Frankie 8,200 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Article from John McIntosh http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news-category/current-affairs/434-setting-up-global-club-partnerships-the-next-big-step Nine wins in nine games this season. 35 goals scored and only five conceded - the Warburton era has got off to a flyer and the Rangers support has seen some of the most attacking, free flowing football on show for many a year, making the transformation all the more stark from the inept displays we have been used to for far too long. There really isn't too much to complain about as a supporter right now, so I thought I would discuss something I feel strongly about; something that I feel is an important next step for our club both in terms of player identification and globally growing the RFC brand - the latter has so much potential but we have done such a very poor job of marketing ourselves over the years. In terms of growing the brand, there doesn't always have to be a formal partnership with a specific club (I will go further in depth on that later), something as simple as a tour of China, Japan or USA in pre-season featuring around 2-3 games played with the Club's directors meeting with their counterparts and gaining media exposure for the time across there could work wonders, as could taking advantage of the fact that we are the most successful club in the world and marketing this more. Our great story could see our exposure raised and thus merchandise sales rocket. It is a technique that Celtic have used to good effect in recent years, with tours of the USA growing their brand. However, it does need to be balanced with other commitments in regards to ensuring the start of the League campaign and early qualifying rounds of European competition take priority over what are, in essence, global commercial friendlies. With regards to partnerships, and even parent and feeder clubs, there are many examples of this in world football just now, including Chelsea with Vitesse in the Eredivisie, Manchester United with Royal Antwerp of the Jupiler Pro League, Arsenal with Colorodo Rapids in the MLS or Tottenham's partnerships with MLS side San Jose Earthquake and South African Premier Soccer League side SuperSport United. These partnerships all have different aims and goals, ranging from commercial goals with the aim to globally expand and raise merchandise sales, sending talented youth players to the feeder club while receiving first choice on bids for the feeder teams' biggest talents, through to sending players on loan to gain an EU work permit - something Manchester United have done with Royal Antwerp, as there are far less strict employment rules in Belgium to gain work permits. Now we don't enjoy the same club status as these English Premiership sides, of course, but that shouldn't stop anything. As a club, we have so much to offer in such a situation. Some may get caught up with how we could afford this but, generally speaking, these partnerships don't have massive fees. Yes, there may be a nominal fee but it is more to do with how both clubs benefit from the partnership and often there are big positives for both parties. Celtic have just signed Dinamo Zagreb centre back Jozo Simunovic in a multi-million pound deal and I feel that Dinamo would be a the perfect club to establish a partnership with. As an example, Rangers and Dinamo could play an annual summer friendly with the proceeds to be kept by Dinamo. Rangers gain first refusal on Dinamo's hottest talents and we would also be able to send players out on loan to Zagreb. Dinamo would be alerted to any player we were looking to move on or we had accepted a bid on. Dinamo are renowned for their excellent youth academy and youth development, bringing through excellent players such as Luka Modric, Dejan Lovren, Eduardo (formerly of Arsenal), Alen Halilović (Barcelona) and Mateo Kovačić(Real Madrid). In fact, they currently have the very exciting creative midfielder Ante Coric on their books. Coric has been labelled as a "wonderkid," whilst their youth academy has been rated amongst the top 6 in Europe despite spending as little as 1 million euros per year on their youth set up - an eighth of the costs of some other European clubs. This proves that big finances are not everything; it is about utilising the funds available to you correctly. If Rangers were able to tap into a partnership like this, it would be a massive coup but, as their youth academy is so well known and big clubs are scouting them all year, it may not be possible. But, I also feel there are opportunities in massive, and in football terms, expanding countries such as USA or China where we could make moves and these deals would come away from player identification and more focus on global commercialisation. Creating a partnership with a team in America, perhaps in the MLS, could bring with it incredible commercial benefits and again, an annual friendly could be made with proceeds kept by the American side but if we market the deal and ourselves right we would make that back 5-10 times over each year. We are going strong at the minute and this season is set to be an incredible one for Rangers fans. I trust the board and Mark Warburton fully, however I feel that in time this is an avenue that will bring with it far more positives, such as opening an avenue to identify talent quicker and could massively improve our global brand in commercial terms. Through merchandise, if we can sort the Sports Direct deal out, we could really get into the American or Chinese market where the potential is incredible. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 China is a huge untapped market, India too. America is producing some good players , facilities are excellent and with Canada next door, North America is a gold mine ready for some serious mining. GoldRush Loyal. