As previously mentioned here, this season is the last that the HDC will operate under its current naming rights deal fueling speculation that Farmers or another sponsor will soon step forward with dump trucks full of money to have their name adorn the stadium. 

However, the presenting sponsorship deal with Herbalife is also coming to an end before next season. The presenting sponsorship deal is the one that allows Herbalife to plaster its logo next to the Galaxy's in the background of every presser, put a LA Galaxy presented by Herbalife on official websites and most importantly put their name on that ever so important real estate of the front your kit that allows you to be asked be non soccer fans if you are a Herbalife representative when you rock your kit on game days. 

This sponsorship is not only important for the funds it provides, but it also serves as a benchmark to measure the club and league's branding power.

As you can imagine the clubs with higher brand power are able to negotiate better deals. Super clubs with world brand recognition can demand huge deals and set the benchmark for all other clubs. 

• Barcelona, Qatar Foundation, $40 Million Annually
• Manchester United, Aon, $30 Million Annually
• Chelsea, Samsung, $20 Million Annually

Obviously MLS clubs will not be signing these type of deals for a while. The current Herbalife sponsorship was announced shortly after the Beckham signing almost 5 years ago as between $4-5 million a year (although it looks it was much more towards $4 now). It set the benchmark for other clubs in MLS and demonstrated the Galaxy's brand power. (RSL also signed a sponsorship deal with Xango at the time for $1 million a year for comparison.) 

The league has changed drastically in the last 5 years. New attendance records are being set, club franchise values are at an all time high, and the league is continuing to grow. So what value should we speculate for a new sponsorship deal? Let's take a look at current top deals in the league.

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