Shockingly there's a full weekend of soccer action about to start. I know, how can that be?!?! Have the authorities lost their minds? With Thierry Henry roaming the streets, handling a ball, destroying a nation's economy, causing cancer and eating children, it's hard to believe European governments are allowing people out of their houses. Click to continue reading...

Nice bit of stimulus. 65,000 and 100,000 total new jobs would be created in the various host cities during the preparation and operation of the tournament in the year of the event. If the USA does get awarded the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, one of the goal will be to generate immediate tangible effects.

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That's the message from Kansas Governor, Mark Parkinson, to the Wizards and OnGoal in regards to the STAR Bond deal the state offered the team. If the Wizards are going to be building at the location out at the Legends, it'll be using the $230 million package that the state of Kansas has presented. Parkinson announced today that the deal they offered to the Wizards was final. Click to continue reading...

No surprise there, then: in a tanking economy where even the nation's most popular league, the NFL, has had trouble selling tickets and Major League Baseball's attendance fell 6.9%, it's not a shock to learn that as Soccer America reports, MLS' attendance fell overall by 2.9% in the regular season just concluded, falling from 16,460 in 2008 to 16,037.

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It's many years down the road, but there is already talk of how the U.S. economy would be affected by hosting the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022. A recent study conducted by the Economics practice at a leading sports consulting firm (AECOM) indicated that the U.S. would receive a potential boost of $5 billion if it were to host the World Cup.

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Support the USA Bid by visiting www.gousabid.com/kc and signing the petition. Tell all your friends!
The USA Bid Committee today released a report that indicates brining the FIFA World Cup to the USA in 2018 or 2022 could pump $5 billion into the economy. The study indicates that between 5,000-8,000 new jobs would be created in each host city. Click to continue reading...

This week on MFUSA, Jason and Zach discuss the playoff system in MLS, talk to Ben Berger of Footie Business about MLS in the poor economy, bring in Sean Wheelock to cover the state of the game, and...

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Reason number 908 as to why base layers should be banned from the game:

Philippe Mexes (Roma) and his exposed bottom cheek.

Let's call this what it truly is, shall we? Good for the economy.

Seeing this man's lower half is enough motivation for fangirls worldwide to get out of bed and head to work this morning.

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Reason number 908 as to why base layers should be banned from the game:

Philippe Mexes (Roma) and his exposed bottom cheek.

Let's call this what it truly is, shall we? Good for the economy.

Seeing this man's lower half is enough motivation for fangirls worldwide to get out of bed and head to work this morning.

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This is not the sort of morning that I'd relish watching a soccer game ... but two of my intrepid housemates (applesrisp in hand) will be heading to Lewiston momentarily to watch the Bobcats tangle with the Panthers. Would be so nice if Bates could defeat Middlebury ... and while it's probably in the unlikely category, what I love about sports is that "it could happen.

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For all of its flaws, there are a few things that Major League Soccer does right; the game is the healthiest and most financially viable on the professional level it's ever been, soccer-specific...

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Just happened to catch Keith Costigan, Warren Burton, and Chris Miles this Sunday talk about the economic import of the 2010 World Cup. This complex issue got about two minutes.

First, none of the three really work on this particular aspect of the sport. And it showed. There were banalities - it is good for the host country and the fans of the qualifying countries who go to pubs to see matches, boost the local economy.

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One country just couldn't stand the heat I suppose. Mexico announced today that they will not be placing a bid for two future World Cups, 2018 and 2022. Mexican federation President Decio de Maria basically said the money wasn't there for the country to do a good enough bid right now.

First of all the stadium situation in Mexico isn't that great to go head-to-head with countries like the US for a World Cup bid.

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Dear Readers,

I want to apologize to everyone for the lack of activity around here for the last few weeks. When the economy touched me I lost my computer (I was using an office-issued laptop for non-office work) and I've been strugling to find a way to post ever since.

But that won't be a problem in a few days, because my mi madre has taken pity on me and is handing me down her Thinkpad.

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Forget the Sunday paper, Walden Bello's new piece at Yes! magazine is something nice to read with a warm cup of coffee.
As leaders of the G20 map out a new economic order, protesters are making it known that they don't want it to be like the last one. Walden Bello outlines 11 principles of a deglobalized economy that promotes equity and quality of life rather than growth and environmental destruction. Click to continue reading...

According to a report on the Kanasas City Star website, the Wizards are pursuing a new site for their proposed soccer specific stadium. The economy has seriously affected efforts at the original...

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It's been a while since Wizards fans have heard anything about what was going on out at the old Bannister Mall site. The last we heard was that the project had stalled due to the state of the economy. It had also been a while since we'd heard from team president, Robb Heineman. Well now we hear about and from both at the same time. Click to continue reading...

With seemingly half the Singaporean national team being reported as packing their bags and relocating to Singapore I would like to offer national team coach Raddy a special deal. With sod all in the way of young players coming through it's going to be in his interests to keep an eye on the heart of his squad as they struggle to adapt to their new surroundings. Click to continue reading...

