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Journal of Sponsorship Volume 3 Number 1
Football teams going international — The
strategic leverage of branding
André Richelieu* and Michel Desbordes
Received (in revised form): 12th July, 2009
*Marketing Department, Faculty of Business Administration, Université Laval, Québec, QC
G1V 0A6, Canada
Tel: +1 (418) 656 2131 ext. 7710; E-mail: andre.richelieu@fsa.ulaval.ca
André Richelieu specialises in brand
management and sports marketing. His research
mostly relates to how professional sports teams
can leverage their brand equity by capitalising on
the emotional connection they share with their
fans, how professional sports teams can
internationalise their brand, and how sports
teams can improve fans’ experience at the
sporting venue and outside the stadium, and
increase fans’ attachment to the team. Mr
Richelieu’s work has been published extensively
in North America and Europe.
Michel Desbordes is a specialist in sports
marketing and his research focuses on the
management of sporting events, sport
sponsorship and marketing applied to football.
He has written 16 books and 22 academic
articles (including in the International Journal of
Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, European
Sport Management Quarterly and the
International Journal of Sport Management and
Marketing). In January 2009, Mr Desbordes
became the new editor of the International
Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship.
ABSTRACT
Sports, which not so long ago were merely a very
local affair, have become a major global activity.
Through media, exhibition games and tours
abroad, star players, fan communities on the web
and licensed merchandising, among other things,
10 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3. NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
sports teams have increased their global appeal
and thus their international reach. Beyond the
Real Madrid, Manchester United, New York
Yankees and the likes that usually come to
mind, sports clubs have realised the power that
branding encapsulates in marketing their team
beyond their local market. This paper looks at
sports teams as brands in their own right and
how they can achieve their internationalisation
as such. In this regard, a graph of the
internationalisation of a sports team brand is
introduced. The authors then present four
strategies sports team brands could use in order
to grow internationally and, when their
potential allows, to become global brands. In this
regard, cases of European football teams are
used. The discussion is concluded with a
reflection on the internationalisation of a sports
team brand that takes into account the nature of
the sport involved, the club’s country of origin
and the way the league is managed.
Keywords: internationalisation, sports
teams, brand, football, sponsorship,
Europe
BACKGROUND
Companies in the consumer goods
industry have long understood the
opportunities that foreign countries
represent. Hence, it should be no surprise
to find Adidas in Indonesia, Dunkin
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Donuts in Germany, McDonald’s in India,
Nestlé in Belarus, P&G in Romania and so
on. It is only recently that sports teams
have started capitalising on markets outside
their immediate reach, however. This is
partly due to the nature of professional
sports, which, for a long period of time,
represented a local affair, limited, at best, to
a national or continental event. Owing to
the progress of technology and the
increasing exchange across countries and
cultures, professional sports haven taken on
a global dimension — all the more so since
some teams (FC Barcelona, Dallas
Cowboys, Manchester United etc) and
players (David Beckham, Roger Federer,
Tiger Woods etc) have achieved the status
of global brands and are managed as such.
Some sports team managers interviewed
by the present authors underlined that
‘there might be room for only a few global
sport team brands’. As such, the increasing
financial disparities between established
clubs in major leagues (English, Spanish,
Italian, German and French football
leagues) and the rest of the pack might
cause a fracture between the haves and the
have-nots and, consequently, affect the
ability of teams to expand beyond their
original market.
But how does one go from a local
product to a national and global brand in
sports? What are the determinants of
success required to start building a global
sports team brand? What process should a
sports team follow? What strategies are
available to a sports team to establish itself
as a global brand? Some answers to these
questions will be found by focusing on the
case of European football teams. First, the
paper will have a look at the concept of
sports teams as brands. Secondly, the issues
and research objectives will be highlighted.
The methods will follow, before
presentation of the main results. A
discussion and conclusion will end the
paper.
HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3 NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
Richelieu and Desbordes
INTERNATIONALISATION OF SPORTS
TEAMS AS BRANDS
The value of a brand
As in many industries today, the brand
represents the most important asset of a
sports club.1 This brand is composed of
intangible benefits, such as the emotions
fans experience at the stadium and the
sense of belonging to the team, and
tangible benefits, such as the result of the
game and team’s merchandising.2
Accordingly, in professional sports, along
with entertainment, religion and politics,
the emotional response from fans is
stronger than in any other industry.3 A
professional sports team has the potential to
build its brand equity by capitalising on the
emotional relationship it shares with its
fans. This is all the more important
considering that teams often sacrifice
customer loyalty and long-term association
for short-term revenue growth.4
By defining a strong team identity,
which constitutes the first of three steps of
the general model for developing brand
equity in sports (Figure 1), a team could be
able to overcome a losing record.5 This is
followed by positioning the sports team in
the market and then performing
marketing actions that are not only
coherent with the identity and positioning
of the team but also reinforce them. The
team’s brand identity or personality is
important because it provides the club
with direction and meaning.6 This
personality should increase consumer
preference and usage, arouse emotions and
increase the level of trust and loyalty.7
As far as a global brand is concerned, it
needs to find a way to provide relevant
meaning and experience to people in
various markets.8 A global brand creates
perceptions of brand superiority, quality
and preference among consumers.9 As
symbols of cultural ideals, global brands are
generally sought after by consumers.10 In
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The strategic leverage of branding

