Recently in International Category

Thomas Cook Sport agreed a new four-year deal with Chelsea Football Club to become the team's official travel partner until 2012.  Thomas Cook will continue as a partner of Chelsea and will continue to be responsible for all team and officials' travel, corporate travel and supporter travel, both in the UK and overseas.  basically they will control all travel for the team and fans.  All of this includes travel to all championship league games and any other away match.  They offer packages that have night stays, stadium tours, and game tickets.   

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Baron Davis, Los Angeles Clippers point guard recently signed a 5 year contract with apparel company Li-Ning in China, writes Sports Business Journal.  He plans on creating his own line of shoes and clothing to be sold initially to only the Chinese consumers.  Eventually the line could make it to the United States.  Li-Ning is trying to approach the American market slowly by using a star in American society like Baron Davis.  The 5 year deal Davis has with Li-Ning is supposedly the largest deal by a non-Chinese person with a Chinese company.  Davis has already filmed commercials to be showed in China.  In past years, Davis had endorsed Reebok, but that contract ended over the summer.  The new contract with Li-Ning should be a huge success in China.  Davis is not the only NBA player to sign with Chinese companies.  Stars such as Jason Kidd and Shaquille O'Neal have contracts of their own with companies like Peak and Li-Ning.  Who knows how many American athletes will soon be part of the Chinese Market.

The American market has been decreasing recently.  With better opportunities for endorsements in China, more American athletes are bound to go international.  Endorsements in China should create a much higher awareness of American athletes, resulting in a great increase in the American sports industry market.  Not only will international endorsements help, but lately American professional sports leagues have been traveling across the seas quite a bit.  International experience is a key towards future success.

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Lewis Hamilton of the Formula One racing league finished in the 5th position in a race this weekend.  This allowed him to clinch the F1 title securing a win by one point. This should catapult him to become the first ever one billion dollar sportsman ever.  He will pass Tiger Woods as the top earner in the history of sport. Tiger was set to earn the one billion dollar mark not until 2010.

 Hamilton's contract with McLaren , is worth an estimated £75 million over five years and a sponsorship deal with Reebok adding another £20 million. His contract is due to be up in 2012, he contract should jump to a pretty purse of 30 million a year plus any sponsorships dollars he will acquire by then.  All of this will push his career earnings past 500 million.

People are interested in contracts in the mainstream sports today, maybe they should look into F1 racing.....

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At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, no marketing plan profited more than Coca-Cola.  Recently, a study was conducted to find data on certain marketing schemes from the Olympic Games.  Over 1,500 face to face interviews were conducted in 10 different cities in China.  Of those 1,500, 51.8% randomly mentioned Coca-Cola while being interviewed.  Each interviewee recalled and average of 2.3 Coke promotions as well.  In a little over a year the percentage of spontanious mentioning of Coke rose from 31.7% to 51.8%.  Coke was not the only company with successful marketing at the Olympics.  In the athletic apparel category, the Chinese Company Li-Ning passed Nike and Adidas in public awareness.  The awareness percentage was 8.4% prior to the Games and 19.1% after the Games.  Particular athletes also gained awareness in Beijing.  Olympic Diver Guo Jinling, Michael Phelps, and Kobe Bryant are among the leaders in Chinese awareness.

China is the most populous country in the world.  Companies that the Chinese are aware of have a much greater chance of success with so many people supporting their cause.  China has approximately 4 times as many people as the United States, making it critical for US companies to begin international trade with China.

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Budweiser and the Manchester United Football Club announced a renewal of their partnership, which will extend through the 2009/2010 season.  Anheuser Busch has supported Manchester United since 2002.  They decided not to release the terms of this new agreement.  
Manchester United has 333 million followers worldwide and more than 80 million people in 200 countries each match, making the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League the most-watched sports franchise in the world.

Budweiser's presence at Old Trafford - the Theatre of Dreams - includes exclusive pouring rights at concessions and digital on-field signage displayed in both English and Mandarin (Chinese), which is seen by Manchester United's massive Chinese fan base.

