Volkswagen of America, the official automotive partner of Major League Soccer, today kicked off The Footballers' Clubhaus presented by Volkswagen and MLS, a 19-city mobile marketing tour that will showcase Volkswagen's product family at local youth soccer tournaments across the U.S. The Footballers' Clubhaus presented by Volkswagen and MLS Mobile Tour, which will also feature a host of games and activities for the entire family, builds upon the company's global commitment to the sport. The Footballers' Clubhaus presented by Volkswagen and MLS hits the road today and will run through November when the brand joins the MLS Cup championship in Seattle.

Volkswagen and Major League Soccer's The Footballers' Clubhaus presented by Volkswagen and MLS tour aims to reach families of the more than 3.2 million participants currently registered in youth soccer nationwide. As part of the tour, Volkswagen will take its fleet of cars on the road to approximately 46 youth soccer tournaments over 74 days that will include several fun-filled ride-and-drive opportunities for consumers. Thirteen of these markets are part of the largest Hispanic Soccer Tournament, titled Futbolito, a four-on-four traveling tournament for amateur players.

When the Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals kicks off on Sunday, the league will tackle the problems of boosting its appeal to Hispanic sports fans.

Of all the major North American sports leagues, "football is probably going to be the toughest sell for the Hispanic market," said Richard Ettenson, marketing professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.

While sports executives and experts say American football will not supplant a love of soccer, there are plenty of signs the U.S. sport has room to grow with this audience of more than 45 million.

The program will follow the dedication of the historic Character and Courage statue at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Museum's lobby. The statue depicts Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson as symbols of character and courage, reflecting the achievements of the three Hall of Famers as beacons of those characteristics.

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