen, and no players in two of them. Last year’s campaign’s focus on fans made logical sense given the MLS version of the team hadn’t yet played but already had wildly passionate fans to showcase; continuing with that theme is smart, while also adding a touch of in-game passion by the use of action photo billboards unadorned by unnecessary text and instantly recognizable in the area.
The “call to action” is the passion on display in the chosen graphics and the presumption it will resonate naturally in Portland as the season approaches. The idea is that the team’s imagery (the logs, RCTID, etc), speaks for itself at this point locally. I think this works for a club with the Timbers’ presence in Portland, but there’s something to this that all MLS clubs should consider to some extent. MLS is not a mickey-mouse league; don’t act like it in your advertising, or people might think it is.
All in all, MLS marketing has come a long way since 1996 (and really, since 2006).
Update: interesting tweet from Timber’s owner Merritt Paulson in response to this post, “player angle, not fan angle this year.”
Nike ad featuring Eric Cantona on his return from suspension, unveiled versus Liverpool, October 1, 1995.
(via duncan-edwards)
Teaser for the Montreal Impact’s inaugural season in the MLS. We’re 40 days away from the First Kick.
Yeah? So my liquor cabinet needs these.
For those aficionados looking for an extra special way to celebrate the sport and prepare for the next MNT match, Mexico’s No. 1 selling tequila presents a series of el Jimador Commemorative Soccer bottles, available in stores February 2012. As the official tequila sponsor of Major League Soccer (MLS), the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams and the annual U.S. Tour of the Mexican National Team, the brand will distribute the packaging once a year for a limited two-month period, to kick off the soccer season. The 750ml bottles will be available in all three expressions – Blanco, Reposado and Añejo – and will feature soccer ball motifs blended with the brand’s iconic graphic designs, and highlight the Mexican Soccer, U.S. Soccer and MLS logos.
A Press Release In A Canister
Good PR work by the Fire and their new partner Quaker.
The new Chicago Fire jersey and sponsor unveil. Like the use of the Chicago Fire mural in the Pilsen neighborhood!
(via snipoppers16)
(via fantas1sta)