The sponsorship grants Budweiser rights to use the Manchester United marks and player images in advertising, point-of-sale materials and packaging in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America.  The sponsorship also provides Budweiser with hospitality packages and match tickets for promotional activities, which they use to offer customers an once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Theatre of Dreams. Throughout the 2008/2009 season, Budweiser will launch promotions in the U.K., Mexico, Argentina and Vietnam for consumers to win trips to Manchester United matches.

This is an amazing opportunity for Budweiser and Anheuser Busch to promote their product around the world.  Seeing as Manchester United is one of the most watched football clubs in the world, this is a great opportunity.   My first thought was why is an American beer company becoming a sponsor of a soccer team in another country? I read on and they are trying to market their dominant U.S. product around the world.  I believe that this strategy will help their profits for Budweiser because they are already so dominant in the U.S. an exposure in another country can do nothing but help.  Every company should try and sponsor some sort of soccer entity because it is the most played and viewed sport in the world today.

 

  Another game in London for the NFL?!

That's right!! NFL sponsors and licensees are preparing activation behind the Oct. 26 game at Wembley Stadium in London between the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers. This game will be the second game played in London following the Miami Dolphins/ New York Giants game from last year.

Many sponsors are coming back for this London match between the Saints and the Bolts. Such sponsors include Bridgestone, Canon, Reebok, Visa, Coors and GM.

This will be another great international game for the NFL! Consumer product sales will increase during this game.

The game airs on CBS at 1:00 Eastern Time

 

Read more at  http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60264    

 

 

As the 2010 approaches, another World Cup is on the way. Qualifying rounds for the prestige's soccer tournament has started and David Beckham is being seen sitting on the bench. In his comments, his new-role as a bench player does not bother him as long as he is "part of the squad, part of these qualifiers and, hopefully, part of the team to the World Cup."(www.espn.com 9-28-08) Beckham really has no choice but to accept his fate as a bench player, especially with his new replacement, Theo Walcott, scoring a hat-trick against Croatia. He has clearly stated that he supports Fabio Capello, the England manager, in his choice to bench the international superstar.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=576776&sec=worldcup2010&cc=5901

Once David Beckham relocated himself to the Los Angeles Galaxy, his soccer career was clearly on the backend. After playing for powerhouses in Spain and England, Real Madrid and Manchester United, coming to America to play in the MLS was a clear sign of a downfall. Although he is on the bench, I believe that Beckham's presence will still make an impact. Knowing that there is such a highly respected player sitting on the bench can be an intimidating thing for many international teams that face England. You also can't forget that his backup, Theo Walcott, is still a teenager and is already scoring hat-tricks in international play.  Although England is sitting their once "big superstar", they now might be grooming a new, better captain for their highly respected squad.

I've always been a fan of the EA sports games.  It looks like they've done it again with FIFA 2008.  They just had a tourney in Germany with 32 of the world's best "soccer players"... that is if it counts to play soccer from your couch.

Berlin played host to intense soccer action, as the virtual soccer season came to an explosive end at the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) Final at the Sony Centre on Saturday. Thirty-two of the world's best interactive soccer players met face to face to compete for the ultimate title of FIFA Interactive World Player 2008. Following an incredible display of tactics and skill on EA SPORTS™ FIFA Soccer 08 on PLAYSTATION®3, Alfonso Ramos beat Michael Ribeiro from New Jersey 3-1 in front of a cheering crowd, securing the title and the $20,000 US prize money. Ramos also received an invitation to attend the FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich on January 12, 2009 where he will rub shoulders with real life soccer heroes. A fantastic day of soccer culminated in the two best players facing off for what turned out to be a nail biting final full of world class skill and great emotion. The game got off to an electric start as Ramos' Barcelona side took the lead with a beautiful header and he solidified his dominance with a decisive finish early in the second half. Ribeiro, also playing as Barcelona, responded emphatically with a classy goal to bring the score back to 2-1, but Ramos showed his determination and with less than ten minutes to go, restored his 2-goal lead. Ribeiro came back strongly but in the end Ramos' defense proved too strong and the game finished 3-1. The third and fourth playoff was contested between Brazil's Andre Casagrande Buffo and Austria's Dominik Posch. In a closely fought encounter, the Austrian came out on top with a 2-1 victory. "I came here to do my best but really didn't believe I would make it this far. It's been an absolutely fantastic day - to test myself against the world's best virtual soccer gamers is what this tournament is all about," said Alfonso Ramos." I'm really proud to be the first Spaniard to be crowned FIFA Interactive World Player and look forward to defending my title next year."

