Another education point for the casual soccer fan occurred over the past few days, wit.Red Bull New York selling young star Jozy Altidore to Villarreal of La Liga for a record $10 million transfer fee. Now many casual fans just getting to understand the professional soccer side in the United States would liken this t.the Yankees selling Joba Chamberlain to the Japanese League in many ways…a young, marketable star who adorns more than a few billboards around New York playing for a team now just doing all the right things to grow the brand in the marketplace, suddenly cast aside for the almighty dollar. Now although an argument can probably be made tha.the move strikes at the heart of MLS’ biggest obstacle, building homegrown stars, the spin and clarity with which the team and the league put on the move took away a great deal of the sting and made the move sit well with the followers of the sporttalking about the money that can be spent on player development through the transaction, the record price (which again proves that Americans are developing world-class players) and the fact that Altidore was struggling on a team that needed help in other areas and he was looking to find a way to move, MLS scored a well planned and well explained plus with the move across the board.
Additional reads to start the weekend…with Big Brown going Saturday for the Triple Crown, Brandweek's Barry Janoff took a good look at the Hooters secondary sponsorship and how it will play in their favor, while many publications today gave the chain an even added boost by detailing the “controversy” over how the sponsorship can and will be activated…all added pluses for the race, the horse and the brand…on the niche sport side, the International Herald Tribune has a good look at the Maloof's family latest sports stop, skateboarding's Maloof Money Cup and why the Sacramento Kings’ owners are taking a stab at activating with it…and with golf in full swing, the New York Times’ Harvey Araton has a nice piece on the New York City Parks Foundations’ program to introduce the game to innercity kids…
