DC United Now Diesel Powered

It has been revealed that DC United has signed an agreement with German auto manufacturer Volkswagen to be the company to place it's logo in the gigantic empty space on DC United's 2008 jerseys. We all knew this was coming. I'm of two minds about it. I don't like the idea of jersey advertising. It seems cheap and tacky. However, I realize that soccer doesn't have the same opportunities to sell advertising as the traditional American sports do. There are no TV timeouts, no stops in the action, no "we'll be back after this". So you have signs along the sidelines, you have logos next to the clock on TV, and you have jersey sponsors. The reported numbers are $3.7 million a year. That is a big number, and it is more than I thought DC Untied would get. It dwarfs the current salary cap number.

I will reserve final judgement until I see the design. I would imagine it would debut next Thursday on the ESPN national TV game. It has to be either a white or red logo on the black background and a black or red logo on the white background I would think. I am having a tough time picturing a circular logo on the jersey after the Adidas triple horizontal stripes.

But as Robert C. Gallagher said, "Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine."