David Beckham joins LA Galaxy

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid and join the Los Angeles Galaxy in July. Beyond the pure salary and bonus structure, the United States provides lucrative corporate sponsorship opportunities. The world does not only want to bend it like Beckham, they want to shave like him, use his cell phone, and have the entire Beckham lifestyle. The David Beckham Academy will also take advantage of one of the world’s largest youth soccer programs….

World Cup Final in Dolores Park

The World Cup Final match between France and Italy will be shown this Sunday in Dolores Park starting at 11 a.m. If you live in San Francisco it should be a pretty fun place to watch the game with a good crowd. Food and drink proceeds will help fund science field trips for Bay Area inner city kids to places such as Slide Ranch. I recommend a trip to Phil’s Coffee on 18th and Sanchez to wake yourself up before the game….

World Cup vs. Gnomedex

Germany plays Argentina this Friday, June 30, at 8 a.m. Pacific time. If you’re at Gnomedex I’ll have a viewing party in my room at the Edgewater. I’m rooting for Argentina. I’ll be missing Chris Pirillo’s opening statements and Mike Arrington’s discussion, but no way they can’t compete with Germany playing Argentina in Berlin. Sorry Om, I might miss the beginning of your session too. Given the possible matchups on Saturday such as England vs. Portugal or Brazil vs. Spain/France these will be tough choices for morning sessions….

Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard

I’ll be looking at World Cup schedules every day for the next month, but a few people at Microsoft put together a small application named Soccer Scoreboard to track your favorite team, group, and results from your Windows desktop. It even has a RSS aggregator built-in so you can follow along with the latest news about Rooney’s foot or whatever you’re into. Game times are displayed in your local time and the application is localized to close to 20 languages. Here’s a short list of soccer feeds from around the world if you’d like to add them to Soccer Scoreboard…

FIFA World Cup kickoff

Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. home team Germany will take the field against Costa Rica to kick off The World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world. I am a total soccer nut and I’ll be distracted for the next month as I watch from afar as the U.S. lives up to its #5 ranking and Ronaldinho weaves through the defense with his golden boot and a smile. The world’s attention will be on Germany for the next month watching blades of grass fly and a thermal-bonded ball hit the back of a specially woven net. This is…

Nike+ iPod integration

Nike teamed up with Apple to offer new products and services combined with the iPod nano. The new partnership will include electronics, clothing, and online services for people who like to listen to music while working out. Apple claims 50% of iPod owners use their music players during a workout. The new campaign is called Nike+ and features community and social networking components. The first product is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a $29 accessory connecting your shoe and your iPod. Runners can place a small sensor under their shoe insole and connect a receiver to their iPod nano to…

MSN Spaces adds World Cup stars

I just noticed MSN’s Road to the World Cup site in the UK. Soccer stars such as Michael Owen, Edgar Davids, and Gianluigi Buffon are now representing their national soccer teams with individual blogs. It looks like the players are just well-known front-men who contribute quotes to a team staff member each day. I wanted to have player or team blogs for the San Jose Clash and Los Angeles Galaxy six years ago but the tools were nowhere as advanced as they are now. Many more teams now have access to a variety of software for fan marketing. The new…

FIFA to compensate clubs for World Cup injuries

FIFA announced an insurance fund to compensate clubs for injuries sustained by their players at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Each national association will contribute 5% of its prize money to the insurance fund for a total of $13 million. The surplus will be reimbursed after the tournament. it’s good to see assurances to the companies sponsoring these athletes and their long-term development. The World Cup would be very different without club soccer and the two need to learn to get along….

Adidas MLS soccer deal: 10 years for $100 million

Adidas secured exclusive rights to Major League Soccer clothing and equipment for the next 10 years. The deal is reportedly worth over $100 million according to The Financial Times and $150 million according to the Washington Post. Adidas will be the only sports brand advertised during television broadcasts of MLS games and English language broadcasts of the 2006 World Cup. Adidas was able to sign an entire league for less than one-fifth the cost of Nike’s £300 deal with Manchester United. Hopefully all twelve team’s jerseys will not use the same style. Adidas is currently using its Shark jersey with…