Figure 1
The strategic
construction of the
brand

Source: Richelieu, A. (2008) ‘Creating and branding sport products’, in Chadwick, S. (ed.) ‘Sport
Marketing’, Henry Stewart Talks, Spring, available at: http://www.hstalks.com/sport/index.htm
(accessed 25 May 2009).

brief, a strong brand is built on a clear • Interactional: The company creates, builds
identity and positioning, and nurtured and maintains effective and meaningful
with coherent marketing actions. relationships with new and existing
stakeholders.
The internationalisation of a brand • Conceptual: The company constantly
generally and in sport specifically re-evaluates its way of thinking and
Inspired by the literature on the operating with its brand in foreign
internationalisation of the firm,11–15 some markets.
authors have reflected on the
internationalisation of brands, both as a Cheng et al.21 have also contributed to the
process16,17 and as a set of strategies.18,19 reflection on the internationalisation
Their contribution helps to better process of a brand. According to them,
understand how a brand could move along companies can follow four progressive
the ‘brand equity pipeline’ (see Figure 2) stages to build an international brand:
and identifies the catalyst factors in the
internationalisation process of a brand. • Pre-international: The company focuses
From a process perspective, Anderson et on ensuring its survival, before
al.20 identified five stages of developing itself as a top-tier brand in
internationalisation for a brand: its home country.
• Global lead market carrying capacity: The
• Aspirational: The desire to company develops a presence and a
internationalise the brand is born and brand awareness in foreign markets,
communicated within the organisation. especially in lead markets (North
• Procedural: The decision to America, Western Europe and Japan),
internationalise the brand is mainly as a supplier to major brands.
implemented. • International branding and market
• Behavioural: The company adjusts its succession: The company works on
brand according to cross-cultural developing an international brand of its
requirements. own in lead countries.

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Richelieu and Desbordes

Figure 2 The
nationalisation
process of a sports
team brand

Source: Richelieu, A., Lopez, S. and Desbordes, M. (2008) ‘The internationalization of a sports team
brand: The case of European soccer teams’, International Journal of Sports Marketing &
Sponsorship, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 29–44.

