Qatar Wins 2022 FIFA World Cup

By Katy Fincham

Yesterday millions of Americans, including myself, watched in disappointment as Qatar was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup over the United States. Qatar won the hosting duties with 13 votes, while the U.S. received only 8 votes from the FIFA Executive Committee.

While many were shocked by the final vote, Martin Rodgers of Yahoo Sports explains the extravagant efforts Qatar made during their FIFA bidding process:

“The sales pitch was one of gleaming, futuristic stadiums, a foothold in the uncharted soccer waters of the Middle East and the chance for FIFA to blaze a trail by embracing a fast-emerging economic power.”

A number of questions have been raised about Qatar’s ability to promote and execute such a large and overwhelming international event. Concerns raised include the sweltering heat, with temperatures above 100 degrees, security risks and the fact that Qatar is an extremely small nation, slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.

“All those fears were magically washed away by the millions spent by Qatar on its slick campaign, which – whatever your allegiance – must be considered an epic achievement in public relations.”

I may not be a die-hard soccer fan, but it was unfortunate to see the U.S. miss out on an amazing opportunity, but Qatar clearly put together a pitch that the FIFA Executive Committee could not ignore. Much like the opinion of the FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, I think that everyone deserves a chance to showcase one of the greatest international sporting events. This will expose the world to a small, thriving nation, while encouraging the development and continued growth of the sport of soccer.

Katy Fincham is an Associate Account Executive. Contact her at katy@maroonpr.com.

Nelson Mandela to Miss World Cup Opener

By Stefen Lovelace

The World Cup has finally arrived. The biggest sporting event in the world starts today, with Mexico playing host South Africa at 10 a.m. EST in Johannesburg.

There will be millions of people in South Africa for this event, and tons of people watching the World Cup opener. There will be one notable exception this morning though.

Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, and one of the world’s foremost humanitarians, will not be attending this morning’s game. Tragedy struck the Mandela family yesterday, when Mandela’s 13-year-old great-granddaughter Zenani Mandela was killed in a one-car accident after attending the World Cup kickoff concert in Orlando Stadium.

It’s incredibly sad that Mandela won’t be able to attend. He’s done so much for South Africa and played a big role in getting the World Cup to come to the country. Unfortunately, family must come first.

Not having Mandela isn’t lost on anyone.


FIFA president Sepp Blatter wrote to Nelson Mandela, describing the young girl's death as "unspeakably tragic."

Blatter said Friday he fully understands that Mandela cannot attend the opening ceremony and first match, and wrote that Mandela will "be with us in spirit, for which we are incredibly grateful."


It’s great that the World Cup is finally upon us, and countries all over the world will be celebrating. While you watch the games, and enjoy the United States versus England game tomorrow, keep Mandela in your thoughts and prayers.

Stefen Lovelace is an Associate Account Executive. Contact him at stefen@maroonpr.com.

Nike using World Cup to its Advantage

By Stefen Lovelace

We’re just two weeks away from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the event is generating tremendous excitement all over the world. Even here in the US, people that normally aren’t avid soccer fans are starting to pay attention.

Nike, which is arguably the most recognizable sportswear and equipment supplier in the world, is already utilizing the attention being paid to soccer to its advantage. In the past week, Nike has been running this commercial below, which features some of the best soccer players in the world.



This is a great way for Nike to market its company. What makes this such a smart move is that Nike isn’t even a sponsor of the World Cup. Rival company Adidas is actually a partner of FIFA, but after seeing commercials like Nike’s, average fans might assume Nike has more affiliation to the event than Adidas.

When actual World Cup games are played, I’m sure Adidas will become more of a marketing factor, but it’ll be interesting to see if Nike does some ambush marketing, during the games. This will allow fans to continue to associate Nike with the top professional soccer in the world, without Nike having to pay the fee to be an official sponsor.

The World Cup is one of, if not the, biggest sporting event in the world. Like most sporting events, Nike plans on capitalizing on it.

Stefen Lovelace is an Associate Account Executive. Contact him at stefen@maroonpr.com.

MLS Avoids Lockout, Signs Labor-Contract

By Stefen Lovelace

A few weeks ago, I chronicled how much of a mistake it would be if Major League Soccer (MLS) had a lockout this year. At the time, players and owners were far off on labor-contract negotiations, and there was a very real fear of the players going on strike.

Luckily for the MLS, news came out this week that both sides have agreed to a new five-year labor contract.


