Freddy Adu = Millionaire
 

Freddy hits the jackpot

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WASHINGTON -- Thirteen-year-old soccer prodigy Freddy Adu agreed to a $1 million contract with Nike, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Adu, already an offensive star on the U.S. under-17 national team, also has agreed to be represented by SportsNet, LLC.

Arnold Tarzay, a lawyer and family adviser, did not confirm the amount of the deal to the Post, which cited sources for the worth of the multiyear contract. The paper said Adu is not likely to sign a pro contract for at least a year.

Celeste Alleyne, a spokeswoman for Beaverton-based Nike, did not comment to The Associated Press. A call to a representative of the U.S. under-17 team was not immediately returned.

The agreement comes less than a week after Nike signed high school phenom LeBron James, the expected No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, to an endorsement contract worth more than $90 million.

Adu would become ineligible for NCAA soccer with this deal, but he does not plan to play in college.

A native of Ghana, Adu came to the United States when he was 8 and has been training with the national team in Bradenton, Fla. He became a citizen in February.

Adu played for the under-17 team that lost to Mexico 2-1 in Lancaster, Calif., on Sunday.

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What the hell would I have done with a million dollars at 13? How many Club magazines does that buy?

He got ripped off. He could have gotten much more.

My goal in life is to get ripped off like that.

Freddy Adu - already famous on the FOFC board

For a sport that nobody cares about, that's a lot of money.

??????? you do know that soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world, don't you? Sure it has nearly no following in the US, but people in other countries buy Nikes as well

Actually, I do know about it, I was just being sarcastic. But, now that he is an American Citizen, and plays in America, for America, he is getting a lot of money and nobody in America really cares...well, not many. Its probably the fourth most popular sport here with Hockey, maybe golf is more popular, but football, baseball, and hoops are for sure.

stkelly is right on spot. Surely in the US, soccer is not a major sport (yet), however it is the most popular sport in the world.

The contract will run out when he is 16 or 17. He should be in Europe by then. If he is th real deal he will be starting and a star. Then he can sign a $100 million+ contract

Huh? You mean extract cranium from rectum and recognize that there is a world beyond the US border? You're kidding, right?

Heh...folks have been saying 'yet' since the seventies...

Profesional soccer will never catch on in the U.S.. Hockey barely survives here and it is infinitely more popular.

I don't get the "yet" there. Even the high school kids I know who have played since they were 5 or 6 years old always tell me: "It's fun to play, but boring to watch. Thanks so much for coming."

He's the kid that will revolutionize the way people in the US dont watch soccer ......

isn't he ?

:D

As I already said on this board earlier sometime. I think Soccer will grow as the population is increasingly becoming hispanic (which is now the 2nd minority). Whether or not it is by following a US based league is another question.

Those Hispanics sure love their futbol! And their flautas!

ME GUSTAN LAS MANZANAS!!!!!!

True, but not THAT fast. Well over 80% of this country is comprised of plain ol' white folks and black folks who have more in common with other Americans than the nations of their ancestry. True, soccer is popular in that rising hispanic population, but inevitably some folks of hispanic origin will become assimilated into a more "Americanized" view of sports. (Not "all," not "most," but "some".) I can attest to that, as I know many hispanic teenagers who have more interest in Mike Vick than in soccer. I doubt you'll see a big rise in soccer's popularity in the US in my lifetime.

I assume you guys (Subby & SkyDog) know your country way better than me of course.

I think you're on to something with that last sentence. I'd say unless if there were to be a big influx of hispanic players into a US league, it's not going to grow from hispanic support. Soccer will be followed how it would have been in their native countries, at least for a generation or so - international matches, Mexican leagues, etc. I don't watch Telemundo or Univision very often, but I'd imagine that's what is shown there most of the time. If I were to move somewhere else, I would still try to follow US teams/leagues if there was an outlet showing them.

Why the hell would anyone want to follow the third-rate soccer that is played in America. Even the soccer fans on this board pay more attention to Europe.

Mainstream American sports fans are never going to regularly spend their ( very late ) evenings watching soccer matches from 5000 miles away that don't involve Americans.