• Local climax: The company focuses on
developing its brand in other markets,
among other lead emerging markets.
In terms of the strategies that a brand
could follow when going international,
Kapferer22 underlined three main avenues:
• Think local, act global. This strategy is
especially relevant for standardised
products and consists of a gradual
implementation abroad based on the
success in the local market. This enables
the brand to increase its chances of
acceptance abroad and to reduce the
financial risk.
• Think global, act global as much as possible.
This provides the brand with better
chances of acceptance abroad and a
lower financial risk. Firms that follow
this option generally have a global
mindset.
• Unifying local brands. This occurs when
one firm buys another one and the two
different organisational and country
cultures need to be integrated.23
Moreover, Van Gelder24 elaborated four
strategies:
• The brand domain specialist. This strategy
influences the development in a specific
domain, such as in technology, and
consumers’ preferences (eg Apple with
the iPod).
• The brand reputation specialist. This
strategy emphasises authenticity,
credibility and reliability (eg Volvo with
safety).
• The brand affinity specialist. This strategy
aims at outperforming the competition
by building relationships with
consumers and by offering a memorable
experience (eg Walt Disney).
• The brand recognition specialist. This
strategy increases the brand’s
spontaneous notoriety, which can make
it top-of-mind (eg Nescafé).
Based on this set of literature, this paper
introduces Figure 2, which is a synthesis of
the authors’ reflection on the
internationalisation process of a sports
team brand. Even though it appears highly
influenced by the sequential approach in
international business,25 teams have the
possibility to bypass some steps and
accelerate their internationalisation.
Whether local, regional, national or

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The strategic leverage of branding
Table 1: How to leverage a brand along the brand equity pipeline
Stage of internationalisation
From a local to a regional brand
From a regional to a national brand
From a national to an international brand
Source: Couvelaere, V. and Richelieu, A. (2005) ‘Brand strategy in professional sports: The case of French soccer
teams’, European Sport Management Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 23–46.
international, a sports team brand should
look to leverage its brand, which could
happen in several ways, depending on its
actual status (Table 1).
In order to internationalise its brand, a
sports team could choose from among
four strategies, which appear to be the
most relevant in the sports arena. The
reader should note that these strategies are
not mutually exclusive and, as such, teams
are able to combine them (Table 2). These
strategies will take a very concrete form
when analysing the teams studied for this
research.
ISSUES AND RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES
As for any other brand, fan loyalty is
essential to the survival and growth of a
sports team. Moreover, the strong
emotional bond that exists between a
sports club and its fans, as well as the myths
14 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3. NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
Objective and means
Build and perpetuate the brand
Work on the brand image, build fan loyalty and increase
regional presence
Means: Strategic construction of the brand, customer
relationship management, advertising campaigns, distribution
partnerships in order to increase the regional presence, leverage
the social identity of the brand
Reinforce the national positioning
Increase brand recognition and presence
Means: National strategic partnerships (equipment makers,
distributors, media, foreign clubs etc), new design for team
jersey or launching of a vintage collection, website, hiring of
star players etc
Export and globalise the brand
Increase brand recognition and presence worldwide
Means: actions undertaken under the brand reputation, brand
affinity, brand challenger and brand conquistador strategies (see
Table 2)
and symbols associated with a team,26
emphasise the importance of considering a
sports team as a brand in its own right.27
Thus, how can a sports team become an
international global brand? More
specifically:
• What are the determinants of success
required to start building a global sports
team brand?
• What process should a sports team
follow?
• What strategies are available to a sports
team in order to establish itself as a
global brand?
METHODS
As football is the most popular sport
around the world, it is fitting to apply this
work to football. The authors applied their
conceptual framework (Figure 2) to three
European football teams: Football Club
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Table 2: The four main relevant strategies to establish a sports team as a global
brand
Strategy
Brand reputation (think local, act global —
the brand reputation specialist)
Brand affinity (think local, act global —
the brand affinity specialist)
Brand challenger (think local, act global —
the brand recognition specialist)
Brand conquistador (unifying local brands —
the brand recognition specialist)
Source: Richelieu, A., Lopez, S. and Desbordes, M. (2008) ‘The internationalization of a sports team brand: The
case of European soccer teams’, International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 29–44.
Barcelona (FCB) in Spain, and Paris
Saint-Germain (PSG) and Olympique de
Marseille (OM) in France. Inspired by the
recommendations of established
researchers who suggest some diversity in
the sample,28 the selected sports teams
were not all at the same level of
development in their brand equity.
This research is exploratory and the
methodology is qualitative. The authors
proceeded with in-depth case analyses of
the teams. The primary data came from
in-depth interviews with vice presidents,
marketing directors and general managers
of the three clubs, based on
semi-structured questionnaires with
open-ended questions. One-to-one
interviews were conducted at the offices of
each team and lasted from 45 to 90
minutes. Between one and three managers
were interviewed for each team,
HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3 NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
Richelieu and Desbordes
Description
The team capitalises on its reputation to go abroad. It
gradually enters foreign countries thanks to the results and
the history of the team. It often transcends the sport it
represents (eg New Zealand All Blacks, NY Yankees and
Real Madrid).
The team builds a strong fan base through a unique
emotional experience it offers to its fans. Fans identify
strongly with the team and the players, and often unite
within brand communities online (Manchester United).
The team favours promotion and high investments in
players as the first step towards (re-)establishing the sports
team brand. But results, history and fans are needed (eg
Chelsea and Manchester City).
The team pairs with another team across continents. Thus,
the local team benefits from an image transfer, and the
foreign team benefits from a springboard to enter one or
many promising markets (eg Ajax Amsterdam/Ajax Cape
Town, Bayern Munich/Urawa Reds, Real Madrid/Beijing
Guoang and San Jose Sharks/Shanghai Sharks).
depending on the level of expertise and
availability of the managers.
The authors consulted sports
publications, team documents, team
websites and media articles (print and
electronic) in order to increase the validity
of the data. These sources also provided
specific information regarding the teams
and their brand strategies.29 Content
analysis was used for the data analysis.30
The essence of the data was extracted by
analysing the brand strategy and marketing
actions.31 Validity was ensured through the
use of several sources of information and
the comparisons made between the cases.32
MAIN RESULTS
Based on the preliminary analysis, the
authors elaborated the graph on the
internationalisation process of a sports
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The strategic leverage of branding

