Miami, FL (Wednesday, January 31, 2019) – Kenneth Russo –
Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami continues to add members to its soccer technical staff, as the club announced the hiring of former Real Salt Lake, NYCFC and Orlando City coach Jason Kreis to join its technical staff.
Inter Miami has yet to name a head coach (manager). Sporting Director Paul McDonough reaffirmed that whomever is hired for that role will create his own staff. However, he did not rule out that the possibility that Kreis could end up on the first-team coaching staff. “At this time, we’re not going to name coaching positions, but he will not be the head coach of Inter Miami,” McDonough stated. “Right now, Jason will be involved in everything we are doing on the technical side of the club, from scouting players for all levels of the club to training ground construction, and we’ll use his experiences to help us as we continue to grow.”
Inter Miami is interested in fielding a lower division team in USL, and is looking at various sites for its academy and training centre. Just a few days ago the team, through a lawfirm, sent a letter of interest to the City of Fort Lauderdale concerning a proposal to build a training ground at the site of the now shuttered Lockhart Stadium. The proposal contains a plan to build a smaller USL stadium as part of a training facility. Jason Kreis is immediately being mentioned as a coach of that eventual USL team.
Miami, FL (Tuesday, January 29, 2019) by Kenneth Russo –
Happy Birthday Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami! January 29, 2018. It has been one year. One year since David Beckham took the stage at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center and delivered a famous speech in which he recounted how his academy coach once told him “You’ll never make it as a footballer.” “I never quit,” was Beckham’s reply. One year since Marcelo Claure also gave a speech recounting the story of the more than four years between the original announcement on February 5, 2014, during which he and David Beckham tried unsuccessfully to secure a stadium site and to find suitable investors in order to be able to launch the Miami Major League Soccer Club. About how he and David had concluded that the dream was “too big” and against their wishes, had decided to move on. One year since Jorge Mas gave an emotionally charged speech in which he told the story of how he had been contacted by MLS Commissioner Donald Garber, who asked him if he would be interested in co-investing and helping David Beckham get the Miami franchise off the ground, and what Miami has meant to his family and those of people who come here from other places to make a better life.
One year ago today, Miami’s top flight fútbol club was officially born | Hace un año en esta fecha, se nació el primer club de fútbol de Miami. Happy Birthday! ¡Feliz Cumple! 🥂🎉@InterMiamiCF#FreedomtoDreampic.twitter.com/msL6X4zjFt
A year ago, our community came together in a show of force to welcome @intermiamicf to @mls. Today I reiterate our commitment to you, our fans, to build the premier soccer club. Thank you for your passion, faith & trust. We are fearless! We are one! We are Miami! #FreedomtoDreampic.twitter.com/PN0PHpyPfa
Between January 29, 2018 and September 5th, the club used the name “Fútbol Miami” as a placeholder while deciding on the actual name, colours and logo. We knew the owners were getting closer, and during the summer several potential team names appeared in trademark searches online at the USPTO. These names, trademarks by lawyers at the direction of companies connected to Miami Beckham United, LLC, included many outstanding names including Club Atlético Miami, Miami Mundial Club de Fútbol, and others. See USPTO Search.
One of the biggest highlights of the year came before daybreak on Wednesday, September 5, 2018. In the predawn hours, a giant mural painted by local artist Alejandro Mijares was revealed on the walls of a building at the corner of SW 8th Street and SW 1st Avenue in the Brickell neighbourhood of downtown Miami, revealing the club’s name and badge.
The Wall of Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami in Brickell.
At the same time, the team had the front and back covers of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald wrapped in pink with the team’s logo and explanations about the symbology. Mijares also painted the newly revealed logo on a wall in the Wynwood neighbourhood.
The morning papers on Sep. 5, 2018
Logo painted on a wall in Wynwood.
In the months since then, the club had many firsts. Soon after, plans were announced to redevelop Melreese Golf Course into the future home of Inter Miami CF and Miami Freedom Park. In July, we endured two full days of hearings before the City of Miami Commissioners, in a the effort by Miami Freedom Park, LLC to have a measure placed on the ballot to allow residents of the City of Miami to decide whether the City should negotiate to enter into a long-term lease of city-owned land at the Melreese Golf Course. In the end, three out of five commissioners approved.
