Nike Becomes Official Uniform Supplier of
Washington Freedom<br><br>January 31, 2001<br><br>Nike and
the Washington Freedom of the Women’s United Soccer
Association/WUSA have reached a multi-year agreement for the
Oregon-based company to become the Official Team Uniform
Supplier for the Freedom. <br><br>The Freedom begins play
on April 14th when they host the Bay Area CyberRays
at RFK Stadium. The game will be unique because it
will be the first official game played in the WUSA’s
Inaugural. Joe Elsmore, Manager of Soccer Sports Marketing
at Nike, and Sara Delgado, WUSA’s Vice President of
Sponsorship Sales, made the joint announcement today. "Nike
is proud to be a partner of the Washington Freedom
and to support the WUSA," said Elsmore. <br><br>"The
Washington D.C. area is a great market for women's and
girl's soccer. I'm sure fans will welcome Mia Hamm and
the Freedom with open arms." "Nike is one of the top
apparel and equipment firms in the world with an
outstanding reputation for quality and they are a welcome
addition to our league," said Delgado. "Their choice to
outfit the Washington Freedom and their commitment to
support the surrounding grassroots soccer market is a
further endorsement of the WUSA's appeal and of the
league's pending success." <br><br>The WUSA will launch
next April in eight team markets: Atlanta, Bay Area,
Carolina, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and
Washington D.C. The WUSA will feature practically all of the
members of the 1999 World Cup Champion and 2000 silver
medal winning-team. WUSA's founding players are:
Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, Tracy Ducar, Lorrie Fair,
Joy Fawcett, Danielle Fotopoulos, Julie Foudy, Mia
Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Shannon MacMillan, Tiffeny
Milbrett, Carla Overbeck, Cindy Parlow, Christie Pearce,
Tiffany Roberts, Briana Scurry, Kate Sobrero, Tisha
Venturini, Saskia Webber, and Sara Whalen. The league will
also feature over 20 of the top international stars
from Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Norway and
Sweden.<br><br>Information on the WUSA can be found on the league's official
website at www.wusaleague.com. WUSA investors include
John S. Hendricks, chairman and CEO of Discovery
Communications, Inc., the parent company of Discovery Channel,
The Learning Channel, and other cable network
services; Amos B. Hostetter, Jr., former chairman and CEO,
Continental Cablevision, Inc., Comcast Corporation, which has
majority ownership of QVC, Comcast-Spectacor, Comcast
SportsNet, and The Golf Channel, and a controlling interest
in E! Networks; Cox Enterprises; Cox Communications;
and Time Warner Cable.