Italian football giant Juventus intend using their tour of Asia in August, which includes a match in Sydney, to gauge the potential for more commercial sponsorship deals in the region.
Juventus will play the A-League All Stars in Sydney on August 10. Seven West Media will be revealed as the broadcaster at a launch event featuring Juventus officials and former players on Tuesday in Sydney, during which further ticketing and commercial details will be announced.
The club’s commercial director, Francesco Calvo, told The Australian Financial Review Juventus will investigate demand for sponsorship while on tour, which will also allow existing sponsors to leverage their partnerships with the team.
“Italian clubs generally are quite reluctant to move too far and want to stay focused on training for the season. But Juventus are trying to break the rules of the game in that sense. Italian clubs are behind English clubs in terms of having [commercial] partners around the world and that is something we are analysing to do [in the future].”
“We have a very strong and, we think, a prestigious brand, so perhaps we will look to do things a little differently to other clubs. But Asia is a developing and moving region and we think there could be commercial opportunities there.”
An important part of the strategy has been expanding the club’s social media presence across Asia, some of which is managed by Australian firm Tribal Sports Management.
STRONG FOLLOWING IN CHINA AND JAPAN
Juventus, for example, is the most popular club in terms of social media followers in countries such as Indonesia, and also has a strong following in China and Japan.
“It is important to give as much coverage to our fans around the world, because sometimes not all have rights to the [Italian first division] Serie A,” Calvo says. “So we are working to increase the fan engagement across YouTube, Facebook and so on.
“It is great platform to engage with fans and we are very happy and satisfied with it.”
Calvo expects sponsors such as Jeep and Samsung to promote their brands as part of the tour given they also want to sell their products in the Asian market.
Juventus ranked the ninth richest football club in the world on the 2014 Deloitte Football Money League list released in January, with annual revenue of €272.4 million ($505 million).
That figure puts it above any other Italian club and only behind several English Premier League clubs and the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Unlike most Italian clubs, Juventus owns its stadium and is able to negotiate its own broadcast deal in Italy.
It is understood the club will make about $1.5-$2 million profit from the Sydney match, after which it will play another two games in Asian markets such as Singapore and China.
Football Federation Australia will make up to $2 million from the broadcast rights, signage and ticket sales. The NSW government and ANZ Stadium are also providing as much as about $4 million funding for the match.
The tour will come after the World Cup in Brazil in June and July, but Juventus management have committed to bringing as strong a squad as possible to Australia for the All Stars match, which may also feature former Juventus legend and current Sydney FC player Alessandro Del Piero.
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nice read, Juve is trying but the Juve fans have to put up a show too, especially after the standards Liverpool set in Australia.