Rumor: Source says French club "are out" of Agudelo sweepstakes

Via theshinguardian.com

Where in the world is Juan Agudelo? Juan tweeted out a picture today of packed bags as it seems likely that he is moving to a new club. One place we know where he's not going: France.

A source from France has contacted MLS Transfers to let the news out that French side FC Lorient "are out" of the Agudelo madness.

After a series of emails, a lose translation of how it went down:

"Lorient are a known as a feeder club. They wanted Juan Agudelo to groom him for a few years to sell him on, as his value would be high after a year or so. They contacted Clive Jagger (Agudelo's mentor) before Christmas and he told the club he would talk to Juan. Clive let the club know earlier today that Juan already signed for another club outside of the country."

More news to come.

What is MLS getting out of KickTV?

Via Youtube.com

KickTV is a venture between Google, Bedrocket Media Ventures and Soccer United Marekting (SUM), the advertising endeavor of MLS. Launched March 2, 2012, the KickTV Youtube channel has brought viewers soccer mixed with pop culture to a surprisingly fun platform. But, what has MLS gotten out of investing in the channel?

This past week, there has been 11 videos uploaded and  197,494 views (as of 1:45 pm EST) on the main channel. The focus of the videos has been on a variety of soccer related items such as, Cristiano Ronaldo going for a good 2014, Goals from the video game FIFA 14 and a video entitled, "Mariah Carey & John Guidetti Duet & More". The singular MLS related video of the week has been a Tim Cahill goal compilation. Granted, it is the MLS offseason but I'm sure this is not exactly what SUM had in mind when investing in the channel. Looking at the different playlists on channel, KickTV has an MLS highlights package every weekend and that's the only main MLS package on the channel. Clearly we don't know how much SUM has invested in the channel but what about more MLS related segments during the season?  From a mere league wide promotions perspective, this is needed.

One thing that seems certain is that SUM is not always working hand and hand with MLS and MLSsoccer.com more specifically. The league website creates original content almost daily during the regular season, something KickTV doesn't do and could thrive with for its 785,00 subscribers. It seems the channel leans towards an American eye on international based soccer, and this is something that needs to be addressed for MLS's sake.

Another thought:  NBCSports must be limiting KickTV somehow as they produce MLS 36, a showcase of some of the leagues players for the 36 hours, pre, during, and post-games throughout the season. A show like this on the channel would broaden both the marketing and personality of the league. By showing the personality of the players (Known funny man Dax McCarty has been featured) the brand of the league expands. If this show was on KickTV, the MLS brand would be aimed towards the world-soccer-fan-only demographic, something that NBCSports surely doesn't have at its disposal despite its large viewer numbers.

In a business sense, I believe the league is looking at this video channel as more of an exposure situation than to get any monetary return on investment. Not saying KickTV isn't making money, (because it is. They have a full time staff and advertising on all of their videos) but the main goal of the endeavor seems to be drawing more attention to the league. "Kick was created as a global channel that allows us to tell they key soccer stories of the day and to broaden our voice beyond the M.L.S. channel." said Chris Schlosser, general manager of MLS Digital to the New York Times in a 2012 interview.

Global channel? Yes. Broaden the voice of MLS beyond the MLS channel? How is KickTV doing that? The quick answer is, they're not.

So I ask the question again, what is MLS getting out of KickTV?

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated below in the comments section.

-Marc Kusant (@TheRedestBull)

Source: Camilo deal almost done, Whitecaps seemingly not at fault (UPDATE)

Via blog.eastbay.com

Reports surfaced this afternoon of Camilo leaving Vancouver Whitecaps for Mexican side Queretaro. While this report has credibility, a source with connections to Vancouver has said that deal is not officially done, but expects to be finalized within the next 24 hours as some specifics need to be worked on.

The source also said this deal came about when Camilo's agent started talks with the Mexican club almost three weeks ago. Although the Whitecaps wanted him to stay, Camilo wants to move to help launch his career. While the source said they wouldn't discuss the specific number, they said the salary Camilo wanted to stay in Vancouver was more than four times the amount he earned this past season (Camilo made a guaranteed salary of $247,500).

UPDATE: Seems like this could be contract leverage, as @PeteSchaad (Twitter) says that Whitecaps communication department is saying that there is no truth in the rumor.