Colorado Rapids fans had been hoping for the team to make a big splash, and this week it finally happened. Rumors started to fly last week about the potential selling of Deshorn Brown to Norwegian side Valerenga. The rumors became fact Tuesday when the deal was finalized. This move was the start of what would become a fun week for fans.
After the Brown deal was announced fans were understandable a little upset. Brown had been the leading scorer for Colorado over the last two years; scoring 10 goals in each season. Fans worried that the team would not be able to replace Brown’s scoring with the current roster. With Brown gone the scoring duties now fall upon Gabriel Torres and rookie Dominique Badji.
A day after the Brown deal was announced, the Colorado Rapids front office made another big move. President Tim Hinchey and the Rapids announced that they had found a replacement for Ciao Telecom as the teams jersey sponsor. Transamerica, a financial services company, signed on to sponsor Colorado for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
This signing was a huge move for Colorado. After the debacle was the Ciao Telecom deal, Hinchey and the Rapids needed a proven and well-known company to get fans to start thinking positively about the front office. Ciao Telecom defaulted on the sponsorship deal nearly right away, causing Colorado to file suit against the company in November of 2014. While financial details of the Transamerica deal were not announced, this deal most certainly led to the third big move that Colorado made this week.
Between the money that the Rapids received for selling Deshorn Brown to Valerenga and signing a sponsorship deal with Transamerica, Colorado was able to ink a deal to bring on the team’s third Designated Player on Friday. The Rapids had been talking to Irish striker Kevin Doyle about coming aboard for a couple months, but the two sides seemed to be stuck on compensation. The Brown transfer was worth a reported $500,000 (of which the Rapids will likely see about $300,000) and while the financial details of the Transamerica deal have not yet been announced it is likely a multi-million dollar deal.
The signing of Doyle as the team’s third Designated Player is a big step for Colorado. The Rapids were one of the last teams in Major League Soccer to have both a DP as well as a jersey sponsor. At the end of the 2013 season the team signed their first DP in Gabriel Torres. While the verdict on him is still up in the air, the team signed a second DP this offseason in young Argentine midfielder Juan Ramirez.
With the addition of Kevin Doyle to the team the Rapids have added the proven scorer and big name that was promised during the offseason. While Doyle will not join the team until July 1st, his 112 career club goals and 20 career national team goals should be able elevate the offensive attack for the team. Browns 10 goals in each of the last two seasons were the most goals by any player on the team since 2010 when Conor Casey and Omar Cummings tallied 13 and 14 goals respectively.
Doyle’s first game for the Rapids will be July 4th against the Vancouver Whitecaps. He will have 16 games this year to make the kind of impact that fans of been clamoring for.
After the busy week that the Colorado Rapids have had, they get to host NYCFC for their home opener Saturday the 21st. With a renewed sense of optimism for fans and most likely for the players as well, the team should come out of the gate running on all cylinders against the David Villa led squad. While the team will be without James Riley (suspended) and Bobby Burling (red card) on the back line, they should be on a high after this week that will push them to break their 15 game winless streak.