Italian clubs have for years widely relied on broadcasting revenues whilst underestimating marketing and brand management. Consider that many of Serie A’s clubs currently do not have a specific marketing team and tend to outsource most of the work under this aspect. Football Clubs values are not exclusively made up by tangible properties (stadiums, headquarters, training grounds) but also from disclosed intangible assets such as their brand value. Last year’s BrandFinance Football 50 report included AC Milan as the only Italian club in its top ten most valuable football club brands in the world, estimating the red and black marque worth an approximate 263 million dollars, light-years away from the head of the chart, where Bayern Munich and Manchester United have no close rivals.

 

Position	Club	Brand Value	Commercial Revenue 2012/2013	Percentage of total revenue 2012/2013
1	Bayern Munich	$860 M	$237,1 M	55%
2	Man United	$837 M	$177,9 M	42%
3	Real Madrid	$621 M	$211,6 M	41%
4	Barcelona	$572 M	$175,8 M	37%
5	Chelsea	$418 M	$97,9 M	32%
6	Arsenal	$410 M	$72,8 M	26%
7	Liverpool	$361 M	$114 M	47%
8	Man City	$332 M	$166,9 M	53%
9	Milan	$263 M	$96,2 M	37%
10	Borussia Dortmund	$260 M	$109 M	43%
13	Juventus	$180 M	$68,4 M	25%
16	Inter	$161 M	$67,9 M	40%

*BrandFinance football 50 report 2012/2013. 
*Commercial data: Deloitte Football Money League 2014: Commercial revenue includes sponsorship and merchandising revenues. For a more detailed analysis of the comparability of revenue generation between clubs, it would be necessary to obtain information not otherwise publicly available.

A lack of strategy and a poor attention to promote the team’s value by the Italian managements have inevitably resulted in a loss of ground in commercial revenues when compared to other top European sides. It is clear how the first three Italian clubs registered commercial revenue nowhere comparable with the rest of Europe’s elite, except for the two Londoner clubs Chelsea and Arsenal, but they can highly trust on match-day incomes (especially Arsenal: the Emirates Stadium is regularly sold out for all matches and cheapest seasonal tickets are sold at 985£!).

 

The Rossoneri are therefore leading the Italian teams in this particular chart, but at the same time, Milan has unfortunately suffered a bigger drop in brand value than any other side in the top 10 mainly because of the fall in attendance in San Siro and because of the upsetting results on the pitch that have predictably reduced the team’s appeal… and clearly nobody wants to sponsor a losing side.

 

Milan’s new headquarters (Casa Milan) have been lately inaugurated, and as we read in the club’s sustainability report of 2012, the novel command post will allow Berlusconi’s club to:
- Create new synergies with commercial sponsors and partners;
- Develop the retail concept (Milan Cafe, Museum Store and the well known MilanLab’s services will now be available to privates);
- Increase the image through institutional operations and events in communications technologies;
- Think of a new way of working with more functional and technological opportunities.


Back in 2010 ACM also embarked on a new path in the attempt to increase its commercial revenues: Infront Italia took over Digitalia’s place in finding, selecting and implementing the club’s sponsors. Under Infront’s management (which just replaced RCS Sport as Inter's marketing partner too) the club bravely introduced a meticulous and clear sponsorship strategy, following what Bayern Munchen had previously started doing: reducing the number of commercial sponsorships in order to create partnerships and offer these allies a greater and more exclusive visibility. The policy seems to be working as the club has seen business-related revenues grow considerably since applying the ‘less is more approach’.


On the other hand, we will see that completely different strategies seem to be working just as fine. The parting of Sir Alex Ferguson left indecision over whether Manchester United could continue their success without him. Even though it still is only one of two football brands deserving of an AAA+ brand rating, the strongest rating available, the Red Devils had to leave the crown to Bayern Munich.


It must be clear that Manchester United have commercially benefitted more than any other from the EPL rise in the last decade but are now living an unusual sportive season as they have not qualified for next year’s Uefa Champions League and have dismissed manager David Moyes, accused of the disappointing team performance.


Things were different in 2011 when United led the chart in Premier League and conducted a particular research, which quantified that nearly 200 million of its 330 million fans at the time were Asian. Little time was wasted and a new and innovative strategy was developed, as the club states.

“Over the last few years, we have implemented a proactive approach to identifying, securing and supporting sponsors.
 In addition, we are focused on expanding a regional sponsorship model, segmenting new opportunities by product category and territory. As part of this strategy, we have opened an office in Asia and are in the process of opening an office in North America. These are in addition to our London and Manchester offices.”


Non-surprisingly, they reached their goal and the new offices gave, and currently are giving, an excellent contribution in boosting the club’s revenues by signing a large number of deals with local partners:
STC –Telecommunications partner of MU for Saudi Arabia,
TM –Telecommunications partner of MU in Malaysia,
Globacom – Telecommunications partner of MU in Nigeria, Ghana, Republic of Benin,
Viva – Telecommunications partner of MU in Bahrain,
Turk Telekom – Telecommunications partner of MU in Turkey,
Airtel – Telecommunications partner of MU in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,
Globul – Telecommunications partner of MU in Bulgaria.



Just to mention some of the telecommunication allies that are associated with the Red Devils. United now have more than forty commercial partners and used to have no more than ten a decade ago, but what most impresses is the wide range of markets they have managed to appear in; from Japanese paint to Mexican snacks, passing through Chilean wine and Malaysian noodles!


Of course these are not partnerships meant for the long-term, the strategy does not envisage enduring relations, as most of the deals have a maximum length of three years, with few but relevant exceptions: United’s seven year agreement with Chevrolet will bring $559 million in the club’s coffers, setting a new record.


Glazer’s club is successfully trying to get closer to potential aficionados and increase its fan base in relatively new markets like the Asian and the American one. In fact nearly all Top European Clubs are competing for the same territories, with few as rare exceptions: Arsenal for instance is highly influenced by its new sponsor Puma and is following them to conquer the African panorama and Southeast Asia.


You may consider this as the Gold Rush of modern football; the sooner you get into new markets, the more fans you attract… and all we know is that once you start supporting a team, there is no way back, no matter how much money they make.

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