A contingent of Miami-Dade and Land Shark Stadium officials is in New York today making the region’s pitch to be included in the United States’ bid to play host to the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

In August, Miami was included on a short list of 27 U.S. communities that are finalists as host sites. The 27 communities have been meeting and attending host community workshops with the USA Bid Committee in New York this week.

Mike Sophia, executive director of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, is in New York, along with Commission Chairman and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Bill Talbert, Land Shark Stadium President M. Bruce Schulze and Vice President and General Manager Todd Boyan.

“It’s really an opportunity for us to go up and just highlight our bid, any changes,” Sophia said. “We’ll take a little bit of time to explain here’s what we are, who we are.”

Sophia says the committee is expected to narrow the group of 27 to 18 that will be announced in early December. The U.S. application to FIFA to host either of the two upcoming World Cups is due in May, with the announcement of the host nations coming in December 2010.

Meanwhile, local World Cup supporters are encouraging soccer fans to sign a petition showing their support for bringing the World Cup to the U.S.

“The USA Bid Committee wants to show the grassroots support for soccer,” Sophia said of the petition drive.

Those interested in signing the petition can find it here or through the Sports Commission’s Web site.

Additionally, the commission is planning to drum up support at local sporting events by setting up petition drive booths at Saturday night’s Miami Heat-New Jersey Nets game at AmericanAirlines Arena; Sunday’s Miami Dolphins-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game at Land Shark Stadium; and at next Wednesday’s "Celebracion Honduras Mundialista 2010" soccer friendly featuring Honduras and Peru, also at Land Shark.

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As of today, the Miami Dolphins have now joined 17 other NFL teams in sporting sponsor patches on their practice jerseys.

NFL owners approved putting sponsor patches on practice jerseys earlier this year, but until today – the first day of regular season practice – the Dolphins hadn’t had worn a patch. Today they’re wearing an AT&T logo on their jerseys.

“It’s a league-wide initiative that does now allow for sponsorships on practice jerseys during the regular season,” Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said. “We took advantage to provide additional values to one of our largest corporate sponsors.”

Greene would not disclose financial details of the deal, but AT&T is already a team sponsor. Regular season practices are closed to the public and only open to the media for short periods on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and on Mondays when a full practice is scheduled. That means there is some potential media exposure for the corporate logos.

Under NFL rules, teams had until Sept. 1 to finalize deals with one corporate sponsor for a patch on practice jerseys. Separate deals can be made for the playoffs, an NFL spokesman said.

Other NFL teams with practice jersey sponsors include the Buffalo Bills with Sanyo, Chicago Bears with Northshore University Healthsystem, Cincinnati Bengals with Spongetech, Dallas Cowboys with the University of Phoenix, Indianapolis Colts with Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, and the New England Patriots with Gillette.

Leagues have been softening their stance on corporate logos on jerseys this year. The NBA is now allowing sponsor patches on practice jerseys. The New Jersey Nets announced Tuesday they have become the first NBA team to strike a practice jersey sponsorship deal. The team will wear the logo for PNY Technologies Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of computing and digital imaging products. PNY will also own the naming rights to the team’s practice facility in East Rutherford.

The WNBA this season allowed sponsor logos on its regular season uniforms and two teams took advantage: the Phoenix Mercury struck a deal with LifeLock and the Los Angeles Sparks forged a partnership with Farmer’s Insurance. MLS players also wear sponsor logos on their jerseys during the season.

How long before sponsor logos appear on jerseys during the big four sports’ regular seasons?

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And then there were 27… The USA Bid Committee narrowed on Thursday its list of potential U.S. cities to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup to 27, including Miami and Land Shark Stadium.

Eleven U.S. communities were stripped from contention. The remaining cities will continue working with the bid committee to develop their local campaigns to host the giant soccer event. FIFA and its 24-member executive committee will spend the fall studying the bids and visiting the communities. The cities the U.S. will put forward for formal bids will be determined in December. The host nations for the two upcoming World Cups will be announced in December 2010.

The group of 27 communities includes 32 stadiums ranging from the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta to the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

Miami’s bid was submitted by a group of local leaders that includes the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, retired Heat center Alonzo Mourning, Brightstar Corp. CEO Marcelo Claure, music producer Emilio Estefan, and Bacardi’s Facundo L. Barcardi.

“Miami is proud to be contention for this exciting and prestigious event,” Miami-Dade County Commissioner and Miami Bid Committee Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz said in a statement. “The FIFA World Cup is the most significant international event in the world today.”