Table 3: The key determinants in internationalising a sports team brand successfully

and their relevance to the four brand strategies

Brand Brand Brand Brand

reputation affinity challenger conquistador

Internal determinants
• An impressive record on the field **** *** **** ****
• A well-developed system of communications **** **** **** ****
(team website, team TV, team publications etc)
• A strong community involvement **** **** **** ****
• A series of tours in promising markets ** *** *** ****
(ie Asia and North America for football)
• A good range of team merchandise *** **** *** ****
• The hiring of some star and/or local players **** **** **** ***

External determinants
• The support of a major equipment maker ** ** *** ****
(Adidas, Nike, Reebok etc)
• A strong rivalry between teams **** **** ** **
(eg Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona)
• The association with a renowned country in **** *** *** ****
the sport the team represents (eg Italy or Spain
for football and Canada for hockey)

* low relevance; ** some relevance; *** strong relevance; **** very strong relevance of the determinant or
catalyst factor with the respective strategy.

team brand (Figure 2) using the four
strategies from Table 2. The next step was
to identify the determinants of success
required to start building a global sports
team brand (Table 3). These determinants
or catalyst factors are linked with the four
strategies presented in Table 2, according
to their degree of relevance for a successful
internationalisation. Indeed, when looking
closely at the situation of PSG, OM and
FCB, the authors were able to highlight a
set of ‘winning conditions’, both internally
and externally, that could also serve as a
guideline for other sports team brands.
Internally, the following could be
mentioned:
• An impressive record on the field. For PSG,
seven French Cups, two French
Championships, three League Cups and
one Cup Winners’ Cup. For OM, ten
French Championships, ten French
Cups and one European Champions’
Cup. For FCB, 19 Spanish Leagues, 25
Spanish Cups, seven Spanish Super
Cups, three European Champions’ Cup,
two European Super Cups and four
European Cup Winners’ Cups.
• A well-developed system of communications.
A website in various languages (English,
Chinese and Japanese for FCB), a team
magazine (launch of the FCB magazine
for the Chinese market), a television
channel (broadcasting of FCB games in
China), but also online communities,
launched and managed by fans
themselves, which help nurture the
passion of fans and build the team’s
brand. FCB can also count on ‘socios
clubs’ around the world, called penyes
(over 1,300), which act as ambassadors
for FCB worldwide and contribute to

