Major League Soccer will be getting a little more backing from a video game company next season, as EA Sports has revealed it's become a major sponsor of expansion team the Vancouver Whitecaps.
With the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live logos appearing on the playing strips of the Seattle Sounders, EA's deal with the Whitecaps — due to enter the league next season — sees the company become a "Founding Partner", along with becoming Vancouver's "Official Videogame Partner".
While the sports games giant won't be appearing on the Whitecap's shirts (like it does on Swindon Town in the UK), it will mean EA Sports advertising will be all over Vancouver's website, and that anyone losing an online match to them in FIFA 12 next season will be able to blame developer bias and not their own poor performance.
Interestingly, it appears the deal may actually be a good one for fans of EA's FIFA series as part of the arrangement is that EA Sports now has access to the Whitecaps for motion capture work. Presently EA relies on various unrelated players and even some developers for this, but being able to capture a whole bunch of professional players who are actual team-mates could well result in some improvements to the way the football series handles its animation.