Since we have signed Jozy Altidore, i have noticed that the club has put a lot of promotion behind him in terms of modeling the kit, constant interviews on safc.com, etc. In addition to the club i have noticed we seem to have had a lot more press from espn and other US outlets. Asides from being an absoulte beast on the football pitch, does anyone else think Ellis told the scouting system to find an American player for promotional purposes? We all know Americans are (lets say) infectious with more or less everything and last years coverage on espn, the likes of Guzan got a lot of love from their commentators. By signing the USA national teams star striker we could have opened ourselves up to a whole new potential market.
Don`t recall a massive amount of new interest when we signed Claudio Reyna. Might be different with ES of course.
Your right mate, however as you say with Ellis there, he is probably wanting to tap into his homeland. One of the clubs main objectives is to makes us more appeasing internationally, so why not try (Ellis's) home. At least he knows the market over there. With regards to Reyna though, anyone remember the hundreds of Sunderland kids with the American flags on his unveiling? Was a bit cringy!
Managed to avoid that one thankfully. iirc he was USA captain. As you say ES should know the market and it could be very lucrative. They didn`t seem to go overboard when Beckham went though. A bit of interest but nothing spectacular.
by all accounts 'soccer' is growing in popularity over there, so having him involved and WC year coming up will do our pr a world of good. but i would assume getting that extra coverage is a bi-product of this move, not the reason for it (at least i hope not).
Think with coverage of sport, the influence of FOOTBALL over there that obviously its a lot more looked in to Has been many american fans on our twitter
I doubt if NBC would have reported on this if we didn't have Jozy. http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/24/sunderland-beat-spurs-in-asia-trophy-friendly-but-jozy-altidore-squanders-chances/ I think this is a shrewd move by ES as not only will we get more coverage and interest in our club in the USA but the fact that Jozy is eloquent, intelligent and very media savvy is a real bonus. Seems like a genuine top bloke from just reading his twitter feed and personal website. Just hope he gets plenty of time in front of the cameras this season - discussing his match winning goals for Sunderland.
Don't think "soccer" was as big in the US when we had Reyna as it is now, think the likes of Beckham, Henry going over there has raised the profile of it some what.... I have no doubt that one of Ellis main aims was to get a yank in to promote our team over there, makes perfect business sense..... Just so happens he looks like one of the better ones too. ��
American 'Soccer' has grown massively since the Reyna days though fella. The sport is on a completely different level.
A friend of mine who lives in the us of a posted on fyassbook that the sports shops are stocking safc shirts with altidore on the back, first time he has seen this
This. America is the biggest consumer market in the world, the sport is growing massively, the standard of the MLS is improving (although the national team seems to be struggling to progress...). Jozy was unquestionably signed as a footballer first and foremost, but absolutely their was an eye on the commercial aspect.
