A Special Series By Rob Luker The Summer of Soccer was a success; great! But guess what, much of today's business world is centered around the saying that goes something like "what have you done...

It has been announced that the David Beckham Academy in Carson, Califronia and another location in the United Kingdom have closed. Despite Beckham's best effort, his academies didn't attract enough volume. The academies are run by the owners of LA Galaxy, AEG, and Beckham's management, 19 Entertainment.

PPL power in Pennsylvania? Perhaps. Sports Business Journal's Tripp Mickle says a $20m, 10-year deal is on the table for naming rights to the Union's new stadium in under construction in Chester, PA. That's not a bad chunk of change for Philly to get chipped off with; hell, under the current salary cap of $2.

According to French reports, Lionel Messi is the top earning footballer. The French report determined each players net worth using reports on salaries, endorsements, and bonuses. These values are estimations, not actual earnings.1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) £29.6m2. David Beckham (LA Galaxy/Milan) £27.

Cristiano Ronaldo may not be hailed as the best player in the world, but he has sold a lot of shirts . According to the Portuguese media, the Real Madrid ace has sold more than 1 million football jerseys in his first year with the La Liga team. To be exact, Real Madrid has sold 1.2 million Ronaldo shirts earning over €100 million as a result.

A leading local businessman is accusing Southend Council of "ruining" his Easter revenue after claiming building contractors accidently cut off vital supplies four times in three weeks.
Stockvale Group Chief Executive Philip Miller operates Adventure Island, Sea-Life Adventure Aquarium, the Three Shells Beach Cafe and the recently opened Fish and Chip Emporium – all on the ‘Golden Mile.

The Woman's Professional Soccer is in big trouble. The two year-old league is in danger of extinction after two of its franchises have folded in the past six months. The fate of the WPS looks grim as CEO Tonya Antonucci seems to lose control of the organization. With few sponsorships and poor match attendance, there is only so much longer the WPS can survive.

By Dominic Vieira, writing from Portugal

He speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish, carries an army of mobile phones, sleeps few hours, possesses over 100 players worth over €500m, earns millions each year and is Portuguese. Jorge Mendes is one of the world's ‘super agents' who accomplished this recognition before reaching his 40th birthday.

You think a 29 year old man would understand the ramification of cheating on his wife Toni Terry with Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend, Vanessa Perroncel. Not John Terry, he has always been a bad-boy. From mocking the 9/11 victims or publicly urinating, Terry has no regard for the rules. He parks his Bentley wherever he wants and has sex with whomever he wants.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber is looking for English Premiere League teams to invest in MLS franchises. This is a joke right? Here were my thoughts:The EPL hates the MLS. They think that the league is a joke. The MLS is seen as a retirement home for former European stars. To them, the league is also filled with mediocre American talent.

Here is a list of the top earning football clubs in the world. This is a list of revenues, not overall profit. As you can see, the top twenty consists of La Liga, English Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga clubs. Shockingly, one Championship League (English 2nd Division) team made the list as well.

Here is a 1963 Umbro advert featuring Manchester United. As you can see, Manchester United were outfitted by both Umbro and Adidas. I guess this was before Adidas made football kits. Umbro was established in 1924 in Greater Manchester. Since then, the company has been procured by mega sportswear company Nike.

Freddie Ljungberg may be happy about his move to Chicago Fire but Pepsi is not. The soft drink company has dropped the Swedish player as a result of his recent trade. His three year contract was effectively broken as a result of the Chicago Fire being sponsored by one of Pepsi's major competitors.Currently, Chicago Fire's presenting partner is Best Buy.

Today, FIFA announced the countries which will host the World Cup of 2018 (Russia) and of 2022 (Qatar).

Inspired by that event, many people are searching for information about the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

So, follows a brief description of the situation as of today, December 2nd 2010:

The host cities were announced in May of 2009.

You see professional athletes spend money like water. They go on lavish vacations, live in mega-mansions, and drive the swankiest automobiles. Wayne Rooney is no exception. The Manchester United player is currently facing a law suit with his former management company. The company alleges that Rooney is withholding £4.

Ramon Calderon who is the former Real Madrid president claims that Cristiano Ronaldo rejected a move to Barcelona in favor of Real Madrid. Calderon claims that the Portuguese star entered a pre-contract clause stating if he pulled out of signing for Real Madrid that he would be fined 30 million Euro.

Ever dream of living in your favorite football stadium? For some people, their dream is a reality.In 2006, Arsenal left historic Highbury Stadium in favor for mega-venue Emirates Stadium. Arsenal, like so many clubs, had the desire to boost their revenues by erecting jumbo stadium and expand their capacity.

Forbes Magazine estimates that Manchester United is worth $1.8 million. Despite this, the world's most valuable sports franchise is drowning in debt. The club is owned by American businessmen Malcolm Glazer who bought the club in 2005. Since then, the world's economy has change dramatically. Even though the club earned a staggering $444 million last year, Manchester United continues to sink into

The state of the English Premiere League is similar to the current housing market. Every franchise is worth less than what the owners paid for it. Everyone from Manchester United to Portsmouth are reporting financial difficulties. However, West Ham has been suffering prior to the credit crunch. The once prosperous club was known for bringing up some of England's hottest young talent.

