Tactics behind matching financial with football success

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  • Taking the floor: (l-r) moderator Mike Farnan, Andrea Agnelli, Fawaz Al Hasawi, Suhail Al Arifi and Boutros Boutros.

    The importance of football as a business increases all the time. It is not now simply a case of relying on strong domestic support, clubs must search for more varied and deeper revenue streams to compete.

    This desire saw Manchester City sweep to success since attracting Abu Dhabi investment in 2009, while negotiations for the next Premier League TV deal are expected to reach £4 billion (Dh22.9b).

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    Under the banner ‘Smart Investment’, the topic was discussed during Sunday’s middle session at the Dubai International Sports Conference.

    Juventus president Andrea Agnelli’s family has owned the club for generations, with the new Juventus Stadium exhibiting their desire to embrace the present. Kuwaiti businessman Fawaz Al Hasawi has taken on the challenge of reviving sleeping giants Nottingham Forest since purchasing the club in 2012.

    Arabian Gulf League CEO Suhail Al Arifi offered a local perspective, while Emirates senior-vice president of corporate communications Boutros Boutros reflected on the airline’s multitude of sponsorship deals with clubs such as Arsenal, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

    You have had unbelievable success since taking over in 2010. You have won three Serie A titles and built the state-of-the-art Juventus Stadium. What made you make this decision?
    Andrea Agnelli: Our story is peculiar, as the ownership of my family with Juventus stretches back to 1923. This is the longest-lasting ownership of any franchise, globally.

    The story of the stadium dates back to 1994, so it has been discussed for a long time. When I joined Juventus in 2010 it was clear to understand that you have to put football at the centre.

    In order to raise the bar again and get back to success a number of investments were put in place in 2010. The capital increase was about €120m (Dh536m).

    A very important part of it is people. A lot of investment was made in human resources, the football side and the infrastructure.

    The new stadium gives us a great advantage. It is a decent size, perfect surface with nice corporate hospitality. There is a strong attention on families and children to watch the game. We are now thinking of putting the training grounds together with the headquarters, a hotel and an international school in front of the stadium.

    If you put together all the various investments, that made it possible to turnaround Juventus. Has the new stadium helped in terms of turnover?
    AA: The stadium has helped a lot, about 40 per cent from the old stadium. The turnover there was about €30m (Dh134.2m), in the last financial year it was about €45m (Dh201.4m).

    We are still a long way away from the benchmark, which is Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. Both stadiums have a capacity of 41,000 but they turnover €90m (Dh402.7m).

    We have to understand in today’s world, there are different elements to put together. A stadium is not everything. Chelsea has double the prices. London can afford that, but Turin cannot.

    You take Bayern Munich as an example. Bavaria has two per cent unemployment while Turin has unemployment of about 14 per cent. It is extremely different. We must make the most of the elements we have got to ensure the team competes internationally – that is most important.

    Juve have made that breakthrough. How important is it for other Italian teams to follow? Lazio and Roma for example.
    AA: Reforms are in great need in Italy. Certainly, stadiums are one.

    Italy could not host a competition like the European Championships as we do not have enough stadiums in that class. The average age for stadiums in Italy is 64.

    The infrastructures are obsolete. Stadiums are the theatre where the art of football is performed.

    That is the passport to global distribution through television broadcasters. If only a few games are seen internationally, they are from the top of the class.

    In Italy today, the grass is not green, the stadiums are empty. It is a very poor show that we put on from that side. If you are not a fan and you are flicking through the channels with your remote control, you stop and watch a sports programme in which the arena is full.

    Fawaz, there has been an influx of Middle Eastern investment into European football. How do you see this developing?
    Fawaz Al Hasawi: Of course, Manchester City are a very good team. They are well supported by the government of the UAE, who stand heavily behind them and are proud of this. They compete in the strongest league in the world.

    We are trying to imitate it at a lower level. We are just individual supporters. We have spoken to the government of Kuwait about developing the situation. We were trying to give them new ideas to study.

    This is a positive step. We look to support the club through the government or private sector.

    Nottingham Forest are a big brand internationally. You talk to people, and they are aware of it. Was this a reason behind buying them?
    FAH: Forest is one of the most well-known clubs in the world. It has achieved great things, two European Cups. It enjoys a great number of fans everywhere. In Kuwait, Forest is almost a Kuwaiti club. People wish Forest to be honoured to reach the Premier League. We wish to take the club to its natural place. It is one of the oldest clubs. It encouraged us to take step in and to invest.

    In April, Suhail, you were appointed as CEO of the Arabian Gulf League. Has it been a huge challenge to encourage fans to support the league?
    Suhail Al Arifi: We keep discussing points to attract fans. As you know, our league is only six years old.

    It is not comparable to Europe. If you take it proportionately for years of the league, it means we are doing well. Regarding stadiums, we have great facilities. We might need to have investigate proper timing for games and transmitting games.

    Match experience is very important for fans. People in Europe work hard on that experience. Have you looked into it?
    SAA: We had meeting with Bayern Munich and the Premier League. We had a study how to attract fans.

    It depends on density of population and interest. Kick-off times can make fans sometimes reluctant to attend. We have had a study about this, to set a proper timetable to come to the stadium.

    Boutros, what makes Emirates buy into a relationship?
    Boutros Boutros: Football is the No1 sport in the world. There is  huge difference in viewership bet-ween that and the second-highest.

    Our strategy is to govern the six continents where we fly. Our aim in the future is to cover every major city in the world. Soccer is the best investment for that. But in other parts of the world, it is cricket and rugby. We like to be diverse.

    Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium is probably the most famous stadium sponsorship in the world. Has that been a major part of your strategy?
    BB: Of course, our strategy takes years of planning. When Arsenal was available, we thought it was something we should do.

    I strongly believe this deal was great for Arsenal and even greater for Emirates.

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