Excellent point. If I were to move to, say, Barcelona, Spain, I'd still do whatever I could to follow the Atlanta Falcons, not the Barcelona NFL Europe team (there is one, isn't there?) With the internet and satellite television, people will probably tend to follow their "original" teams more and more. I've lived in Georgia all of my 34 years, but if for some reasons I moved to somewhere else in the country, I'd get one of those packages that would allow me to watch the Falcons, the Dawgs and the Braves game-in-and-game out. I'd get on the internet every day and read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's sports page. (In fact, their online version actually has MORE info than the printed version...)

I think soccer would probably be around number 10 or so.

Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Auto Racing, Golf, Tennis, Boxing, Wood Chopping on ESPN2 and then Soccer.

Too bad I don't do the QotM thing but I say this is still the best quote to have come up.

I still find it amusing that the rest of the world has to constantly trumpet their one and only inferior sport while we have too many here to choose from. But I guess something is better than nothing. :D

I was drinking coffee when I hit the wood chopping comment. Time to clean off the keyboard.

Hey, wood chopping on espn2 is cool, esp. when they bring out the kick-ass chainsaw. :)

Oh yeah, Great Outdoor Games rox. One day I'm gonna own one of those champion long jumping dogs -- maybe a nice chocolate lab. :cool:

Freddy Adu ain't no Lebron James...

I think your all missing a point on the deal. Whether or not the proffesional league is a "top" sport in the US, rec soccer is a top sport, and he will be selling soccer gear to the rec league players. That is a major sports market and Addu is a name most of the kids playing will recognize in the next couple of years.

Nor is he Duke, the chocolate lab.

LeBron got more money than that!

Does anyone else intentionally avoid products and services solely because of their marketing / advertisements??

I disagree. Soccer will become more and more popular in the United States, with latinos as well as white and blacks. Every year more and more kids play soccer through high school. If you play the sport in High School, chances are your kids will because they will see the soccer ball on your letter jacket. Its a slow and gradual process. It will not happen overnight (like some, including myself) but it is here to stay. Soccer is much more popular than hockey in the South and vice versa with the north.

True Golden . I believe it will be a generation before soccer catches on .

I have a chocolate lab. :) A black one too. Great dogs. :)

TroyF

Ummm... yeah. For many years

I was hoping I would be able to still keep tabs on American sports after I moved to Milan, but no games are shown live. If anything, there is a "game of the week" that is shown tape-delayed. So CNN.com's GameCast has been my lifeline.

I have found I have been keeping a closer track on soccer (football, calcio, fussball) since I moved over here. I agree that in the current situation, soccer is not going to move up the popularity charts in the US. But if something big happens, like Beckham moving to the US, and/or we somehow win the Men's World Cup in 2006 or 2010, then the marketing machine will jump into hyper-drive and many more people will become interested.

I for one couldn't care less if David Beckham moved to the US, I still wouldn't watch soccer. Heck, Renaldo could be in my back yard and I probably wouldn't care, except that he'd be trespassing.

Tony Kornheiser had a comment on the women's world cup moving to the US because of SARS...basically how 4 years ago everyone was saying that women's soccer had arrived and the US team's victory would be a major boon to soccer here in the states. Hasn't exactly turned out that way.

But that is womens sports. No offense, but no guy can really enjoy a woman's sport like they do males. Everyone knows I am a big time soccer fan, but I dont care for women's soccer. While my girlfriend, who is a women's sports freak, will watch the womens world cup but no other soccer. Not even when I play.

I don't think soccer will ever be very big in the US because as a spectator sport it's too slow and Americans just don't have the attention to watch a sport like that. Soccer has been pretty popular as a particpant sport in schools, etc for a long time, but still hasn't taken off like everyone was predicting 20 years ago. I remember reading an article when I was in high school that by the year 2000 soccer would be the one of the top 3 sports in the US. I didn't believe it then and I don't believe it will be in another 20 years.

Back to the topic, how many of us which we had a million dollars when we were 13?

LeBron wouldnt have gottten that money at 13.

Well, since I've apparently got more time I've been back on the board hitting up topics that catch my eye. So here I go.