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expanding and crystallising the brand in
foreign markets.
• A strong community involvement. In 2007,
PSG won the ‘Licra d’Or’, a distinction
given by the League Against Racism
and Anti-Semitism (LICRA), while
OM launched the ‘OM attitude’
programme. But the best example is
probably provided by FCB, as the club
decided to forgo a lucrative shirt
sponsorship deal (worth an estimated
c15m a year) and instead pay c1.5m a
year to support Unicef.
• A series of tours in promising markets. This
is especially true for FCB, which visits
markets where the club wants to
showcase and expand the brand (eg
China and the USA).
• A good range of team merchandise. From
traditional team kits to baby products,
notwithstanding women’s merchandise
which is gaining in popularity in all
sports and leagues (in European
football, but also in the National
Hockey League, for example).
• The hiring of some star and/or local players.
These players act as emotional anchors
for teams that can then strengthen fans’
allegiance to the club through these
players. In this area, even though PSG
and OM have a tradition of recruiting
local and international stars (eg Giully,
Pauleta, Rocheteau and Susic for PSG;
and Boli, Deschamps, Papin and Völler
for OM), it is definitely an advantage for
FCB, which, throughout its rich history,
has seen some of the world’s greatest
players wear the blaugrana jersey
(Bergkamp, Cruyff, Eto’o, Laudrup,
Maradona, Messi, Ronaldinho etc).
Externally, the key determinants of success
are:
• The support of a major equipment maker.
PSG, OM and FCB can each capitalise
on the distribution channel of their
HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3 NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
Richelieu and Desbordes
equipment maker (Nike for PSG and
FCB, and Adidas for OM) to develop
their brand internationally. Nike and
Adidas stores worldwide showcase these
brands, in addition to team stores, when
those exist abroad (eg FCB in China).
• A strong rivalry between teams. What are
referred to as ‘classicos’ are the games
between local rivals, such as FCB and
Real Madrid or OM and PSG,
generating increased media coverage
compared with a regular league game.
They also contribute to the
construction of iconic brands in the
home country but also in foreign
markets, because these rivalries
crystallise team allegiance via ‘us against
them’ confrontations.
• The association with a renowned country in
the sport the team represents. In this case,
PSG, OM and FCB can all benefit from
their national status because both
France and Spain are known as ‘football
countries’. Furthermore, like many
other sports teams, the denominations
of the three clubs include the name of
their city. According to Kapferer ,33 this
is a way of reinforcing the identity of
the club throughout the world and
making the internationalisation of the
brand easier.
Looking at the position of each team on the
‘brand equity pipeline’ (Figure 2), PSG and
OM are national brands and, as such, seek to
become international brands; however, the
reputation of OM is stronger than that of
PSG. OM was established in 1899 and has
a richer record and a longer history than
PSG, which looks relatively young
(established in 1970). A good record and a
strong heritage represent two of the success
factors in the internationalisation process of
a team. It should be emphasised that the
longer a club has been present in its
community, the stronger the sense of
belonging for its fans should be.34
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The strategic leverage of branding
FCB positions itself as an international
continental brand that tends towards the
global status on the ‘brand equity pipeline’
(Figure 2). As such, this kind of sports team
brand is looking to remain competitive
globally and to develop its presence within
several international markets, especially
those it considers strategic. For FCB, these
would be Asia (China) and the USA. Thus,
FCB has key advantages over PSG or OM
in building a good image and a strong
identity for the club, which are essential
elements for the success of the
internationalisation of the team brand.35
DISCUSSION
In reference to the brand equity pipeline
introduced in Figure 2, this paper can now
look at the three football teams and
suggest some strategies for their
internationalisation. First, PSG is a
national brand. In order to evolve through
its internationalisation, the club could
follow the brand challenger strategy
(think local, act global — the brand
recognition specialist). This strategy
