Unlike other American major league sports, MLS does not dominate the sport’s public attention on global scale, nor its champion is crowned as the ‘World Champion’. MLS has been going through constant development. Did it gain significant public and media attention in the world football? No!

Soccer as the 2nd, 7th or 10th most popular sport in the U.S. doesn’t make a great difference, the American public will still follow the NFL, , MLB NHL or NBA. The world public would follow those leagues with same attention as they are world’s most prominent sports leagues.

In recent years with the globalization of media, the world sports scene has started to change; in that process, English football league, Premiership, promotes itself as ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’ and is in fact the world’s most popular and most watched sporting league, with a current worldwide viewership of half a billion people and media income for seasons 2007 to 2010 worth over $5 billion.

If the world will watch football leagues like English Premiership or Spanish La Liga, who will watch the American major league sports other than domestic spectators? Will a part of the American public turn to watch overseas football leagues as well? Such questions made soccer be an issue in the U.S sports.

Every now and then, the MLS officials would wake up from the drowsiness of being in shadows of Top 4 American major leagues around the time when World Cup takes places and it becomes evident how immense the game of football is in the terms of world public interest, media attention, sponsors.

As the noise around World Cup passes, the MLS would fall back in drowsiness. It was not to be like that after the World Cup 2006 in Germany when the world public had clear picture of European football’s modern stadiums, multi-million player contracts… the world sports spotlight got a hold on football.

This time it’s not the MLS who is to take the initiative of promoting MLS, it’s the whole of American professional sports entertainment industry. It is an economic opportunity where the money revolving around the world football was too great to be missed or discarded.

In the summer of 2007, U.S. soccer attempted to take over the world football by storm by offering David Beckham a $250million contract, the most expensive football player contract in history of the sport, some described it as the deal to bring Beckham to America is thought to be the biggest in sporting history. MLS sent out a message to the world.

In the midst of summer when European leagues were between the seasons and the waters were still, MLS got the wanted exposure with news stories being dominated with the Beckham family moving to LA. Did the stories overtake the world football media and public attention in favor of MLS yet? No!

Is $250 million worth of exposure in the long run? Time will tell. Autumn came, European and international leagues are in full swing, the world sports news publish less articles about Beckham, LA Galaxy and the MLS. To make things worst, LA will hardly make the play-offs, giving the media less to write about.

In the league that has had an overall lost of more than $350 million in the first 8 years after its foundation (a BusinessWeek report from 2004), where at the present time only two teams, LA Galaxy and FC Dallas, are profitable with 3 additional teams expected to be profitable within a year, a $250 million one-player investment seems like a gamble. If so, what are the odds?

In recent years, several notable players chose to make the step away from the bigger leagues of Europe and South America for a financially good contract with teams from the Gulf countries. The headlines reported rich transfer deals, though there was no to little follow-up in media coverage of those leagues.

Not to be forgotten, prior to David Beckham’s arrival, MLS attempted to gain exposure with Freddy Adu, a player under the age of 16 that was crowned as the next Pelé. Adu received significant media attention, the world knew he’s playing for DC United of the MLS.

Many may or may not know that Adu, this past summer at the age of 18, signed a contract in Europe with Benfica FC – Portugal. Prior to joining Benfica, Adu spent some time during summer in the Man Utd’s training camp, Alex Fergusson did not give him the reason to stay.

Benfica paid to the club from Salt Lake City $2million for the player’s release note and Adu will receive $1.2million per year, solid but not the contract that tops the news. Adu was not on Benfica’s Champions League match roster against Milan on Sept. 18th, in compare a player like Messi at the current Adu’s age was already among the starting 11 for the football giant FC Barcelona.

The MLS didn’t appear to have gained substantial attention for the sport with Adu, nor contributed to his development into the world dominant player as expected. Through history, some of the best players of all times played soccer in the States, including Pelé, Beckenbauer, Eusebio…

After the decades long attempts that did not give hoped results for the success of U.S. soccer, what difference Beckham’s playing (currently on a 6 week absence due to the injury) may makes now? Let’s have a brief look at the MLS, a professional soccer league that started in 1996 with more than 10 seasons of experience under way.

Logistics and facilities: On the day of publishing this text, September 27th 2007, Beckham’s LA Galaxy is playing against the KC Wizards. SPORTiana.com, as the author of this text, had the insight in MLS through KC Wizards in the summer of 2006, a year prior to Beckham’s arrival in the MLS.

At that time KC Wizard’s head coach complained about having himself and 2 more assistant coaches to run the team’s training, forcing him to leave several players from 26 man roster sitting on the bench because of not being able to have them all on the field during trainings at the same time.

