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Manchester City Go Global

Can Thaksin Succeed In His Global Brand Dream?

As amazing as it seems, Manchester City could soon become a global brand if new owner Thaksin Shinawatra has his way.

As City's Thai owner heads to the Far East to secure new sponsorship deals for the club, his intentions are clear; to make Manchester City a global brand.

That is of course easier said than done. The virtual monopoly of the Champions League regulars hold sway in the global football market, and it's not based solely on performance, but consistency in performance and heritage.

The likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Benfica in Portugal, Celtic and Rangers in Scotland, Juve and Milan in Italy, and our neighbours and Liverpool in England have a history and heritage of both success and mass appeal for differing reasons. The fact they have been Champions of Europe at least a couple of times each helps yes, but so does the perception of heritage and scale.

There are hundreds of millions of Hispanics around the world who pledge their allegiances to either Real or Barcelona. There is a huge Itialian based ancestory all over the world who similarly follow Juve or Milan

More recently of course, these Super Powers of football have dominated through significant investment in PR, Communiactions and Sponorships. Attracting the huge gobal Brands plays a significant role in increasing fan base.

Financially, previous arguments have been on the lack of revenues per fan. How can a club monetise its fan base if it is so diverse and relatively poor? Historically merchandise sales were the only foreign revenue channels. Traditionally the Black Market ruled this space and to a certain degree still does. Applying the same philosophy as the music industry, 'if it spreads the word it cant be bad for sales' the black market has actually helped build these brands and given them waht can appear to be an impenetrable market position.

Well that is changing, and fast. Advances in media, tehcnology and the advent of new communication channels, combined wth the global appeal of the world's best Leagues has opened the market up. This year saw the first collective sale of global Premier League TV rights by territory. Bringing an additional £30m per year for every Premier League club the deal has created a more level playing field in terms of revenues for the clubs. Of course the bigger clubs traditioanlly still earn more, however the others have had an extra cash injection for new players. For most it has double their revenues from Broadasting.

In recent years Chelsea have been able to threaten as a global player due to their ability to amass a squad of many of the world's best players, and turn it into trophies.

Asia has in the past few years become a mature market for football clubs. The Premier League is hugely popular throughout Asia. Of course it alwasy has been, but the image of a thousand Chinese watching one television screen with no disposable income to generate revenues was hardly the financiers dream.

The truth now however is that China is fast becoming a global economic superpower, as is India. That' s more thean 1.5 billion people in the club's market. When Manchester City played Everton two years ago and both clubs fielded Chinese players, an estimated 350 million people in China watched the game. And many of them now have their own PC's or televisions.

Recent studies show that whilst the Chinese prefer to watch sport on the internet, the Indians prefer to do so on mobile phones. Both maturing channels for broadcast sport.

So Thaksin Shinawatra's trip this week to the Far East, to view Chinese sponsorship for Manchester City is potentially a huge first step in gaining a foothold in this relatively new market.

Sven Goran Eriksson is well known around the world for his high profile Club and International career, and Sun Jihai is China's most famous footballing export. Both will accompany Shinawatra this week.

The Manchester City owner has the relationships in the region to pull weight and influence. His investment of £81 million in purchasing City has been followed up with an inital £40 million for players during last summer. He certainly means business, which wil be further emphasised by additional funds becomgin available for Eriksson in January. Shinawatra has already seen return in City's League position, currently third in the Premier League with a hundred per cent home record. He can smell success, and seems committed to his investment.

It will be interesting to see from which sector our new sponsors will be, but Im sure a Chinese telecom or media company has been high on Shinawtra's list. Such a partnership will open the doors to the huge Chinese market for Manchester City and teh potential to compete with the big footballing brands.

Tony Meehan

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