The United States Soccer Federation has unveiled a new sponsorship deal with AT&T to back their bid for the 2018 Fifa World Cup.

The deal will see AT&T promote the US bid chiefly through its online petition, which has obtained more than 980,000 signatures from supporters.  
 
Sunil Gulati, chairman of the US bid committee and president of the United States Soccer Federation said: "As a major supporter of professional soccer in this country, AT&T is the perfect communications sponsor for the USA Bid Committee's mission to show the world that the United States would be honoured to host the Fifa World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Their global presence as an innovator in communications technology will be a significant asset to our bid and we’re proud to welcome them to our team."

Jason Simpson, the executive director of AT&T corporate sponsorships, added: "At AT&T, our goal is to connect people to their passions, as an official sponsor of the USA Bid Committee, AT&T is proud to help support millions of soccer fans in the quest to bring the Fifa World Cup back to the U.S."

The fixed telephony provider also sponsors the Mexican national team, serves as communications services sponsor of US Soccer and Major League Soccer and is also the title sponsor of the annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game.

The US bid committee announced on 28 January 2009, that it would submit bids for both the 2018 and 2022 Cups with 18 official cities as hosts for the bid.