There is little doubt that soccer, from the grassroots through the World Cup, continues to have a growing presence in the mindset of the casual sports fan in the United States. While still not as embedded on the professional side as it is in the rest of the world, the sport is more buzzworthy and brandworthy than it has ever been in the States, and the scramble is on from Major League Soccer and its partners at Soccer United Marketing to many of the world’s elite clubs and brands to best figure out how to enhance and embrace this new love affair while the opportunity exists, and make sure that the right brands are associated with the consumer on all levels of soccer engagement.
We have seen recently how companies like Mondelez International have taken soccer partnerships to a new level with their consumer activation, and now a growing number of elite clubs and their partners are looking to step up even more to find their way into the marketplace, by taking up shop in and around Madison Avenue. For several years, clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City (now with their co-ownership of NYCFC) have operated satellite offices and programs in and around New York’s business and marketing centers, finding ways to embrace both the grassroots (with youth programs) and the consumer (enhancing summer tours and exploring multi-level partnerships with American brands both in and out of season). Those efforts continue to pay off as soccer grows its footprint in the States and traditional American brands look to partner and activate on both sides of the Atlantic with established properties who have a true passionate global following.
While to this point most of the clubs that have put down a stake in the US have been Barclays Premier League clubs, the best efforts are expanding. AS Roma and its American ownership group have made very big strides in creating a brand presence in the US, and both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have looked to capitalize on their massive audience to create momentum with brands in the States as well. The latest additions to the mix are also intriguing and may signal an even bigger push to follow the other elite clubs with their own presence. Boca Juniors, arguably one of the biggest and most successful South American clubs, has started grassroots work in and around the States and has begun their own field marketing efforts to find new partners to activate both in the States and in Argentina, and Bayern Munich has now started to take their mega-brand and its partners to the US marketplace in advance of this summer’s Tour in America.
While Boca Juniors play is more on the grassroots side, establishing an Academy and growing a footprint from the ground up, Bayern is looking to establish itself in the commercial world through the Bundesliga’s new broadcast contract on American TV and by activating around the solid brand partnerships it already has with brands like Adidas, Allianz and tour title sponsor Audi. There is a long list of best practice activations the club has done in Germany that can be expanded into the US market, making the Bayern push much more than just a startup idea.
The club itself will make its first trip to the U.S. in 10 years this summer after having won its record 24th Bundesliga title and will take on Mexican club Club Deportivo Guadalajara at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., on July 31 before flying to the West Coast to play in the MLS All-Star Game in Portland on Aug. 6. That bicoastal presence will serve as a key launch point for the Bayern brand with soccer fans, and can help push long-term efforts forward. The club also has a nice historical boost with the American fan, with legend (and ex- New York Cosmos star) Franz Beckenbauer as its international ambassador (valuable despite his recent issues with FIFA) and the presence of rising American Julian Green on its roster.
The push for Boca and Bayern into the U.S. is smart but won’t be easy or an overnight success. Neither club has a track record of marketing or branding success in the States, and the largest broadcast marketing platforms for soccer are stacked with Premier League efforts and the clubs that have been marketing here for several years. There is a bit of a language barrier for both, although both are embracing English-language sites and marketing efforts to assist in their work, and despite their local strength, neither club plays in a league which has made an aggressive push into the US as a whole to date. While clubs like Arsenal and even Fulham have expanded their supporter club programs across the United States to build fan following, the build for others like Bayern and Borussia Dortmund has been much slower and will take some time to build awareness amongst fans that are more than casual followers. That build is going to be very important for brands looking to activate, and for the club itself as it becomes more aggressive in competing in the marketplace with other clubs looking to do the same thing.
The great opportunity for a club like Bayern is that they are first to market in the States for a Bundesliga club, and they certainly have the name recognition amongst casual and ardent soccer followers, an audience that is growing. Their success in building partnerships in arguably the healthiest economy in Europe is also a great selling point, and their story, although kind of understood by soccer supporters, is still an untold one in the US sports business landscape. American brands love new combined with successful stories, and the club appears to have all that, along with its strong history of success on the pitch.
As World Cup fever in the States builds the next few weeks, brands will be looking for a “what’s next” as a way to capitalize on all the excitement and buzz and translate that excitement into a long term viable strategy. Certainly MLS presents a great and expanding option. However for some brands looking more global, the elite clubs of the world now marketing in the States are also very interesting, and now it appears that one of not two, of those elite names are presenting a unique and sustainable new option in the mix.
The business of “The Beautiful Game” in the States keeps getting more interesting.
Brand Hoopla: Five Star Basketball