From this morning's Sports Business Daily... ________ FC BARCELONA LIKELY PLAYING GAMES IN CHICAGO, N.Y. THIS SUMMER By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal Soccer United Marketing (SUM) today is expected to announce a multi-year strategic partnership with FC Barcelona that will see the Spanish La Liga club play games this summer in Chicago and N.Y. The club averaged 80,734 spectators for three matches in its last U.S. tour in '06. A meeting with execs from SUM and FC Barcelona will take place at MLS offices in N.Y. today at 10:00am ET.
Edit: While many of you (myself included) were aware of exhibition games being played on US soil this year, I was completely unaware of a multi-year partnership. Exciting.
Will these Barcelona exhibition matches (likely in NY and Chicago) be played against MLS teams (or perhaps against a Mexican or other club team, or some national team needing to get a friendly in)? Eventually (maybe even by 2009), I do think SUM will figure out some way to get their European club partners involved in the SuperLiga.
you say big "joke", SUM says "money-maker" with the potential to be a bigger money-maker. and having more, and diverse, and "better/known" clubs join SL at some point, and therefore likely making it a bigger money-maker seems like a logical path for the tourney to take. (even if the Euro clubs, like the FMF clubs, will be out of season and treating it as an exhibition.) CCL has the potential to be the "important" "qualification-based" tournament that really does crown the champion of the region. The SL format, (and the willingness of clubs from around the world to want to spread their brand in the US) seems to indicate to me that the SuperLiga can become a profitable and interesting (at some level) summer club exhibition from which SUM can make some decent money.
So what makes this a "partnership" much less one "strategic" in nature? And, seriously, the author of that article's name is "Tripp Mickle"? Sounds like a NASCAR driver.
I have no idea what your question means. And yeah, Tripp Mickle is the guy's name; and he's one of the best writers in THE sports industry trade rag. So...Again, I don't quite see your point.
Article Update: Spanish Flair: FC Barcelona Signs Five-Year Deal With SUM By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal MLS Commissioner Don Garber (2nd from l) On Hand To Announce FC Barcelona-SUM DealLa Liga's FC Barcelona announced that SUM will be its agency of record in the U.S. following a five-year agreement signed today. The deal will see the Spanish club play six int'l games over the term and gives SUM management of all commercial and sponsorship sales on behalf of the club. Sources said FC Barcelona will play games in Chicago and N.Y. this summer as part of its "On Tour '08: More than a Club" series. The club averaged 80,734 spectators for three matches in its last U.S. tour in '06. The deal adds another asset -- what MLS Commissioner Don Garber called the first "super club" -- to the SUM portfolio, which includes MLS, U.S. Soccer and the Mexican national team. Garber: "It's an interesting statement about our view of the sport that we're interested in building the Barca brand, one that could be in time a competitor of the L.A. Galaxy. But that's not our view. Our view is that if we can grow the soccer market then we'll be fine." The agreement also gives FC Barcelona the chance to tap into the U.S. market and expand its brand. FC Barcelona Vice Chair Ferran Soriano: "The U.S. is a fantastic market for soccer. It's huge and it's growing. Now we're convinced that whatever we do in the U.S. will be with MLS, Don Garber and his team." The club plans to open three camps in the U.S. this summer and academies in the future that will be designed to identify talent and expand the brand. SUM Exec VP/Int'l Business & Special Events Will Wilson: "The main thing to understand is this is not just a tour."
True, I'd never heard about anything like that or thought about it. But it does make a ton of sense. If they expanded the field and invited top, popular teams from throughout the world, the SuperLiga could really become something. It won't be that important, but as a tournament, it would have good competition, marketability, and exposure.
"It's an interesting statement about our view of the sport that we're interested in building the Barca brand, one that could be in time a competitor of the L.A. Galaxy."
