Menu

Christopher Botta

Staff Writer

MLS makes World Cup theme of messaging

At a conference table in New York in January, Howard Handler and a team of Major League Soccer marketing executives came to the conclusion that the 2014 MLS season must be linked to this year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil. “For Club and Country,” the league’s slogan for...

Lucky shot: Stanley Cup contests reward fans

More than 160 hockey fans will attend at least one game of this year’s Stanley Cup Final as prize winners of sweepstakes held by NHL sponsors. “That’s the most our partners have ever hosted,” said Brian Cull, NHL group vice president of integrated marketing. This year’s final...

All eyes on new Houston team

Chris Canetti knows the rest of MLS is watching. Canetti is the president of business operations for both the Houston Dynamo and the Houston Dash. The Dash this year joined the Portland Thorns to become the second team owned by an MLS club playing in the National Women’s...

Quakes will accept Bitcoin at stadium

If you’re looking to buy tickets to an MLS match in San Jose and then buy a Chris Wondolowski jersey and a few hot dogs while you’re there, you can now do it with Bitcoin. The San Jose Earthquakes will become the first professional sports team to accept...

Univision shows MLS the love with new deal

“We F%[*!^& Love Sports.” That’s what it says — in English, with those symbols — in red, blue and green letters in Univision Deportes President Juan Carlos Rodriguez’s office at network headquarters in Miami. It was in that room that Univision and MLS on Oct. 21 began serious...

ESPN takes over out-of-market package

One unique aspect of MLS’s new media rights deal is that ESPN will manage the league’s out-of-market package. Neither ESPN nor MLS executives last week knew how the package in its new form will be presented or what it will be named, but what was certain is that...

MLS’s big play

A watershed moment in Major League Soccer’s 18-year history will occur this week, as the league is poised to announce new media rights deals that will bring in far more revenue and lead to a consistent, streamlined television schedule. The eight-year deals with ESPN, Fox and Univision are...