I'm not much of a soccer fan (although their sims do seem to interest me), but my roommate at college loves the game, and played his first two years before injuries took their toll and he decided to hang up the cleats. As a result I've seen more soccer on TV and live in the last 3 years than I have the other 18 put together. I've grown to enjoy it, a little, although I still won't watch much voluntarily.

I do however see the sport growing in the US. With programs like they have in Florida (where they basically just develop the top prospects) American talent is going to blossom. As our elite players catch up to other top tier teams in the world we're going to advance farther and farther in the World Cup. Each time we get there new fans will be interested, and watch the game. If it can last for an extended (4, 5, 6 cups where we advance to the final four maybe) time people are going to start tuning in because certain players, teams, or whatever catch their interest.

Assuming this happens at some point (and I do believe it will, because it is a popular sport to play, and the US committee is doing everything possible to catch up) we will have a lot more depth in terms of top players. As a result players are going to gradually play in American leagues (why go to Europe if the talent is here too?). Going to a game (with high quality players) is a heck of a lot more fun than watching it on TV, I don't care what sport it is. People will gain interest in their local team because big names that have now become household names will be playing their local teams (or maybe on them). It'll be an easier ticket in comparison to other sports, probably cheaper too. The more games you attend the more you're going to follow the team, watch them on TV, and then the sport will boom into the big markets.

This won't happen overnight, or even in the next 10-15 years most likely. But my guess is that within 25 years soccer will be regularly televised on national TV much as the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL are now.

Nike got a steal with that one.

I do think that Soccer is on the rise here in the states. The better the United States does in the World Cup, the more popular it will be. Within 15 years, it will be at least the third most popular sport maybe second, depends how far Baseball drops, in America.

Dang....so no Direct-TV-like satellite packages are available??? I didn't realize the rest of the world was that backward... ;)

As long as MLS is still around and they are still building brand new soccer stadiums (see: Home Depot Center in LA, so sweet!) then soccer will continue to grow in the US. It's not going to pass hockey anytime soon but it's going to be the fifth sport if it's not already. It will need star power like Adu to do it. When was the last time there was so much soccer on US TV and it wasn't the World Cup?

Hey SkyDog,

Well, they do have satellite TV, and they do have sports packages, but the sports are soccer, F1, rugby, cricket, and bicycle racing. You'd figure that since Rupert Murdoch owns broadcasting all over the world, they'd port Sunday Ticket and College Gameplan over here. Guess there just aren't enough 'Mericans over here demanding it.

Oh well, I'm back in the US at the end of this year, and will be in Houston, home of the 2004 Super Bowl. That'll be a nice homecoming... :D

Can't stop, DOLA time...

As for the comments about no one liking to watch soccer, and the US fans follow Europe more closely, I think it has to do with the quality of the competion. US Soccer is to Euro soccer as Div II college football is to the NFL. But US Soccer is steadily improving, and if given enough time, the level of talent and quality of play will grow to rival the European Leagues.

Great comment cartman, I think you are right on. Since I was a little kid, and the US mens National team was a joke, soccer has slowly been on the rise. I would say that from my generation to my sons, soccer has boomed in the US. In another generation where will it be.

The US does not like to lose at anything and will do what it needs to, to get on par internationally. The MLS will continue to churn and draw interest. Europe has already turned their heads in our direction by scouting our young talent.

In fact, I would go so far to say that some in Europe are concerned that US soccer will become so powerful, that the sport gets an Americanized feel to it. And that frankly scares the crap out of them.

An i thought that I had it bad. We have ESPN International, who only shows one game per week, but at least it is something. I am looking forward to being able to watch sports again this fall once I move back to the US.

I think that a major problem for soccer in the US will be getting television coverage. If soccer is going to succeed in the US, it needs to be on TV, but unlike any other sport in the US, Soccer has no breaks for commercials. Without television, how are the networks going to get money to air the games. Networks are not interested in charity, and they will not air something unless the advertisers are willing to pay them. No commercial breaks means no advertisers.
The only alternative that I can think of is to show it on pay-per-view, and look how that concept has killed boxing.

Soccer is available on PPV.

Amazing...
Freddy Adu can stop playing soccer before ever playing an official match for a first team!

To be honest, my first thought was such things only happen in the USA.:)