Football Club Finances & “Cash Flows” is the female & gay target.
Traditionally until the last 80s & early 90s the Sport was seen & dominated
by the heterosexual male segment of the market. Many Business “Social
Engineers” saw the potential in increasing their market share & incomes if
they managed to shift the focus & profile from “the pot-belly mates having a
lager at the pub” towards a more physically aesthetically pleasing look &
image in order to attract the female & gay segments. More & more Club
Marketing Directors & player representatives were steering their star
players towards activities away from strictly running onto a ground &
kicking a ball around.
(David Beckham - pioneer of New Football Marketing)
David Beckham was the pioneer & the “marketing tool” example that the rest
of the Football World followed & used. His "boyish good looks" were splashed
all over magazines & the TVs with the difference that they now appeared on the
fashion, lifestyle & culture media. Not only did Beckham capture the attention
of the huge female & less but powerful income gay bracket towards Football
has set a whole new generation of player “clones” that would spread the
“marketing gospel”& keep the marketing machine going for the future. Thus
insuring enormous income flows for themselves outside of Football, but also
big "Cash Flows" for their Clubs who are including “image”contractual
clause with percentages going to them in exchange for big advances for the
exploitations rights.
(Cristiano Ronaldo - jeans ads)
Suddenly, crowd attendance rose to new heights as more females &
traditionally non –Football consumers attended stadiums to watch their
“fantasies” play Football & also consumed related products. These same new
consumers watched TV which in turn attracted a whole new bunch of new
advertisers traditionally female & “metro-sexual” based towards the game
of Football (Cosmetics, Health- Skin Care, Fashion Houses, Perfumes,
Jewellery, Mobiles etc) thus increasing revenues along with merchandising
that opened up millions to team shirts & all sorts of paraphernalia. Now we
have Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Fabio
Cannavaro, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos... just to mention a few, that keep the
fire burning for themselves, their Clubs, advertisers, sponsorship deals, TVs,
the female market & the whole Football industry.
(Fabio Cannavaro with the Italian NT in underwear ad)
Here is a clip of Real Madrid arriving to Malaga last weekend for their League
match. Watch the reaction of the fans, in particular two girl fans who travelled
to see in person their idol Sergio Ramos, the scene could be mistaken with the
arrival of “The Jonas Brothers or U2”, but it’s a Football Team & it’s direct
consequence of the "New Football Marketing" the began a decade ago
specifically aimed towards the female & already mentioned segments. You can
virtually see the money coming out of their crying love struck eyes: the Real
Madrid Uniforms, Real Madrid mobile covers, Sergio Ramos Posters, the Real
Madrid vs Malaga tickets to watch the game, more merchandising …If
Marketing is experience & emotion you don´t get much better than this.
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