Major League Soccer Recognized as the 2008 Professional Sports League of the Year
Published on May 30, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
New York, N.Y. - Major League Soccer (MLS) was honored as the 2008 Professional Sports League of the Year by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily. The award was presented live at a special ceremony held Thursday, May 29th at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.
Major League Soccer was recognized as part of the inaugural Sports Business Awards program, presented by Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily, the two leading publications on the business of sports. The Sports Business Awards recognize excellence and outstanding achievement in the sports industry for 2007.
MLS was chosen from five nominees for Professional Sports League of the Year including, in alphabetical order, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, National Basketball Association, National Football League and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
"The launch of the Sports Business Awards coincides with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the SportsBusiness Journal and her sister publication, the SportsBusiness Daily," says Richard Weiss, publisher of the SportsBusiness Journal. "After chronicling the leaders in the sports industry for 10 years, we decided the time was right to recognize and celebrate these companies and executives who are at the industry's forefront in a more formal manner."
It was a defining year for Major League Soccer. New in 2007 were a team in Toronto, two stadiums, two television partners, three future expansion franchises and one global star in David Beckham. It was a year that surprised even soccer's most fervent supporters and one that could mark the beginning of unprecedented growth of the game in North America.
Awards were presented in 11 categories. The winners, which were chosen from more than 450 entries and 49 nominees, included:
Sports Executive of the Year - Tim Leiweke, CEO, AEG
Athletic Director of the Year - Ron Wellman, Wake Forest University
Professional Sports Team of the Year - Boston Red Sox
Professional Sports League of the Year - Major League Soccer
Sports Agency of the Year - Octagon
Sports Event Marketing Firm of the Year - SportsMark
Sports Facility of the Year - AT&T Park
Sports Innovation/Technology of the Year - Sportvision
Sports Media of the Year - Fox Sports
Sports Online of the Year - ESPN Digital Media
Sports Sponsor of the Year - Pepsi Cola North America
Please visit the web site for articles on the winners and nominees - www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/ or www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/
Major League Soccer Stories from May 30, 2008
- Chicago Fire Soccer to Present Augusr 3 FC Barcelona - Chicago Fire FC
- Toronto FC Players Prepare for International Duty - Toronto FC
- Dynamo will visit White House June 5 - Houston Dynamo FC
- Sounders Square Off with Puerto Rico in Rematch of 2007 Semis - Seattle Sounders FC
- Sounders Square Off with Puerto Rico in Rematch of 2007 Semis - Seattle Sounders FC
- Major League Soccer Commissioner Fines FC Dallas Defender Adrian Serioux - MLS
- Chicago Fire to Host Everton FC - Chicago Fire FC
- Major League Soccer Recognized as the 2008 Professional Sports League of the Year - MLS
- New York Red Bulls Tto Play FC Barcelona at Giants Stadium - New York Red Bulls
- FCBarcelona "ON TOUR '08" To Visit Chicago And New York In August - MLS
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