The training facilities included one open-air field and the in-door field with gym used by the NFL team KC Chiefs, within the Arrowhead Stadium complex. The Wizard’s open air-training field was situated next to the fence aside KC Chiefs training fields.

Grass on the Wizards field was almost separated turfs on the ground as hard as a rock, a field where many players would pass on training in order to avoid injuries. A head coach, 2 assist coaches, fitness trainer… NFL stadium and facilities… small office space at the corner of a stadium… it would be quite a contrast to the clubs from leagues where Beckham previously played.

Players: Majority MLS players come in the league as drafted college players. College soccer usually means player’s playing for a full ride scholarship with the first pro contracts signed at the age of 22 or so. In other countries, first pro contracts are usually signed at the age of 18, at the age of 22 the player is coming out of a 4 year contract and managers have a better understanding of a player’s capabilities in pro football.

This means college players are 4 years behind. By signing a first pro contract at the age of 22, they would come out of the 4 year contract at the age of 26, at that time, major world football clubs would rather invest their money in a 22 year old’s prospect who has also had 4 years of pro football experience.

College players hardly pass over playing in the MLS (players’ first pro contract) on their way to better paid leagues as most foreign clubs would not sign a college league soccer player with no pro football experience at the age of 22.

Prominent American players like DeMarkus Beasley ($2million to PSV – Netherlands, currently for £700,000 with Rangers – Scotland) or Tim Howard ($4million to Man Utd – England, currently with Everton after being loaned), joined MLS directly from high-school without playing college soccer, just like Freddy Adu.

For an average football fan with the choice to watch a variety of matches, e.g. the giants of the game squaring up in domestic leagues like this past weekend when it was Man Utd vs Chelsea in England, Barcelona vs Sevilla in Spain, Roma vs Juventus in Italy, PSV vs Feyenoord in the Netherlands… Boca Juniors games in Argentina, Lyon in France… there’s little space for MLS.

A football fan wants to see the competitiveness, passionate fans, decades-long fierce rivalry between the clubs, tradition, the world’s best players, established players with reputation of playing for prestigious clubs, ultra-modern football-specific stadiums, most of which the MLS does not offer.

The MLS needs to gain the interest of the American public and media in order to gain the same interest with the world public. Hard-working, attractive all-around players like Eddie Johnson of the KC Wizards or DC United’s Jaime Moreno, who proved their quality in this summer’s Copa America 2007 are the prototype players for a successful competitive league.

The MLS’s proposed soccer-specific modern stadiums for all clubs are a step forwards. German Bundesliga witnessed tremendous boost of public interest and media attention on domestic and global level prior to and after the World Cup 2006, with a legacy of great new and renewed old stadiums.

The MLS ought to internationalize as much as possible, the English Premiership did it, when foreign billionaires started buying clubs, world class players arrived in even great number to make it the most watched and profitable football league in the world.

Many writers have speculated on why football is not as popular in the U.S. as it is in some other countries, most of them point to the fact that the game does not have enough scoring. Changing rules of the game in favor of having more goals per game may be beneficial this time around.

Football is a powerful force, it already changed the North American major league sports philosophy, MLS clubs are competing in the Super League and the Copa Sudamericana, The New York Red Bulls new stadium will feature a full “European-style” roof, in 2007 MLS started selling ad space on the front of jersey (a floor of $500,000 per shirt sponsorship), following the practice of the international football.

As the Latin American immigration increases in the US, so is the interest in football. With football being the most popular recreational sport for both boys and girls, the MLS has potential. In 2006 Don Garber, MLS Commissioner, expressed his expectations for the league’s clubs to be profitable by 2010 overall.

LA Galaxy’s merchandise sales through Beckham’s next 4 four years with the club may not top $600 million as it was during his time with Real Madrid, still an MLS player made onto the covers of Sports Illustrated magazine and gather a crowd of 66,000 spectators at a packed Giants Stadium.

In the words of David Beckham about his move to MLS: “I’m coming there to play football… I’m not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America”. It’s about taking one step at the time, if soccer aims to make it in the football world.

SPORTiana.com is the author of this text. None part of the text is copyrighted by the third parties. Feel free to published, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute the text in full or part and add a link to http://www.sportiana.com/ upon your wish.

SPORTiana.com

Here are three sports betting football tips that are designed to help you win more football bets. I hope you enjoy them.

Sports Betting Football Tip 1

I can’t think of a more damaging trait than treating college football betting like NFL football betting. Even though they are both football, they are two different games. 

You really need to bet both differently (more on this later).

Sports Betting Football Tip 2

Don’t just bet football parlay cards. Let me just say that I really love betting parlay cards. They’re fun. However, they are only a small portion of my overall football betting practice. 

You can lose a lot of money if all you do is bet football parlay cards. Try to keep your expenditure to a modest level, say 10% if you’re winning them and lower if not.

Sports Betting Football Tip 3

Find the value. It doesn’t matter if you and everyone else knows who will win the game. There are many NFL betting lines and college football lines that are poor values.

Stay away from ridiculous lines. Look for the value in betting lines and you’ll be better off.

These are just a few sports betting football tips. Next, I’ll tell you how to win lots of your football bets throughout the college football and NFL football season.

There are total 18 World Cups held by FIFA starting from 1930 – 2006.

Brazil wins FIFA World Cup 5 times in 1958, 1962, 1970, and 1994 & in 2002.
Italy wins it 4 times in 1934, 1938, 1982 & 2006.
Germany wins FIFA world cup 3 times in 1954, 1974 & 1990.
Argentina & Uruguay wins 2 times while England & France wins for 1 times.

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa:

The upcoming soccer world cup is going to be held in South Africa starting from 11 June – 11 July 2010. There are 32 teams are participating in this mega tournament, 64 matches will be played at 10 stadiums with 9 host cities in South Africa which includes Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Helspruit, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Rustenburg. The different teams are divided in 8 groups starting from A – H. here is the list of teams as per group wise distributed by FIFA committee.

There are total 10 venues in South Africa where the soccer world cup is going to be play. The list of stadiums & the respective city is mentioned below which is officially given by FIFA:

Soccer City – Johannesburg biggest stadium having a capacity of 94,700 spectators

Moses Mabhida – Durban having a capacity of 70,000 spectators

Cape Town Stadium - Cape Town having a capacity of 69,070 spectators.

Ellis Park Stadium – Johannesburg having a capacity of 62,567 spectators

Loftus Versfeld Stadium – Pretoria having a capacity of 51,760 spectators.

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – Port Elizabeth having a capacity of 48,000 spectators.

Free State Stadium – Bloemfontein having a capacity of 48,000 spectators.

Peter Mokaba Stadium – Polokwane having a capacity of 46,000 spectators.

Mbombela Stadium – Nelspruit having a capacity of 43,500 spectators.

Royal Bafokeng Stadium – Rustenburg having a capacity of 42,000 spectators.

Final Match will be played on 11th July 2010 at 20:30 & the venue is the biggest stadium in South Africa (Soccer City – Johannesburg)
Third place match will be held on 10th July 2010 at 20:30 & the venue is Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – Port Elizabeth
1st Semi – Final match will be held on 6th July 2010 at 20:30 & the venue is Cape Town Stadium – Cape Town
2nd Semi – Final match will be held on 7th July 2010 at 20:30 & the venue is Moses Mabhida – Durban
1st Quarter Final match will be held on 2nd July 2010 at 16:00 & the venue is Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – Port Elizabeth
2nd Quarter Final match will be held on 2nd July 2010 at 20:30 & the venue is Soccer City – Johannesburg
3rd Quarter Final match will be held on 3rd July 2010 at 16:00 & the venue is Cape Town Stadium – Cape Town

4th Quarter Final match will be held on 3rd July 2010 at 20:30 & the venue is Ellis Park Stadium – Johannesburg

Generally, the fabrics that are used to create a football jersey range from mesh, micromesh, polyester, Spandex, knit, twill and cotton blends. The fabrics are chosen because they are comfortable, durable, stretch, breathe and wash well under the circumstances. Depending on the weather, the jersey material may be lightweight or heavy.

The modern fabrics used in the construction of the football jersey are an improvement on football jersey material of the 1800s and later. The early football jersey were knit woolen shirts. Although these woolen jerseys were warm, they were prone to damage and soiling. Today, the woollen fabric is more expensive than the lightweight synthetic materials that are commonly used to make the modern football jersey.

Authentic jerseys have a larger size range than the football jerseys that are not authentic. An authentic jersey has a generous amount of room at the shoulders to accommodate the player’s shoulder pads. As well, an authentic football jersey needs extra length on the jersey because the shoulder pads will lift the shirt up on the wearer.

Feminine football fans can enjoy wearing a football jersey advertising their favorite football team. Football jerseys are available in women’s sizes similar to men’s sizes. Typically, women’s jerseys can be purchased in sizes ranging from small to extra large. A women’s football jersey has a smaller and more fitted shape. Youth sizes are available in S, M, L and XL for younger fans, too.

