Dick's Sporting Goods and Soccer United Marketing are pleased to announce a significant restructuring of their current agreement, now making Dick's Sporting Goods the Official Sporting Goods Retailer of Major League Soccer as well as ten of the 14 teams playing in the league in 2008.

Dick's Sporting Goods will also become the Official Sporting Goods Retailer of U.S. Soccer including the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams. The five-year agreement is designed to correspond with the growth plans of the country's largest sporting goods retailer, allowing Dick's to become an official sponsor of each of the remaining teams as it begins opening stores in those markets, culminating in 2011 when the sponsorship will cover every team in the league exclusively.

"Our relationship with Major League Soccer and the U.S. Soccer Federation further demonstrates the commitment Dick's Sporting Goods has made to the game of soccer in the United States," said Jeffrey R. Hennion, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Dick's Sporting Goods.

"This agreement gives us the ability to reach players and fans of the game at every level, including the newly created U.S. Soccer Development Academy, which will provide the most elite youth soccer clubs in the country the infrastructure and curriculum needed to compete at an international level for years to come."

"We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Dick's Sporting Goods," said Kathy Carter, Executive Vice President for Soccer United Marketing. "We look forward to making Dick's Sporting Goods the destination for soccer players and soccer fans to find all of the gear they need to play or cheer for the beautiful game."

The enhanced agreement between Dick's Sporting Goods and MLS will also include the presenting sponsorship of First Kick, the opening week of the 2008 MLS regular season that will feature six nationally televised games on ESPN2, Fox Soccer Channel, HDNet and Telefutura, starting Saturday, March 29 when the Los Angeles Galaxy face off against the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.

Dick's Sporting Goods also announced that is has extended its sponsorship of the MLS and U.S. Soccer coverage on both ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel, including the presenting sponsorship of the Halftime Reports during the MLS games of the week on both networks.