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Dick's Sporting Goods is expanding its relationship with Major League Soccer:

Dick’s Sporting Goods has enhanced its relationship with Soccer United Marketing, which now names retailer as the official sporting goods store of Major League Soccer, the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, as well as 10 of 14 teams playing in the league.

The five-year agreement expands an existing relationship the retailer has with the sport. The larger partnership aligns with the company’s growth plans to open stores in the markets where teams play and are located. Dick’s will also sponsor the remaining four MLS teams when it opens stores in those markets.

There's nothing unusual about relationships between sports franchises or leagues and marketers, of course. What's different about this is that Dick's is apparently planning to use the presence of MLS franchises as a driver in their decisions on which markets they will move into.