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SUM boosts sponsor roster for Mexican team BY TRIPP MICKLE STAfF WRITER Soccer Un ite d Mark et in g pus he d th e popul arity of the Mexican nat ional team in a World Cup year to add three new Mexican soccer federation (FMF) spons ors , bringin g its total roster of partners to 15 in 2010, the sa me as it had in 2006 during th e last World Cup. The partners- Wrigley's Extra gum, Cacique an d Bimbo - began activating with the team in March . All three signed either one- or two-year agreements valued in the low to middle six figures annually. "The aware ness around th e Mexican national team is heightened in a World Cup year, but it's really a 24/7 , 365-day-a-year opport un ity," sa id Michael Gandler, vice presi- ........_~~. den t of bus in ess development for Soccer Un ited Marketing. "The World Cup in South Africa is going to elevate its appeal even further." The Mexican nati onal team is enjoyin g one of its best-attended U.S. tours in rece nt years, playin g its third of six exh ibitions last week. Earlier th is month it attracte d 90,000 spec ta tors at th e Rose Bowl in Pa saden a for a game against New Zealand, an d last Wednesday it drew 63,000 specta tors to Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte for a game aga ins t Iceland. Wri gley's Extra gum is th e first official gum partner of FMF since SUMbegan representing the Mexican national team in2003, sign ing a one-year deal. The brand , which also sponsors the English Pre mier League, has made the Mexican national team th e centerp ieceof its "Wrigley's FootballExtra" activation pro gram. It has brought an 18wheeler act ivatio n stage on tour with th e team, done player appearances in markets, and sam pling at the exh ibition games. Cacique signed a two-year agreement to become the official cheese partner of FMF. Th e Mexican -st yle cheese company has put the FMF logo on packs of cheeses and promoted its partnership with point-of-sale advertising in important Hispan ic markets nati on wide. It als o set up a small booth at Mexican nati onal team exhibitions where fan s can get a photo featuring th e Cacique logo and th e Mexican flag. "Wehave already had a great return on our investmen t," sa id Fran cisco Hanon, Cacique's advert isi ng man ager. "We are sure if we continue to connect these events to th e sto re level it will be great for us." Bimbo Bakeries, th e U.S. division of food manufacturer Grupo Bimbo , plans to do a retail activation during the World Cup in June whe n it will use point-of-sale adverti sing featuring FMF ima gery in an effor t to distinguish itself from competitors. As part of its one -year dea l, th e Cacique, a compa ny also ac tivatMex ican-style ed at recen t Mexi can cheese comnational team exhibipany, is one of three new FMF ti on gam es, offering sam pl e s o f Bimbo sponsors. ca kes and bread to fans before an d a fte r th e compet ition. Th e deal with Bimbo was sold by SUM in collaboration with Sports Man agement Group of Mexico City. "This deal is part of a growing tr end we expect to see more and more in the future," Gandler said."There are a lot of companies - Mexican ones and American ones th at acquire Mexican brands - that are looking to expand th eir footprint in th e United States and see th e Mexican national team as a way to do th at. " In addition to sign ing three FMF partners, SUM renewed its MLS partnership with Getty Images and signed Travelodge to a two-year deal as a partner of the CONCACAF Cham pions Leagu e an d InterLiga tournam ents. MLS has signed no new dea ls a head of its 2010 season, but it didn't lose an y partners. Gand ler sa id SUM is pursuing several deals for the league, wh ich opened its season Thursday in Seattle. MEXICAN SOCCER FEDERATION PARTNERS 2006 2010 Anheuser-Busch (beer) Anheuser- Busch(beer! AT&T (telecommunications) AT&T (telecommunications) Coca -Cola (carbonated soft drinks! Coca-Cola (carbonated soft drinks) Home Depot (home improvement) Home Depot (home improvement) Makita (toolsl Makita (tools) NAPA (auto aftermarket) . NAP (auto aftermarketl A Digame (calling cards) AT&T (expanded calling-card categoryl ChivasRega l (spirits) Cuervo (spirits) Doritos (salty snacks) Barcel (saltysnacks) Kellogg's (cereal/cookies) Bimbo (cookies/pastries) Lala (milks/yogurtl Cacique (yogurts/cheeses/meats) Western Union (financial/wiretransfer! Visa (financial services) McDonald's (quick-service restaurant) Degree (deodorant/antiperspirant) Dodge (auto) Allstate(insurance) Tylenol (DTC pharma) Wrigley's Extra (gum) Source:Soccer United Marketing MLS labor agreement continues league's evolution BY TRIPP MICKLE ANO LIZ MULLEN STAFF WRITERS Major Leagu e Soccer's new collectivebargaining agreement - the second in the league's 15-year h istory - is less revolutionary than evolutionary. Unlike other professional sports leagues, MLSofficials didn't ask for concessions from players.Instead, they wanted a five-year deal that preserved the league's single-entity status and offered no free agency to players . The new deal the league an d MLS Players Union announced last week gave th e league all three things it wanted,butitalso included key changes that will give players new ri ghts, change th e way MLS and its teams operate, and influence the future of MLSPU. Here's a lookat several changes and how they will affect the league and union. wha t hotels are acceptable an d how hi gh per diems will be. As recently as last yea r, MLS players traveling to Massachusetts to play the New England Revolution stayed in the Sheraton Braintree, a hotel that Sports illu strated's Gran t Wahl described in "The Beckham Experiment" as being "bathed in car-exha ust fumes." Players visiting New England now stay at the recently built Renaissance Boston Hotel at Patriot Place. Now, comparable hotels will be standard un der the new CBA. Players also will see th eir per diems rise from $50 a day to $65plus $10a day for incidental expenses. The league also will pay movingexpenses for player s who are traded and put th ose players up in a hotel for 21days. Previously, the league only paid $5,000 toward moving expenses and were obligated to pay for a player's hotel for 14 days. • QUALITY OF UFE Because MLS is a single-entity league, it will still book flights and hotel accommodati ons for all of its teams, but under the new CBAthere is more langu age about • I MARCH 29 -APRIL 4 . 2D1D • COACHING CHANGE Life just got more difficult for MLScoaches and player personnel executives. Under th e previous CBA, the standard league contract with players typically were one-yearagreements with rnultiple one-year options . That meant a team could sign a player for four years but drop him without affectin g its salary cap after any season by declining to pick up his opti on. The new deal changes that by increasing the number of MLS players with guaranteed contracts from approx ima tely 25 percent to 57 percent, according to league and player estimates. Teams can still sign players to deals with options,but under the new agreement, players whose options aren't picked up bya team will enter a waiver draft where other teams can pick them up at their negotiated option price.That will put more pressure on teams to hon or the options. "It's now important for teams to focus on the negative-opti ons sal aries and overall term of th e contract, given th e fa ct that there is less flexibility with options," said Houston Dynamo COOChris Canetti. "We need to be smart and more effective with signings because th ere' s less room for error." www.s ports bus ines sj ourna l.com I • GREEN EXHIBmONS Under th e previous CBA, MLS teams could schedule as many exhibition games as th ey wanted, ask players to play and not pay th em a dime. If a player got hurt, the team might lose hi s contr ibu tion on th e field bu t th e player lost th e opportunity to meet performa nce metri cs in his contract. In other words, the players played extra games with no upside - only consequence. But th at's going to change. See MLS Page 25 Golden State Warriors owner Chris Cohan was misidentified in a photo in the March 22-28 issu e. A story in the March 22-28 issue should have said that a comme rcial that golfer Michelle Wie filmed for McDonald's, though created in five lan guages, will air only in th e U.S. Street & Smith'.. SporteBu..in e e .....OURNAL