MLS All Star Game

By Emily Nakayama (SMBA '11)

Last week Krista Washington and I traveled to Houston, TX with Soccer United Marketing (SUM) to assist with sponsorship activation during the 2010 MLS All Star Game, held at Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans.

On Tuesday July 27, our first full day in the humid heat of Houston, we helped with the initial sponsor set-up at Soccer Celebration, an event scheduled to open the following day prior to the start of the All Star Game. Soccer Celebration is a 100,000 square foot interactive fan zone located directly in front of Reliant Stadium where fans can interact with sponsors, play games, sample products and meet with current Houston Dynamo players. After wrapping up preparations at Soccer Celebration, we spent the remainder of the afternoon at Discovery Greens in downtown Houston assisting with Soccer Jam, one of the many MLS All Star festivities held that week. Soccer Jam was a celebration of the sport of soccer, and hosted legend and celebrity autograph booths, inflatable games, DJ music, and a special 7-vs-7 soccer match with celebrities and soccer legends playing head-to-head.

Game day followed on Wednesday, July 28 and Krista and I arrived early to Reliant Stadium for final set-up at Soccer Celebration. We were slightly hampered by the rain, which rolled through in the early afternoon, but the clouds parted later that day as more than 70,000 people came through Soccer Celebration and into a sold-out Reliant Stadium to watch MLS vs. Manchester United. We were lucky enough to sneak away and onto the sidelines to watch MLS score its first goal. Manchester United dominated, however, winning the game 5-2.

Krista and I had an amazing time and feel fortunate to have worked with SUM and MLS for the All Star Week. We flew back home on Thursday – just in time to celebrate my birthday with a quick trip to Disneyland!!