I actually don't think they'd want to "expand" the field. keeping it at 8 teams or there-abouts is a fine size, but refining the teams invited (perhaps only 2 each from MLS and FMF and then 4 other "prominent" invited clubs) could be in the SL's future. with all the other matches and events on club calendars, the SL will have to be a short tournament, or just a series of exhibitions that somehow crowns a champion. it wouldn't ever replace the Club World Cup (and any event that actually has a qualification system), but SL has the potential to be a decent (to very good) club invitational organized by SUM in the summer.
With Barca having to play in earlier champions league qualifiers, do they still have time to tour the states this year?
Their play in the Champions League won't start until August 12-13. They could definitely tour in late July/early August if they wanted to.
Anything that pushes SuperLiga towards being a "friendly" or "invitational" tournament is a bad thing IMHO. What SUM needs to do is push the Mexican teams to set up competitive criteria for them to qualify, rather then simply being chosen. If SUM can set up participation for European clubs via some set of qualification rules, then that's great. But I don't want to see some standing invitation for the likes of Barca to SuperLiga every year.
My question refers to what a shallow, overused and often meaningless term "strategic partnership" is. It's marketting BS. SUM (and kudos to them) have landed Barcelona as one of the teams they manage in the US to go along with their English language TV rights to various major tournaments. This is a very good thing. Certainly, a helluva lot better than having a rogue entity like Champions World do this sort of thing. I just don't see how "strategic partnership" really fits in this instance.
Why am I smiling at the fact that the reporter's name for these articles is Tripp Mickle? Sounds like a by line out of the Onion.
what we really need is a big club like Barcelona to open its checkbook and secure ownership of an MLS club, either existing or expansion. I see real tangible upside to that
It could happen. If Barcelona continues to tour the U.S. on a regular basis to build its brand, it too can be as big a club as the Los Angeles Galaxy someday. Dare to dream, mi amigos.
I completely agree with you on this. You can look at a partnership like this two ways: 1) Oh great! MLS is partnering with one of the best, most beloved clubs on the planet! Just being associated with them is going to add legitimacy and generate excitement. This is awesome. OR 2) I am a sports fan. I don't care if a sports organization I associate myself with partners with another, only if they beat them on the field. I'm of #2.
I'd actually be most excited if we got FC Barcelona vs. MLS All-Stars '09 at the new Red Bull Park. Now that'd be cool. Seeing them play against San Jose CrapQuakes....eh
Well I think Barcelona has targeted the U.S. market for sometime, even dating back when they created a partnership with the NFL. This deal however has a real chance to benefit both parties. For one FC Barcelona has probably the most talented roster on the planet, despite the fact that they didn't win La Liga this season. They definitely see the huge potential at cracking the U.S. market and understand that there are other clubs in Europe trying to do the same thing here. As far as the marketing aspect and potential money making opportunities is concerned, Barcelona might even be thinking of setting up club shops/cafes in the U.S., perhaps working with their sponsor Nike in helping them do that. Also the club might be looking to see if they can get carriage agreements signed with U.S. cable and satellite providers to carry BARCA TV. I'm sure Barca's tv channel is one thing the club can use as a marketing vehicle to exploit their brand in America, especially if they can get exclusive broadcast rights to their games in the U.S. Lastly if they were ever able to put a franchise in MLS, they would want their network to carry the games.
So wait how does it benefit MLS, clearly this is good for them but for us....? If it is just for some friendlies then maybe it isn't such an important development.
Having a major club like FC Barcelona associated with MLS is a real benefit for the league. I'm sure in any potential marketing arrangements, i.e. ticket sales, merchandise, tv rights, etc. will somehow be shared between the marketing arm of MLS (SUM) and FC Barcelona. So even for now without Barcelona having a satellite club in MLS, the league can still make money off Barca and Barca can add more fans to their club in the process, while making money too.
Barca should sign Altidore (with a nice transfer fee paid to MLS) and loan Henry to MLS/NYRB this summer. Since he'd be on loan, this wouldn't require a DP slot. I'm only half joking.