The autographed jersey is highly prized among fans and collectors. Many fans are lucky enough to have gotten an autographed jersey from their favorite player. Some autographed jerseys are auctioned off to the highest bidder for charity, public or private collection.

While football players choose from all two digit numbers for their number, there is a favorite number that pops up many times among football players on different teams. One of the most popular numbers that professional football players wear is the number 88. Football players, such as Marvin Harrison, Tony Gonzales, Michael Irvin, Alan Page and Lynn Swann, have chosen 88 as their number. 88 is also a popular number for fan football
jerseys.

Even though a football jersey was designed for the football player, the game’s popularity has made the football jersey a favorite apparel item among many football fans. Not only can the fan show support for their team, the comfort of the shirt enhances the wearer’s experience in the shirt. This effect is because the wearer is meant to be so comfortable and able to move in any direction possible necessary to make that touchdown.

The football jersey is a functional piece of clothing that has been adapted for everyday wear. The lightweight fabric, optional sleeve length, vibrant colors and affiliation with the game of football make the football jersey desirable enough to be worn in different seasons.

Malaysia Football Portal is one of the large web portal viewed and enjoyed by large population not only from Malaysian but fro other soccer loving countries also. The forum is open for all international soccer loving people and after registering at the site can post, ask questions and reply to other member’s queries.

Advantage of Malaysia Football Portal

Malaysia Football Portal represents the views of soccer lovers and therefore it represents you. The site provides live scores and details of soccer schedule of not only Malaysian football but international football including the big teams such as Chelsea, Liverpool, arsenal, world football, euro cup, fifa and many more. You can enjoy equally watching live scores on the internet at Malaysia Football Portal especially if you are unable to watch the live game on TV.

The information and comments at Malaysia Football Portal

The website Malaysia Football Portal is especially designed keeping in mind the requirement and needs of a football loving person and you will find here every information you look for. The forum provides you the unique opportunity to meet people like you and interact with them. The latest news post at the site are provided in easy and interactive and you can pass on comments if you desire to do so and therefore the web portal Malaysia Football Portal is unique and you will be glad to be a part of the website.

Owner of website Malaysia Football Portal

Diana Neoh, a highly professional person having vast experience in the area is associate publisher of the website Malaysia Football Portal and he is available round the clock to reply your queries if you have any. You can also reach him by phone or email.

The final impression about Malaysia Football Portal

Malaysia Football Portal, although is a Malaysian football web portal, however you can get every national or international football information here and whether you want to see the latest information about Malaysian football or Chelsea, Liverpool, arsenal, man utd., teams, you will get each and every information here.

The form provides you the easiest way to put your views before soccer lovers and can also interact with football lovers of various countries.

Football kits do not only refer to the uniforms and jerseys being used in the football games. It refers to the overall things that the football players use during the games. The kits of football players have already evolved as the time goes by. One very visible proof to this is the growing popularity of the football shirts. In fact, not only football players can have the kits in football but also the football aficionados.

Football uniforms as well as kits are not really included on the rules of football when it became an official sport in the 1880s. Indeed, players can wear whatever they want to wear during a football game before. They are free to use anything they want to use either for their comfort or just to have their own style. As a matter of fact, the early players of football wear only plain white shirts as their playing gear. It is on this period of time that football is only being played by wealthy men.

The first kits used were the garish and brash uniforms. These uniforms were blue, claret, and salmon pink in color. It was actually used by public school students. At that time, they have decided to have football uniforms to distinguish one team from the other.

As the time goes by more and more people were astonished by the football games. It actually came to a point when class people made the football as their hobby. As a result, the kits associated with the game per se also evolved.

With the continuous evolution of football, its equipment as well as kits was also improved. The uniforms became more gaudy and colorful. Shorts and socks were also included on the kit. Indeed, after so many years, the kits connected to football became more fashionable.

During the 1990s, smaller shorts and slim-fitting football shirts became the trend in the football world. More exciting and bold colors were being preferred by many players as well as football lovers and fans. As a matter of fact, in today’s time, many kits are made available and became a part of the economy of almost all the football clubs. The kits have exciting colors, designs, style, and comfortable textile materials. Thus, there is a wide range of kits to choose from.

The very evident thing here is that as the football becomes widely popular in the whole world, all the kits associated with the said sport also undergo improvement. Aside from that, those kits can also be acquired by many football fans to show their love and support for their favorite football team. Hence, it is safe to say that the football kit from past to present has truly evolved in terms of style, design, color and textile.