On November 6, 2018, the club celebrated its biggest victory to date: the measure to transform Melreese Golf Course into a world-class stadium and Miami’s largest park, along with 23 acres of public soccer fields, an office/hotel complex with technology jobs and entertainment area passed with a strong majority of voters saying “Yes on 378.” “We won tonight!” are the now famous words of Jorge Mas.
It was also a year when the club made its initial moves on the soccer operations and business sides of the front office. Paul McDonough was the first staff member to be hired when he was appointed to the post of Sporting Director in August, just a few weeks before the unveiling of the club´s name and badge. A short time later, on September 20, 2019, Jurgen Mainka, who had previously worked at Concacaf and other MLS Clubs, was named as the club’s first Chief Business Officer. In October, the club named Dennis Sprenkleas the head of HR and Administration. At the beginning of January, 2019,Kurt Schmid joined as the first Technical Director, followed by Niki Budalic as the first Director of Soccer Operations. In the last couple of weeks prior to the one year anniversary, the club began laying the foundation of its Academy, adding Victor Pastora and Juan Carlos Michia, both of whom had been key figures in the famed Weston Football Club youth academy program.
Indeed, it was a year of many firsts. What lies ahead for Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami? A look at this video tells us: “Wait, that was just the beginning. We’re not done. Not by a long way.” It is going to be an exciting 2019.
Miami, FL (Friday, January 25, 2019) by Kenneth Russo –
Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced the acquisition today of another Brazilian forward Lucas Venuto on a transfer from FK Austria Wien, through use of Targeted Allocation Money (“TAM”).
ES: El futbolista de 24 años llega a la Major League Soccer tras pasar sus últimas cuatro temporadas en la Bundesliga austríaca. Su currículum incluye 26 goles en 151 partidos (115 como titular) en sus etapas con Red Bull Brasil, FC Liefering, SV Grödig, y Austria Wien.
Venuto, 24 years old, has spent the past five seasons in the Austrian Bundesliga. He will officially join the club’s roster pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (“ITC”), Canada work permit, visa, and completion of his medical examinations.
He arrives with a resume that include 26 goals in 115 starts and 151 total appearances with Red Bull Brasil, FC Liefering, SV Grödig, and most recently Austria Wien. His contract with Austria Wien was set to expire this summer.
“Lucas is a very fast and dynamic winger who has a lot of energy in his game,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Marc Dos Santos. “He always looks to attack, take players on, and he has an incredible work ethic on both sides of the ball. This is a player who left Brazil when he was young and was able to adapt quickly in Europe. We believe he’s a perfect fit for the way we want to play, and we are very happy to add him to our roster.”
Venuto transferred to Austria Wien during the European winter transfer window in January 2016. In three years with Die Veilchen, he started in 66 matches, and 87 total appearances across the league, UEFA Europa League and Austrian Cup competitions. and scored 14 goals.
Venuto was discovered in Governador Valadares, a small town in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, by Red Bull Brasil, the Brazilian arm of the Red Bull club empire. He began his professional debut in 2012, playing two seasons in his native country with Red Bull Brasil, which play in the Campeonato Paulista Série A2, before moving to Germany to join the RB Leipzig U-19 side. He transferred to Austria to play for 2. Liga club FC Liefering in 2014, where he was then loaned out to top-flight club SV Grödig, a move that was made permanent in the following year.
After leading SV Grödig in scoring with seven goals and two assists in 20 starts in the first half of the 2015-16 Bundesliga season, he transferred to the Viennese club.
Played with German club RB Leipzig U-19 and Austrian 2. Liga club FC Liefering
Began pro career in native land with Campeonato Paulista Série A2 Red Bull Brasil
Marc Dos Santos on new signing Lucas Venuto with Highlights
Anatomy of the Transaction
The Whitecaps had been looking to acquire Venuto. His MLS rights, however, were owned by New York City Football Club, who owned a right of first refusal for the young Brazilian.1
[1. This would indicate that the league had previously tried to sign Venuto on behalf of NYCFC and had been unable to do so. Under the MLS Roster Rules in that case NYCFC retained a “right of first refusal for four full transfer windows. According to a literal reading of the rules, Whitecaps FC should have paid $50,000 in GAM to acquire the rights to negotiate with Venuto. It is unclear why the amount paid is reported to be $150,000]
In order to obtain his MLS rights, Vancouver had to use General Allocation Money, sending $150,000 in GAM to NYCFC in exchange for the rights to the player.
