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This is all very commonplace in “real” soccer. Go to the Globe Pub on Irving Park Road on a Saturday morning to watch matches in the English Premier League — that is, excuse me, the Barclay Rum Premier League — and good luck figuring out which team is which until you know the code. Arsenal jerseys urge fans to “Fly Emirates,” Manchester United promotes AIG (don’t ask me what that means, or even what’s “United” about Manchester), and Liverpool, thank their hard-drinking British-Irish stars, is backed by Carlsberg Beer.
“This is huge,” Fire defender C.J. Brown said on the team’s Web site. “When I started with the Fire our sponsors were league sponsors. This is another big step in the right direction for the league and also for the Fire. You’re in good company when you have Best Buy in your corner.”