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnan 173 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Really interesting article - Ive asked John what is at youth level which Zagreb seem to do so well and could we implement it 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,200 Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Obviously we've had our fingers burnt previously with Northern Spirit and Shenzhen Jianlibao but perhaps the timing and context is better now? I think the issue with such affiliations is to what scale do both clubs invest in them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnan 173 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Obviously we've had our fingers burnt previously with Northern Spirit and Shenzhen Jianlibao but perhaps the timing and context is better now? I think the issue with such affiliations is to what scale do both clubs invest in them. Agreed Frankie - we should not be intimidated by previous failure particularly if it can be seen to work for others I think sending youngsters to the like of Zagreb however may pose practical difficulties and something closer to home may prove to be a better option. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,373 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Zagreb seem to have their own feeder system, in addition to an academy, where they send players to NK Lokomotiva, who ended up getting promoted from the fourth level of Croatian football to the first. The formal ties have now been broken, given they are in the same division, but it doesn't stop Zagreb lending them 4 players this season. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Rangers are already looking at the North American market and at an earlier age than the OP suggests. The Club has significantly increased its North American footprint in the last 18 months as they have partnerships across the US now whereby Academy age kids are provided with Rangers coaches on "camps", the culmination of which results in a US national camp finale whereby the "best of the best" are brought to Rangers to train at Murray park to give them the professional insight. This is how we picked up Aird & Gasparotto, but since we picked those two up our footprint has expanded significantly. I do accept that JohnMc in the OP is talking about a different aspect and looking at commercial opportunities as well as footballing. Just thought I would give a little insight,. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,901 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Rangers are already looking at the North American market and at an earlier age than the OP suggests. The Club has significantly increased its North American footprint in the last 18 months as they have partnerships across the US now whereby Academy age kids are provided with Rangers coaches on "camps", the culmination of which results in a US national camp finale whereby the "best of the best" are brought to Rangers to train at Murray park to give them the professional insight. This is how we picked up Aird & Gasparotto, but since we picked those two up our footprint has expanded significantly. I do accept that JohnMc in the OP is talking about a different aspect and looking at commercial opportunities as well as footballing. Just thought I would give a little insight,. Currently, I am in the States, New England area for a month. I have traveled all over the country these last 25 years and the thing that is most startling is the number of football(soccer) pitches evident, even in the smallest of towns. Further, you see mid-20s to mid-30s guys walking around with soccer tops, Bayern Munich appears to be a firm favourite in both Maine and Rhode Island. Another piece of anecdotal evidence is most Sports Bars have one screen showing the game, and both my hotels have had a soccer channel on the room TV. It's growing. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 (edited) Currently, I am in the States, New England area for a month. I have traveled all over the country these last 25 years and the thing that is most startling is the number of football(soccer) pitches evident, even in the smallest of towns. Further, you see mid-20s to mid-30s guys walking around with soccer tops, Bayern Munich appears to be a firm favourite in both Maine and Rhode Island. Another piece of anecdotal evidence is most Sports Bars have one screen showing the game, and both my hotels have had a soccer channel on the room TV. It's growing. I travel to the us frequently given my close proximity and it is very evident that the game is growing stateside. Some of our Bermuda clubs will travel to the US and what strikes me is that our club youth TD was recently in the DC area with a group he takes away annually and in the locality there are some 40,000 kids all playing the game and even more surprising is how much they are paying for the pleasure.... they are paying, on average, over $3,000 for the season - and that doesn't include any touring. It is most certainly growing in the US... but it is also becoming much more of a business too !! I know a couple of the Rangers Academy and Community coaches - and a couple of them have barely been outside the US all summer - literally going from one camp to the next. PS - Go STEELERS tomorrow night ! Edited September 9, 2015 by craig 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I do accept that JohnMc in the OP You might already know this, but just in case you didn't, the writer is a different John from JohnMc/amms here on the forum mate. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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