Venuto has agreed to a three-year contract through 2021, with a club option for 2022. The club will use TAM towards his salary budget charge. He will occupy one of Vancouver’s international roster spots.
Whitecaps FC winger Lucas Venuto Career Chart
Senior career
Years
Team
Apps
(Gls)
2012–2014
Red Bull Brasil
5
(0)
2014–2015
Liefering
18
(5)
2014–2015
→ Grödig (loan)
11
(0)
2015–2016
Grödig
20
(7)
2016–2019
Austria Wien
68
(12)
2019–
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
0
(0)
Lucas Venuto working on a comeback in Brazil in a May 2018 video for his club FK Austria Wien. He had suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament and missed six months.
Miami, FL (Thursday, January 24, 2019) Kenneth Russo –
Beginning in 2014, Major League Soccer began allowing clubs to sell a separate sponsorship for their training gear. Beginning with the Portland Timbers, followed by the New York Red Bulls, as of 2018, five MLS clubs out of the then 23 (Cincinnati is the 24th club and will enter the league in 2019) had negotiated and signed separate training gear sponsorship agreements.
Traditionally, teams in Major League Soccer and other football leagues around the world signed a kit sponsorship deal with one primary partner. Training kit sponsorships separate out the primary kit sponsor from apparel such as training and warm up gear. The practice has become widespread in European leagues, and the leagues executives noticed.
This separation of sponsorships represents a significant source of revenue for MLS clubs. Though financial details of such deals are not released by the league, it is estimated that a training gear sponsorship can fall into the high six-figure to low seven-figure of revenue annually.
The Portland Timbers were the first MLS club to sign a training kit sponsor, partnering with a local bank named Simple in December, 2014. In 2018, the club entered into a multiyear training kit sponsorship deal with Portland-based contact lens subscription service Sightbox. As part of the agreement, The Timbers and Sightbox will collaborate on a number of community outreach activities. Sightbox will also be prominently displayed at Providence Park, and serve as the presenting partner of the player, coach and staff game day entrance, the Providence Park box office and each individual MLS season.
We're very excited to begin our partnership as the official vision care partner of the Portland Timbers! As a company born in Portland, we're proud to support the Timbers and the most loyal fanbase in soccer. #RCTID
The Timbers’ new training kit deal followed the club’s signing of a multiyear extension with kit sponsor Alaska Airlines, which has been with the team since it moved up to MLS in 2011. As part of the terms of the extension, Alaska Airlines agreed to permit the Timbers to carve out the training kit rights from its deal. Indeed, it is the ability to unbundle these assets that makes it attractive to clubs.
“Each team has their own situation. If a club is able to bundle everything together and maximize it that way and feels that’s the best approach — great,” said Mike Golub, Timbers President of Business. “For us, this gives us a way to maximize the value of the assets, but also extend our family of partners and increase activation.”
While Golub declined to comment on the financial value of the training kit deal, he did say that combined, they rank in the top tier of revenue deals across the league when compared to other teams. For a smaller market like Portland that matters. “It is material, and while I don’t think anyone will make the case they’re worth as much as the [game] kit sponsorship, there is a high level of value with the amount of exposure you’re able to get in practice every day,” he added.
The New York Red Bulls, who became the second team in MLS to sign a training kit sponsor in 2015, have already renewed the club’s deal with Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer Yanmar. The Japanese company is also a main partner company of J. League’s Cerezo Osaka Football Club. https://www.yanmar.com/global/about/sports/soccer/sponsored/redbull/
The new multiyear deal constitutes’s the Red Bulls largest sponsorship. Yanmar is provided with branding on both sleeves of the club’s training and warmup gear. It is estimated by industry sources that the previous deal stood at more than seven figures annually, and Red Bulls general manager Marc De Grandpre said the sponsorship renewal with Yanmar is an increase over the previous one.
For clubs like the Red Bulls who do not have a stadium naming-rights partner, gaining the most from all marketable assets is critical. In addition to not haveing a stadium naming rights deal in place, the club is owned by Red Bull, who has its corporate logo on the front of the game kits. De Grandpre added that “between coverage of training, the pregame and interviews that are done for national television, it might be our number one earned media driver — it’s a tremendous asset for the club to leverage.”
Their rival in the actual city, New York City Football Club, is among the teams with separate game-day jersey and training kit sponsors, having inked a multiyear deal with New York Presbyterian Hospital in 2015.