The state of the English Premier league might be worse than the current economy. While teams are performing well on the pitch, most are doing horribly on the spreadsheets. The most valuable club in the world, Manchester United, is in deficit of a 400 hundred million pounds. Despite the club winning numerous trophies and pulling in massive revenue, the club is unable to pay their debt as a result

AC Milan's David Beckham received a warm welcome at the Old Tafford. This is the first time in 7 years that the former Manchester United player has returned. For the past month, the English player has been talking about this game and how emotional it would be for him. The sensitive player who once cried during the World Cup claimed it was too hard to wear an AC Milan scarf.

Poor Shaun Wright-Phillips, he was only offered a mere £70,000 a week from Manchester City. Wright-Phillips adoptive father, Ian Wright, went on the defensive on the radio. The former Arsenal ace claims that his son deserves more money and is being treated "like a youth-team player" by Garry Cook, the chief executive of Manchester City.

New York Red Bulls have gone into publicity over drive. Everywhere I look, there are ads for the MLS team. The sports franchise started a new publicity campaign in conjunction with their new sports complex located in Newark, New Jersey.Previously, the Red Bulls played in Meadowland Stadium which is the same complex that the New York Giants and Jets use.

Attention fellow book-nerds: if you made it through Markovits & Hellerman's Offside: Soccer & American Exceptionalism AND Rangers, Rovers & Spindles with a smile on your face have I found a treat for you. It's called Star-Spangled Soccer and it has interviews with everyone who has ever had anything to do with American soccer over the last 20 years except for Tiffany May; Chuck Blazer, The Don, Sunil Gulati, Clark Hunt, Jonathan Kraft, Joe Roth, Will Chang, Tim Leweike, Mark Abbott and John Skipper are just a few of the people quoted in this 256-page, hardcover textbook that may actually make the footie-business nerd in you want to go back to school.

Cristiano Ronaldo may not be hailed as the best player in the world, but he has sold a lot of shirts . According to the Portuguese media, the Real Madrid ace has sold more than 1 million football jerseys in his first year with the La Liga team. To be exact, Real Madrid has sold 1.2 million Ronaldo shirts earning over €100 million as a result.

Premier League champion Manchester United tops Forbes magazine's list of soccer's most valuable clubs for the sixth year with an estimated market value of $1.8 billion. The 18-time English champion, controlled by the Florida- based Glazer family, is followed by record nine-time European Cup winner Real Madrid, with a value $1.

Adidas was established in 1924 by Adolf "Adi" Dassler in Bavaria. Adi made shoes from his mother's kitchen by hand. The industrious man drove all the way to the Berlin for the 1936 Olympics where he persuaded American Jesse Owens to wear his running shoes. After Owens won four gold medals, it cemented the company's reputation.

For American fans, DeMarcus Beasley is cut above the rest. He started his career in the MLS with the Chicago Fire before he moved to PSV Eindhoven. In 2006, he was loaned to Manchester City where he caught the attention of Glasgow Rangers. In 2007, he was signed by the Rangers with a transfer fee of £700,000.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In celebration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, Fox Soccer Channel airs hundreds of hours of related programming this summer as the world's attention turns to South Africa. Two in-depth studio shows, Ticket to South ...

Things are getting heated between the United States and England as the World Cup draws near. Many argue the US versus England rivalry is entirely one sided, and the English don't see the US as a threat.Many English fans believe that the English Premier League is the best in the world. They also think that US fans secretly envies the EPL which is ludacris.

Champions League winners Inter Milan has announced a new sponsorship strategy which will cut the number of team sponsors from 60 to 25. The move, which comes after a similar move by fierce rivals AC Milan, was the brainchild of Italian sports marketing agency RCS Sport.

Mike Jackson tells us 5 things we need to know about how brands should be deploying their marketing activities at this summer's 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.

Thierry Henry made his official MLS debut against the Houston Dynamo. He played in a half empty Robertson Stadium located in Texas. Apparently, Henry doesn't draw the crowd Don Garber has dreamed about for the past two years. Many were quick to compare Henry's signing to David Beckhams. However, Henry is yet to attract the attention Beckham garnered.

Portsmouth might be bought out by a 21 year-old whiz kid Thomas Lever. The down on their luck club went into administration last year. Lever who is a property manager from Manchester would be youngest football club owner in England if the deal goes through. Lever has big plans for the club including a leisure center, but the club is leaning toward former owner Balram Chanrai.

The buses systems of the main Brazilian cities are not reliable. In most cities, urban trains barely exist. The metro is the most reliable means of transportation, but the grid is not as comprehensive as they should.

Foreing tourists will probably have to resort to taxis. Brazilian taxi systems in the large cities are usually reasonably organized (much better organized than in South Africa).

The site Copa 2014 published today information about the new Arena Corinthians Itaquera. The idea of building this arena is not new; there were notes about it a year ago and again a few months ago.

The difference now is that an actual project was presented to the President of Corinthians, by Architecture Office Castro Mello (who also projected the National Stadium in Brasilia).

FIFA and CBF have already declared that their main concern for the World Cup 2014 is with the airports.

Brazilian airports are already operating above capacity and, despite measures to attempt to speed up their building, we don't know if the airports will be ready for 2014. Even if the airports are ready, we don't know if there will be a sufficient supply of seats.

Barcelona FC has irritated their fans. Vice President Jordi Cardone announced Thursday that after November 1st that Barca will not be allowing new members. Unlike most sports franchises, the club doesn't sell shares of their club but membership. The members are called socis which form the highest governing body of the club.

Manchester United shirt sponsors Aon, have seen a significant increase in interest since taking over from AIG in July.

Revenue in the Middle East from football pay TV broadcast rights is expected to rise 30 percent to $550m over the next twelve years as a result of Qatar's successful bid to stage the World Cup in 2022