focuses on brand recognition through
strong advertising investments (Table 2).
PSG does not have as impressive a
winning record as OM or FCB; it had to
fight for its survival in the last two seasons
and, even in 2009 when the club finally
seemed to have reached some stability on
the field, the newly appointed president,
Charles Villeneuve, had to resign in
January after a public confrontation with
the board. It should be added that PSG
does not trigger as strong a reaction
among non-PSG fans as OM and FCB,
which makes an international strategy
based on affinity more vulnerable. That
being said, PSG could capitalise on its
reputation through the hiring of foreign
players or on the international status of
Paris, as the image of Paris and its symbols
are admired worldwide. Thus, PSG could
18 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3. NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
use co-branding through an association
with the city of Paris and foreign star
players, and expand its brand
internationally accordingly. By doing so,
PSG could capitalise on its newly gained
international recognition in order to
strengthen its national position. The
question some might ask, though, is
whether PSG has the legitimacy to
associate itself with the image of Paris
without being seen as an imposter, trying
to buy its way to become an international
brand. But the authors believe that PSG
does have this legitimacy.
Secondly, as a national brand, the next
step for OM is to reach the international
level on the ‘brand equity pipeline’ (Figure
2). With this goal in mind, OM could
follow the brand affinity strategy (think
local, act global — the brand affinity
specialist), which is focused on emotions
and the development of a unique bond
with consumers (Table 2). As the team can
count on its strong identity and an
important fan base, well known for its
passion, OM could capitalise on legitimate
product and brand extensions
(merchandising) to help crystallise the
emotions of its fans. At this point in time,
the performance of the club does not yet
allow the OM brand to play on its
reputation. Its record is mostly based on
the past, with its last major win being a
Champions Cup in 1993. Furthermore, a
big issue with OM is the fact that the
emotions and drama surrounding the club
could jeopardise a brand strategy that
could only take roots in the stability of a
long-term commitment to this strategy.
Thirdly, FCB sits between the
‘international continental’ and the
‘international global’ status (Figure 2).
FCB could adopt the brand conquistador
strategy (unifying local brands — the
brand recognition specialist), which is
based on partnerships with foreign clubs
(Table 2). This should help FCB truly
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become global. Thanks to its strong
identity and its communication system (ie
over 1,300 penyes worldwide), FCB is
already following some strategies based on
reputation and affinity with its fans. One
avenue the club could consider is to unify
its brand with foreign clubs. This could
allow FCB to enter new markets on a
long-term basis, by capitalising on the
credibility it gained in Asia and in the
USA, with its recent partnerships and
tours. The main challenge FCB might face
in its internationalisation is how it will
manage to build an international image,
while remaining true to its strong Catalan
identity. The balance might not be easy to
find and communicate in the positioning
of the club without creating some kind of
confusion in the minds of its fans.
CONCLUSION
As previously stated, the main objective of
this study was to explain how a sports team
could become an international global
brand. More specifically:
• What are the determinants of success
required to start building a global sports
team brand? (Table 3)
• What process should a sports team
brand follow? (Figure 2)
• What strategies are available to a sports
team in order to establish itself as a
global brand? (Table 2)
With this objective and these questions in
mind, the authors looked at three
European football teams in order to
illustrate the conceptualisation of the
internationalisation of a sports team brand.
This process includes the following stages:
local, regional, national, international
continental and international global, as
presented in Figure 2. As it tries to expand
its brand across markets, a sports team can
carry out four strategies, which are not
HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3 NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
Richelieu and Desbordes
mutually exclusive: brand reputation,