Fifa ruling against Chelski today could have far reaching economic ramifications on the football world in the coming years.
Chelski are banned from signing any new players until 2011 after they were found guilty of illegally inducing a French youth international to sign in 2007. The ruling from Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber also banned the 18-year-old attacking midfielder Gaël Kakuta (pictured above), considered the cream of the club's academy talent, for four months and fined him €780,000 (£681,000). Click to continue reading...

Saw this on The Offside and was suitably amused.

Chamakh Getting Ready to Dive

I recently spotted an article titled Arsenal Target Marouane Chamakh Isn't Very Good, and guess what, besides their video proof, I have proof too. I agree wholeheartedly with him.

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The first map of the 2009-10 European season comes to us from regular Albion Road contributor Bill Turianski, focusing on the German Bundesliga. Several of Bill's regular features are included here including a few new ones. On the right we've got Bill's attendance map - the emblems of all 18 clubs by location and sized proportional to their attendance.

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It started in nhl and I started wandering would this be same with soccer? The question came about because the NBA, beginning next season, will let teams sell ads on their practice jerseys and is exploring allowing them on game jerseys.
I understand the economy stinks and leagues are looking for any way to give teams a financial boost. Click to continue reading...

In this economy, everyone is looking for a great bargain. Why not add a little something to your soccer closet at a fabulous price? Surf these sites right now to take advantage of these deals under $10.
World Soccer Shop:
Mexico National Players Poster $2.99
Holland Sackpack $6. Click to continue reading...

So, Barca abandoned the the chance to sign the fantabulous David Villa for fifty million euros, to chase after Ibrahimovic for an initially reported deal of 4o million, Eto'o, and Hleb and loan. We thought that was ridiculous, but arguments were that the club doesn't want to pay too much in cash, and they are set on getting rid of Eto'o. Click to continue reading...

Again, I apologize that is may be a day old but you know I love a good expansion story/talk/news/update/etc. According to the Sports Business Journal (subscription site), MLS commissioner Don Garber recently spoke out on a few expansion cites for upcoming league expansion. A few were ones we already knew about and a couple others are repeat sites that have tried and fail or just failed.

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The David Beckham "Summer of Scorn" tour stopped by the Today show for some worthwhile P.R. this morning. In case you missed it, we've got you covered:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Related posts:

1. Photos from the David Beckham Road Show Slowly but surely, soccer fever is sweeping across the United...
2. Ciao David Beckham In addition to covering the Houston Dynamo, I cover...

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The hydrogen economy goes down the toilet: Energy experts have mixed opinions on whether hydrogen might make sense as a portable fuel of the future. It can be made using electricity from renewable sources, which is good, but the process is inefficient and requires fresh water, which is already in short supply in many areas of the globe. Click to continue reading...

It's not we were hoping for, nor what we expected. The meeting on Villa between the two parties has been concluded, and Valencia president Manuel Llorente is being more of an annoying prick than we thought he could be, declaring that Villa won't leave Valencia for less than fifty million.
He is so dreaming though. Click to continue reading...

I've been avoiding most of the circus- you know, the clowns, elephants, and lions- for a few reasons. One, it has shit all to do with the Azzurri. None of these guys are Italian and except for probably making ti tougher fro Italian clubs to win the CL, this hardly affects Italy at all. But at the same time, I'm personally torn.

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Normally this wouldn't be a real big deal but during a tough economy this kind of breaks that point. Real Salt Lake announced today that they have agreed to extend their current jersey sponsorship with energy drink company Xango for another three years to 2013.

What's more interesting to some may be the new look at the jersey the club will sport next season.

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Those of you who follow Major League Soccer's attendance numbers week-in and week-out - and there are plenty of you out there - already know that the league has experienced a modest drop in the average crowd size when comparing this year's numbers to 2008. Several factors have led to the overall decline, including poor weather conditions in some markets and the absence of David Beckham. Click to continue reading...

Did someone say ChivaGirls? Yes, we did and now we expect traffic on this site to increase exponentially. Such is the power of the Chivas USA cheerleaders. Now the most popular MLS cheerleading squad have joined US President Obama's efforts to cure an ailing economy by offering downtrodden, recession-worn soccer (or football if you prefer) fans [. Click to continue reading...

Even as Blatter praised all and sundry and said that SA were 75% ready for World Cup 2010 a roadblock has reared it's ugly head....
South Africa's biggest union said on Tuesday 50,000 construction workers would launch a strike over pay from next Wednesday, halting work across the economy including on stadiums for the 2010 soccer World Cup.

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Liverpool's Spanish midfielder isn't renowned for speaking out; he generally keeps his head down and gets on with the job pretty much like his performances on the football pitch - quietly efficient.
So the last thing you would expect him to speak out about is the economy. Footballers, with their extortionate wages, fast cars and luxury mansions are hardly the prime victims of the credit crunch. Click to continue reading...