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The Phoenix Mercury will become the first WNBA team to wear a corporate sponsor’s logo prominently on its jerseys this season. In a deal being announced today, identity-theft protection company LifeLock Inc., will sponsor the team for three years in a deal said to be worth at least $1 million a year.

The Arizona-based company, which also sponsors NASCAR, will be the team’s presenting sponsor and get its name on the team’s warm-up jerseys and its arena. It is also to offer complimentary membership to WNBA season ticket holders.

The WNBA did a deal prior to last season with McDonald’s in which the fast food giant sponsored Tip-Off for the league’s 12th season. Players wore the Golden Arches on a Tip-Off logo on their jerseys during the home openers, but the logos weren’t as prominently displayed as LifeLock’s will be on Mercury jerseys.

The Mercury will still wear its team logo, but Mercury will be a much smaller badge-style logo on the upper left – similar to the way the L.A. Galaxy’s logo appears on the MLS team’s jerseys since Herbalife began sponsoring that team in 2007.

So, while we’re used to seeing corporate logos on jerseys overseas, they are beginning to seep into U.S. sports more frequently than they have in the past. The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s wore sponsor logos on their jerseys and helmets during the two games that opened the 2008 MLB season in Japan. The Puerto Rican team wore Best Buy logos on their jerseys during the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Since we used to seeing logos just about everywhere these days, does this bother you? Do you think the uniforms for NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams are still sacred?

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While still far from a done deal, a ballpark for the Marlins could be a lot closer now that the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County have come up with a way to pay for it that doesn’t involve state funding.

It’s a complex plan that involves expanding the boundaries and extending the life of Miami’s Community Redevelopment Agencies to generate millions of dollars for city projects including paying down debt on the performing arts center and developing the museum park and a traffic tunnel to the Port of Miami. Using those dollars for the performing arts center frees up millions in hotel bed taxes that can be used to help pay for a ballpark at the Orange Bowl and, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz hopes, a soccer stadium, too.

Miami City Commissioners signed off on the CRA deal Thursday. There’s still a lot more work to be done to make a ballpark deal a reality – and the next test comes Tuesday when Miami-Dade County Commissioners get a crack at the CRA deal and a county proposal to finance a $525 million stadium that has yet to receive the blessing of the city or the team.

But more about soccer: Diaz envisions a sports complex at the site of the Orange Bowl stadium that includes not just a 37,000-seat retractable roof Marlins ballpark, but also a 25,000-seat soccer stadium.

Diaz has wanted to bring a Major League Soccer franchise back to South Florida almost since the league folded the Fusion in January 2002 and has been in contact with the league for years.

“I believe Miami should have a soccer franchise. I think soccer is obviously the world’s most popular sport. It’s a growing sport,” Diaz said. “I think it’s a natural for us to be able to do something. I’m excited at prospects of having a franchise here.”

Diaz says the CRA deal can generate $50 million for a soccer stadium. A soccer stadium would likely cost $100 million and it's unclear where the rest would come from, but according to an MLS spokesman it's not unusual for a team owner to contribute the rest.

There’s no guarantee the city will be able to secure an MLS team, but MLS spokesman Daniel Courtemanche said talks with the city are ongoing.

“Those discussions are still very preliminary, but we are closely monitoring the Miami market,” Courtemanche said.

The league has set its roster of teams through 2009 and Philadelphia and St. Louis have been identified as frontrunner cities for expansion beyond that, although situations could change.

Nevertheless, Diaz said the soccer stadium, which he would want to be called the Orange Bowl, helps the baseball stadium deal. A ballpark proposal requires the city to fund a 6,000-space parking garage, which Diaz estimates at $85 million to $95 million. He said with both teams enough revenue should be generated to service the debt on the garage.

“You need a certain number of events to generate the amount of income you need so it at least breaks even,” Diaz said.

Diaz hopes one day the neighborhood around the Orange Bowl will become a vital area with baseball and soccer games, bars, and restaurants.

“When you see a building that sits idle 359 days of the year, what does that do for the neighborhood? Absolutely nothing,” Diaz said referring to the Orange Bowl hosting six University of Miami football games annually.

“I saw the possibility of creating something that could now be a destination, beyond just an 81 game event days, to hopefully add soccer and then hopefully bring with it retail and mixed use components,” Diaz said. “So it’s not place you just go to watch a sporting event. It’s a place you can go to year round, 365 days a year, not just see a baseball game. Maybe you’ll go to a restaurant or have a beer with friends or shop. It’s got that potential. I think from a neighborhood revitalization perspective, it’s pretty exciting.”

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