Negotiators began intensive talks Thursday in Washington, D.C., and the deal was signed shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday, about 5½ hours before the opening of $200 million Red Bull Arena, the league's latest showpiece stadium.


This is obviously good news for the league and all soccer fans. My biggest concern for the MLS potentially not playing this year was it would miss out on drawing fans to its league during a time when all eyes will be on soccer - with the 2010 World Cup being played in June.

The new contract has its positives and negatives. The reason that the lockout was looming in the first place is that the MLS markets its players as legitimate professional athletes, yet hardly treats them like ones. Salary and player rights were the main reasons for the dispute.


MLS Players Union head Bob Foose said a majority of players will receive guaranteed contracts for the first time and there will be increased player rights within the league when contracts expire. Still, the union did not achieve its goal of free agency.

"From our perspective, these negotiations were always about players' rights," Foose said, with his members wanting to bring their rights "more in line with leagues from around the world."

"Soccer is a global game and we were adamant that these changes were necessary to make MLS as competitive as possible," Foose said.


MLS players certainly made some gains with this deal, but the lack of free agency needs to be considered a significant blow. Not having the ability to increase your value and move to different teams as you please after your contract is up is one of the most lucrative rights a professional athlete can have. The full details of the labor deal can be found HERE.

Ultimately, it's great that the MLS will get a product on the field this year, and the league has made important strides with this deal.

But the contract also proves that the MLS has a long way to go if its ever going to be considered a major player in professional sports.

Stefen Lovelace is an Associate Account Executive. Contact him at stefen@maroonpr.com.

The Repercussions of an MLS Lockout

By Stefen Lovelace

2010 should be the year for soccer in the United States.

The World Cup will begin this summer in South Africa, which always brings American viewers interest to a peak. The current US team is already gaining tremendous support, thanks to great play in qualifying leading up to the Cup, and our best players (Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Jozy Altitore) all playing against the best in the world overseas.

Soccer’s always had a hard time gaining mainstream exposure in the US. One reason is that our professional soccer league, the MLS, has always been looked at as inferior when compared to the top leagues in Europe. Still, with soccer on the mind of most Americans, the MLS could have hoped to see a boost in popularity based on the overall hype of the upcoming World Cup.

It looks like the MLS may actually be going in the opposite direction. It was reported today by USA Today that the MLS is in very real danger of having to lockout its upcoming season.


The league's first collective bargaining agreement expired Thursday after the sides twice extended the five-year deal, which originally was to have run out Jan. 31.

The MLS Players Union failed to match league management's no-lockout pledge with a no-strike offer, leaving the start of the season on March 25 in doubt.


The owners - seeing the importance of getting a product on the field during a year where soccer will be on the front of sports pages around the world - have agreed not to lock out the players. The players though, have not agreed to not strike if the owners don’t make concessions.

In this case, the player’s have a legitimate gripe. The MLS tries to market itself has a major league composed of the best talent the United States has to offer. Yet, according to a SportsBusiness Daily story last week, some of the players make less than $30,000. That’s a laughable amount for a professional athlete.

The timing of this argument couldn’t be worse. The MLS will probably never have the popularity of the NFL or NBA in this country (or even the NHL for that matter). But it can certainly fill a niche, and utilizing the exposure of the World Cup to bring attention to the league is an absolute must if the MLS hopes to survive.

The owners and the players need to come up with some resolution, and quickly. If they want their league to hold a torch to the big guys, the owners have to open up their checkbooks a bit. And the player’s need to realize that they’ll never command the salaries of their counterparts in the other sports leagues and accept it.

Time is running out for both sides too, as the league opener is a mere three weeks away.


The Philadelphia Union plays at Seattle in the MLS opener on March 25 and [Major League Soccer commissioner Don] Garber acknowledges that talks could go on until then.

"It's conceivable, but my expectation is not to be negotiating an agreement an hour before kickoff," Garber said. "I would describe these as big-league problems. Years ago we had nothing to fight about, so we didn't have labor issues.

"Now that the league is growing and there is a bit more at stake, the players want to see improvement in their salaries and their working conditions. And we need to understand, we need to listen and take their issues into consideration."


It’s good to see that Garber realizes how important it is to get this issue fixed as soon as possible. Time will tell if the rest of the MLS see that importance before its too late.

Stefen Lovelace is an Associate Account Executive. You can contact him at stefen@maroonpr.com.