 

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The 1960's brought a pop culture phenomenon known as the British Invasion. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and other British rock bands changed the course of pop culture and rock and roll music forever. They left a lasting imprint on music and American culture. Two decades later Europe brought America another invasion, this time on the ice. Before the 1980's the NHL was made up of primarily North American players. NHL team's rosters had Canadians and some Americans good enough to come out of the NCAA and play. The Soviet Union still cast a large shadow over countries like Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and most of all what we know today at Russia. Many of the star players in those countries were not allowed to play in the NHL. Sweden and Finland also had a lot of great players but their migration from Europe to North America was a slow process. Not many players went over, and many were afraid of the cultural changes and leaving their families behind. The influx of European talent in to the NHL caused a long period of expansion to take place bringing greater meaning to the term World Champion. The use and success of International players would later lay the blueprint for not only the NHL but NBA, and Major League Baseball marketing to countries in Asia getting talent to come over the Pacific.

            In 1980 a young Peter Statsny became the first European born player to defect from his country to play in the NHL. Statsny left his native Czechoslovakia to play with the Quebec Nordiques. Statsny along with the Edmonton Oilers Jari Kurri were the first great European trained NHL stars. In 1989 Alexander Mogilny defected from the Soviet Union. Mogilny's departure lead too many more Soviet players defecting to the NHL. In the early 1990's more European Czech and Slovak players defected to the NHL. European players were once considered very risky draft picks, because of the uncertainty of whether or not they would ever suit up in an NHL game for the team that picked the player. In 1989 the percentage of European players in the NHL becomes higher than ten percent for the first time, with a record twelve percent of NHL teams having European born players on their teams. This lead to the NHL broadcasting games in twenty different countries beginning in 1990. The NHL struck other broadcast deals in the upcoming years that extended broadcasts either live or on tape delay to 25 and then 77 countries. In 1995 the percentage of European born players tops 20 percent, leading the NHL to create a marketing campaign called, "The Coolest Game on Earth." In 1997 the NHL goes to Japan for two regular season games between the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Vancouver Canucks. In 1998 the All Star game format was changed from the Eastern Conference versus the Western Conference to North America versus the World. This also coincided with NHL players being allowed to participate in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. In 2000 a record 143 European players are drafted and the percentage of European born players tops 30 percent. In 2001 the NHL broadcasted games to over 180 countries.

            Major League Baseball always sent over players to Japan to play in an All Star team format exhibition tour. The NBA was the first league to have their players in Olympic competition. But the NHL was the first league to have a big wave of European talent affect how successful teams were and have Europeans play big roles in the league. The NBA is beginning to catch up in European influence, but is still a long way from catching the NHL. Major League baseball has a large Latin American percentage in it, and a small amount from Asia. The NFL has yet to catch on anywhere besides North America. The NHL recently had two regular season games between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks in London, England this past September. The NHL announced earlier this month that next year the New York Rangers will open up the regular season in Prague, Czech Republic. With NFL Europe folding, and baseball almost non existent in Europe, it is time for the NHL to go back to their European roots and try and get a hold on the sports market in Europe. The NHL will never beat out the other three major sports for popularity in the United States. But there is a deep hockey history rooted in the heart of many European nations and the NHL needs to take advantage of it now. Basketball is growing around the Mediterranean countries but in countries like Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and Russia hockey is still very competitive with Soccer. Like Latin Americans that follow their native soccer leagues from the internet or satellite television, European hockey fans still watch their favorite countrymen play in the NHL. As youngsters they idolize their countries best players and the NHL can take advantage of that.