When It Rains...

American Soccer Daily is reporting that former U.S. international Eddie Lewis will be joining fellow American Benny Feilhaber at Premiership club Derby County. This news comes only hours after the club announced that Feilhaber had received international clearance from the German and English FAs. It appears now that for some English clubs, when it rains, it pours. Derby County now joins the likes of Reading and Fulham as Premier League clubs with two or more American internationals on the books.

This is a rather bizarre trend if I might say so myself, but I certainly can't complain. What's even stranger is that Derby had also earlier attempted to purchase Eddie Johnson from MLS' Kansas City Wizards (Johnson nixed the deal). America is now seen by many clubs as a bargain basement for solid talent. Whether this is a legitimate reflection of the talent of these American players is debateable, but it certainly indicates both a growing respect for American soccer as well as the continued ignorance of the technical skill and value of many of our best internationals. Change will still be a long time coming.

Jersey Sponsors in MLS

Yesterday, MLS club Houston Dynamo announced a new jersey sponsorship with Houston-based energy firm Amigo Energy. Reputedly, the deal is worth around $7.5 million through 2010, numbers which would net the club around $2 million per year. While some might criticze the look of the jersey (personally, nothing is as bad as the old Galaxy - Herbalife jerseys, and let's not even talk about some foreign sponsors like Doritos, Ty (yeah, the Beanie Baby people), and Bimbo), no one can criticize their club for hauling in a few extra million dollars a year in revenue (even I'd wear a Ty-sponsored jersey if they were giving my club major money). While MLS' structure is such that this money won't necessarily translate to player acquisition, it does mean that already financially fledling franchises can make things much, much easier on themselves.

Sponsorships are themselves always a hit-or-miss situation. Look at the Herbalife situation in LA. If it weren't bad enough that the logo looks ugly (although the Galaxy's new jerseys have improved the look dramatically), the company itself is a dubious pyramid scheme. However, Chivas are sponsored by Mexican paint company Comex, and their jerseys look perfectly acceptable. Likewise, Toronto is sponsored by Canadian-based BMO (Bank of Montreal). The team not only sports a classy organization but they also sport some of the classiest jerseys in the league.