#360Business: How Bayern Munich are trying to break the USA

Steve Brenner 10:01 11/08/2015
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  • Robert Lewandowski after scoring against Real Madrid in last week’s Audi Cup final.

    For the past decade, the United States have gleefully welcomed world football’s finest to its shores. Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid, among illustrious others, have made numerous trips Stateside, eager to tap into the development – and marketing riches – which breaking into one of the biggest sporting market delivers.

    Yet for one European superpower, coming to American has not been on the agenda…until now.

    Remarkably, Bayern Munich have flown over the pond just once since 2004. Make no mistake, the five time European champions have vast support all over the globe, and especially in North America.

    They proudly boast about the 260,000 club members on their books who have special club benefits and voting rights. Furthermore, there are 3,800 fan clubs worldwide with 300,000 members. The eight groups which began the push in the US has now grown to 83 across 32 states in the last 12 months, more than any other European club in the US.

    Yet while, for example, the two Manchester clubs have feverishly chased the dollar – United toned down public engagements this summer from a wearisome 184 in 2014 to 71 during their tour last month – Bayern have chosen to operate differently.

    The moneymen in Munich have been content to stay close to their roots. Globe-trotting, exhausting pre-season tours which double up as painstaking promotional journeys were not for them. 

    There has, however, been a seismic change in attitude.

    Considering the pace at which world football is growing, there was simply no option but to adapt.

    Last July, Bayern set up an office in midtown Manhattan which has become the headquarters of their US operation. Small steps have been taken – they currently employ just four staff members plus two freelancers and two interns – though progress is notable.

    The timing is critical.

    Fox Sports will begin broadcasting the Bundesliga from this Friday, the first season in a five year deal which will transplant German football into over 90 million American homes. Sky Deutschland has the rights to the Bundesliga and the German second division. But after Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox increased its stake to over 50 per cent, the landscape has changed.

    The network will broadcast games in the Americas, Asia and other countries in Europe this season in a deal which is worth upwards of $190 million (Dh700m) a year.

    Media partnerships with the likes of MSN and Univision have been signed to help distribute content.

    Previously, Gol TV broadcast Europe’s best-supported and most frugally run league. Yet with the projected viewer numbers a fraction of Fox’s reach, the exposure wasn’t enough to take German football onto the next level globally.

    Now, however, interest will increase considerably.

    And for that reason, Bayern knew they needed an American presence. It wasn’t good enough to just be at the end of a phone. Face-to-face meetings with sponsors and prospective partners moving forward were vital.

    Heading up the US venture is Rudolf Vidal, a former goalkeeper whose inability to carve out a life on the pitch pushed him to a role to advance matters off it.

    Vidal, a former reserve goalkeeper at TSV 1860 Munich,was born in Colorado, and holds German and US citizenship, something which was vitally important when looking for a figurehead in the States.

    Bayern are undoubtedly late to the party (club bosses wish they’d acted sooner), especially considering the vast support Manchester United and Barcelona have built up over the past 10 years. Yet the Germans are aggressively playing catch up with their European rivals.

    They played games in China this summer ahead of the opening of an Asia office in Shanghai.

    New revenue streams will flood back to Germany and help boost transfer funds for a club valued at around $1.85 billion (Dh6.8bn).

    “We could see a change within the last five years when we started to become very successful in the Champions League and saw the potential of our big global fan base,” Vidal told Sport360.

    “The reality is that most of the revenues are domestic yet we have 400 million fans worldwide. That is a huge opportunity to try and monetise.
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    “We realised that in order to generate more revenues and put the best possible team out on the pitch we needed to internationalise.”

    Jorg Wacker, executive board member internationalisation and strategy, was brought in to head the internationalisation process.
    “German soccer values are very family and fan driven and about respecting tradition.

    “Mia San Mia is our motto. It translates to ‘We are who we are’ – it represents those values, our strong connection to our heritage and our fans and that is reflected in everything we do.

    “It is great to see how far interest in FC Bayern in the States has come. The buzz around soccer has grown a lot in the US so it is definitely the right time to be here.”

    Bayern star man Thomas Muller.

    Abu Dhabi’s efforts to help Manchester City earn true global recognition has seen clubs spring up in North America, Australia and Japan to join the figurehead team in England.

    The City Football Group have not hidden their modus operandi. Bayern, however, have zero interest in creating an MLS franchise. That is not their style, even if Adidas, a major MLS sponsor whose shirts are worn by all 20 teams, have strong links to Bayern – Herbert Hainer, the chief executive of Adidas, is a supervisory board chairman of Bayern.

    Building the Munich brand by utilising the stars guided by Pep Guardiola back in Bavaria is all they require.

    PSG, who were in town recently on their own pre-season tour and remain desperate to give their Qatar funded project greater global reach, dropped into Bayern’s offices to chat about their US push.

    The French League, although fiercely competitive, doesn’t yet have the kind of global reach of their European cousins.
    City’s footprints in New York are noticeable, especially in terms of their tireless work in establishing strong links in the  community and local schools. 

    Deals in the works will see Bayern attempt to emulate training programmes and partnerships. The Germans’ approach is more 
    understated yet tries to ensure deep roots continue to grow.

    In association with the Goethe-Institut in New York, Bayern are helping teach German across the country while a partnership with youth organisation Global Premier Soccer sees coaches in 11 different states reach over 55,000 football playing children.
    Nevertheless, the way Abu Dhabi have attempted to turn the US blue isn’t the Bayern way.

    “Growing the fanbase is the most important goal for us,” added Vidal. “We know we have a strong footing in the football landscape, one of the top four clubs in the world. One of our key values is also maintaining financial responsibility, which is very important for us even as we internationalise.

    “It means we would not spend more money than we are able to generate. We have been very profitable in the last 20 years. Everything built over that period of time has been on the basis of fiscal responsibility. The stadiums are full, there are very strong economic structures in place.

    “The most important thing is to be successful. You can be the best brand in the world but if there is no success on the pitch, it doesn’t help you.”

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