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.
About SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily
Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal is the industry's leading weekly trade publication, providing breaking news and comprehensive reporting and analysis on sports business. With 80 reporters, editors and guest columnists, SBJ keeps its readers up to date on the latest developments in sports marketing, sponsorships, media, facilities, agents and labor, finance and more. For more information, visit www.sportsbusinessjournal.com.
Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily is the leading daily provider of real-time news and information for sports business executives, tracking more than 500 news sources worldwide, including newspapers, television and radio. SBD keeps its readers on top of the day's events and ahead of the news cycle. For more information, visit www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.
Both publications are part of the Street & Smith's Sports Group, which consists of the Street & Smith's Conference Group, the Sports Business Resource Guide & Fact Book, NASCAR Scene, NASCAR Illustrated and SceneDaily.com. Street & Smith's is a division of American City Business Journals (ACBJ), which comprises weekly business journals across the country, BizJournals.com, Hemmings Motor News, Sporting News Magazine, Sporting News Yearbooks, Sporting News Radio Network and www.SportingNews.com. ACBJ is part of the Advance Publications family.