New York City Football Club training kit sponsor New York Presbyterian Hospital
In 2017, the Houston Dynamo carved out its training kit sponsorship from its deal with natural resource company BHP Billiton, and signed a multiyear deal with gasoline company 76. That sponsorship with BHP Billiton later ended, leaving Dynamo without a jersey sponsor during the 2018 season, up until this past November, when the club signed with MD Anderson Cancer Center in a multiyear partnership. Chief Revenue Officer Steven Powell said Houston intends to keep the sponsorships separate going forward. In addition to the training gear sponsorship, 76 is also the season presenting sponsor of the club and has entitlement of one of the stadium’s gates.
Get pumped Dynamo fans! ⛽️
When we score a goal during the 76th minute* of a home game, every fan in attendance will drive home with free gas*, courtesy of @76!
76 is also the presenting partner of the Houston Dynamo.
“The training kit sponsorship is a high-profile asset that has a really impactful brand integration and brand association,” Powell said. “With the right partner who builds a platform around the assets, I don’t think it dilutes the value of a jersey or naming-rights partner.”
What does the future hold for training gear sponsorships in MLS? The Red Bulls’ De Grandpre believes that in the next few years the bulk of MLS clubs will find a partner in the training kit category. “There’s tremendous value for all the clubs here, both in terms of activation and significant dollars where the sum of the parts can be greater if the club manages it properly,” he said.
Not many outside of the United Kingdom have likely heard of Salford City Football Club. But when a former world football icon decides to invest in your club, things change, and quickly. Such was the case last week when David Beckham purchased a ten percent ownership interest in Salford City FC. With this purchase, the star matches his ten percent ownership stake in Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, which is celebrating its one-year birthday today.
“It’s a proud moment for me to join Peter Lim and the Class of ’92 lads as an owner of Salford City FC,” Beckham said. “It’s a really special club and a special group of people. My early years in Manchester were all spent in Salford. I grew up there in many ways so to be able to finally join the lads and the club today is a great feeling.”
“We all have ambitions and we all have goals, and you have to have big ones and reach for the sky.” – David Beckham
Beckham, 43, is the final member of the famed “Class of ’92” to take a stake in the club as the group of former Manchester United players, Nicholas Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Philip Neville & Paul Scholes, becomes the majority shareholders with 60% combined, while Peter Lim remains the single largest shareholder with 40%. The ownership entity in which the club is wholly-owned is known as Project 92 Limited. The transaction is subject to FA approval and regulations, and the club expects a further announcement to follow.
Lim will continue to offer financial stability to the club and is an essential figure in moving the club forward, while Beckham’s arrival strengthens the ownership profile.
Never a person with small ambitions, Beckham offered this: “We all have ambitions and we all have goals, and you have to have big ones and reach for the sky.”
Beckham’s investment comes nearly five years after his ex-teammates made their investment into the club. That influx of talent has been obvious. Since 2014, Salford City has won three promotions in four seasons, Moor Lane has been redeveloped into the 5,000-plus capacity Peninsula Stadium, and the club is playing at the highest level in its history. Away from the first team, other areas of football operations have been developed, including Academy 92, Salford City Lionesses and independent charity Foundation 92 all established since 2017.
At the time that the Class of 92 bought the club in 2014, Salford City FC was playing in the Northern Premier League, Division One North. It became full-time in 2017 and currently plays in the National League following the string of promotions. As of January 23, 2019, they sits three point off top spot, with the division’s winners earning automatic promotion to League Two, the fourth division of English Football.
For their part, the former United stars say they were pleased David Beckham was joining them: “From the very beginning we wanted David to be involved and be with us on this incredible journey, however circumstances and commitments didn’t allow that. Now the time is right and is another exciting time in Salford City’s history.”
“It is important to emphasise that nothing will change in the day to day operations of the club but to have us all together was always the vision. We grew up in Salford, carved our careers here and that’s why we are doing what we are doing at Salford City.”
“We have grown to love this club and the fans and we would like to welcome David to the club and to becoming part of the Salford City family.”
Club officials were equally excited. “It’s really exciting I feel like it’s a new era for the club. I think the interest that we had at the beginning when the Class of 92 first came in will reinvigorate,” said Chairman Karen Baird. “I expect we’ll see more people come through the gates to see if they can see David Beckham, and going forward it will help raise the profile of the club around the world.”
Salford City FC Press Conference on January 23, 2019
Links to The Guardian, Sky News, and Salford City FC appear below.
Miami, FL (4a feira, 23 do janeiro 2019) – Kenneth Russo –
Seguindo o modelo adotado do Premier League, a Major League Soccer anunciou em 23 de outubro de 2018 que irá liberar os times para fecharem patrocínios de manga para a temporada 2020. Essa medida visa incrementar as receitas das equipes que disputam a liga.
Os potenciais novos acordos deverão variar entre US$ 500 mil e US$ 1 milhão por temporada. Para efeito comparativo, os gigantes da elite inglesa possuem acordos que variam de US$ 13 milhões e US$ 26 milhões (£ 10 milhões a £ 15 milhões).
“O patch de manga é uma excelente oportunidade para as marcas se conectarem à nossa Liga e aos clubes de formas mutuamente benéficas”, disse Gary Stevenson, Presidente e Diretor Administrativo da MLS Business Ventures. “À medida que a nossa Liga continua a se expandir e com mais fãs nos EUA e no Canadá assistindo a nossos jogos, participando de nossos jogos e interagindo com mídias sociais, a visibilidade os patrocinadores de mangas será substancial.”
MLS mirroring the trend in other leagues around the world.
Miami, FL (Wednesday, January 23, 2019) by Kenneth Russo –
Major European leagues have it. The trend has been adopted in North America by the NBA. And now, your local Major League Soccer club will have a new look with the 2020 season.
In an announcement last October 23, 2018, the league approved clubs to add a sponsored sleeve patch on team uniforms. In addition to the sponsor on the front of a kit (jersey), clubs will be able to place a second sponsor on the right sleeve of the game shirt. The league’s badge will remain on the left sleeve, tailored to match the club colours.
The size of the sponsored sleeve patch will replace and be roughly the same size as the existing MLS logo on the right jersey sleeve, which is roughly 2.5 by 2.5 inches (6.35 x 6.35 cm).
The league badge will remain on the left side.
The league will allow clubs to create their own sales strategies. Clubs can also decide whether the sleeve sponsor patch will be sold on shirts sold at retail. There are currently restrictions on some categories, such as alcohol and gambling, but those are under review by the league. There are also restrictions aimed at providing protection for some current league partners. For example, Nike cannot negotiate a sleeve sponsor deal, as the league has an apparel supplier contract with Adidas to supply all uniforms. (see Official Apparel Supplier) Securing a sleeve sponsor is also only available to those clubs that have already secured a primary kit sponsor.
The sleeve sponsor initiative will be for a four-year term to begin with, though given the additional revenue it will generate (Sleeve Sponsorships), I foresee the program being extended.
“The sleeve patch is a premium opportunity for brands to be connected with our League and clubs in mutually beneficial ways,” said Gary Stevenson, president and managing director, MLS Business Ventures. “As our League continues to expand, and with more fans in the U.S. and Canada viewing our matches, attending our games, and engaging on social media, the visibility of the sleeve patches will be substantial.”
Creating space for additional corporate sponsors is a growing trend that has only recently been embraced by some North American sports leagues.
Last season (2017-18), the NBA allowed jersey ads for the first time, and now all but three of the league’s 30 teams have sold the space, driving a wide range of revenue. The defending champion Golden State Warriors have a three-year, $60 million USD deal with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, Inc., also the kit sponsors of FC Barcelona, while the Utah Jazz have a deal with Qualtrics LLC’s cancer charity for $4 million USD per year. The Miami Heat have a sponsor patch deal with Weston, FL based Ultimate Software. Heat partner with Ultimate Software
The basketball league’s 21 patch deals in place last season generated $493 million worth of media awareness, according to valuation firm GumGum Sports. According to Forbes and GumGum Sports, the 2.5 by 2.5-inch patches are generating over $350 million worth of value just through exposure on social media (75 percent of the value), with 25 percent of value coming from TV broadcasts.. The only other signage in the NBA that generates that much revenue is the Nike logo stitched on NBA jerseys.
Many sponsorship deals for the NBA patches started as low as $5 million over three years, yielding a return on investment of 70 percent for the sponsors. Others have paid between $20–60 million for these sponsorship spaces and still see an ROI of over 5 percent. In contrast, the NFL, NHL, and MLB have all resisted the trend, thus far.