brand affinity, brand challenger and brand
conquistador.
In a period of huge economic
transformation, professional sports teams
have realised the power that branding
encapsulates in marketing their club
beyond their local market. What the
authors term ‘globalisation’ offers both
opportunities and threats to sports teams.
They can no longer hide behind what
used to be a very local activity. In this
regard, its brand is recognised as the most
important asset of a sports club.36
Furthermore, the commercial success of
the brand can nurture the sporting success
of the team by attracting great players and
more fans, for instance.
As an example, looking at what happens
in Asia, the popularity of football
continues unabated after the success of the
2002 World Cup. Trying to capitalise on
this popularity in order to expand
internationally, teams such as Manchester
United and Real Madrid regularly tour
Asia; while other clubs, like Sheffield
United, have actually purchased an equity
stake in a Chinese club. At the same time,
Chinese fans appear to have a strong
affinity with European football.
Manchester United’s Commercial
Director, Andy Anson, mentioned:
‘According to United statistics, United has
some 94,000,000 fans worldwide, with
20,000,000 fans in China’.37 Meanwhile,
Manchester United stars Cristiano
Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney have held
online discussions with Chinese football
fans through the official Chinese website.
Anson has described said football fans as
the biggest assets of Manchester United.
‘The number of fans has reached
40,000,000 in Asia. Asia, especially the
Chinese market, is looked upon as the
most important market in the world by
United.’38 According to data from the
Chinese Football Association, the number
19
Richelieu:JSC page.qxd 07/12/2009 14:39 Page 20
The strategic leverage of branding
Figure 3
The partnership
between Air Asia
and Manchester
United
‘As the official low fare airline for Manchester United, AirAsia became the first Asian low cost airline
to associate itself with one of the biggest football clubs in the English Premier League’.40
of Chinese football fans has reached 110
million and United will target this group
first39 (see Figure 3).
Even though this research is
exploratory, the authors believe it leads to
some new horizons on the value that a
brand and branding represent for sports
teams. As such, the mode of governance of
a team is essential to the success of a brand
strategy. The management team needs to
be able to work on a long-term
perspective with control over the team
brand. Teams could be tempted to
externalise this activity as they do with
other marketing tasks, but this would be a
terrible mistake, as the brand is the heart
and soul of an organisation and one source
of competitive advantage.41
Furthermore, the reputation of the
league could have an impact on the
potential of a team to expand its brand
20 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1754-1360 JOURNAL OF SPONSORSHIP VOL. 3. NO. 1. 10–22 DECEMBER 2009
internationally. Indeed, if some leagues,
such as the English Premier
League, are perceived as being better or
stronger than others, like the French
football league, the respective leagues
would probably have a better chance of
selling television rights to more countries
and, consequently, expose the product to a
wider international audience.
The authors also believe that the
strategies presented herein could be a
source of reflection for other industries,
especially for brands that have a natural fit
with sports. These brands could benefit,
for instance, from sponsorship and
co-branding initiatives in order to
strengthen the emotional connection they
share with their consumers beyond
borders. In fact, some brands already do so
very successfully (Coca-Cola, McDonald’s,
New Era caps, Nike, Reebok, etc). That
Richelieu:JSC page.qxd 07/12/2009 14:39 Page 21
being said, the authors recognise the need
to expand their reflection beyond the case
of European football teams in order to
articulate a model on the
internationalisation of a sports team brand
that will take into account the nature of
the sport involved, the club’s country of
origin and the way the league is managed.
The desire is to propose such an integrated
model on the internationalisation of a
sports team brand. It is hoped that this
model would fit most sports team brands
and would take into account the
importance of the cultural context. This
paper has paved the way for future
research.
 André Richelieu and Michael
Desbordes, 2009.
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