Melbourne City Football Club Funding and Sponsorship - Essay Example

MELBOURNE CITY FOOTBALL CLUB FUNDING AND SPONSORSHIP Name Institution Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Cover Letter 4 Sport Property 6 Target Markets 8 Fans attending the Melbourne City Football Club Events 8 Television viewers and Newspaper Readers 9 Promotional Plan 9 Benefits involved in the Sponsorship 10 Marketing through the social media 11 Creative Leverage 11 Budget, Investment and Evaluation 15 Marketing Plan for Melbourne City Football Club 17 Mission of Melbourne City Football Club 17 Vision of Melbourne City Football Club 18 Objectives of the Melbourne City Football Club 18 SWOT analysis 18 Competitor Analysis 20 Target Market 21 Inventory Assets 21 Conclusion 22 References 23 Executive Summary Melbourne city football club is an Australian based football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Melbourne city football club competes in the Australian A-league. The Football Federation Australia licenses the club. It was founded in 2009 as Melbourne Heart and the club used the name until 2014 when it was acquired and rebranded by the City Football Group when collaborating with the Holding M.S Australia. The facility used to run the club is based at the La Trobe University and has a stadium known as Melbourne Rectangular Stadium where they play their home matches. Melbourne city football club has a youth team that also competes in the National Youth Premier League and a National Premier League team that participates in the National Premier League. Sponsorship helps both the club and the sponsor. As the sponsor, Etihad Airways expects to benefit from the club sponsoring is as the club expects to benefit from their sponsorship. Melbourne City Football Club expects to benefits from the sponsor’s funds that would help it meet its operations and expenses, for example field maintenance, paying players, coaches, and other club staff. From the deal with the club, Etihad Airways expects to use the club to promote its services to the public. In the sponsorship deal, Etihad Airways will be receiving brandings with the Melbourne Football Club. The Club will be including the Etihad Airways logo on the front of the players Jersey and their training kit. The branding will also be done on the stadiums during the matches and even when the matches are not on. Australian premier league is gaining its popularity and the sponsorship of Melbourne City Football by the Etihad Airways indicates the company’s commitment to sports activities in Australia and other parts of the world. Besides the branding and the opportunities for branding Etihad Airways, both the parties to the sponsorship will be working closely to create football schools for the children, promoting airfares for the fans and club members and to organize regular competitions for the fans. In return, the Melbourne City Football Club will expect the Etihad Airways Company to raise awareness of their products and services by sponsoring more soccer events and activities. Sports provide entertainment, loyalty, passion and are able to reach out to the world’s demographics thus building an environment that has no boundaries. Therefore, as Melbourne City Football club offers entertainment and loyalty to their fans, the sponsors products and services will be promoted since the club expects customers to extend their loyalty to the sponsors products and services. Based on the budget projections, the club expects the best sponsorship agreement to be relevant at $123764 per year. The payment in the following years would depend on the agreement terms among partners, and whether both parties are able to continue with the partnership agreement. Cover Letter Melbourne city football club is an Australian based football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Melbourne city football club competes in the Australian A-league. The Football Federation Australia licenses the club. It was founded in 2009 as Melbourne Heart and the club used the name till 2014 when it was acquired and rebranded by the City Football Group when partnering with the Etihad Airways and Holding M.S Australia. One of the notable sponsorship is that of Melbourne City Football club with Etihad Airways. Etihad Airways sponsorship is one that will help Melbourne City Football Club rise to the higher heights and be able to comfortably participate in its sporting activities. This sponsorship will be of much benefit to Etihad Airways in many ways. Firstly, it will help to offer Etihad Airways with a continuous advertising opportunity. The sponsor’s services and products will be on advertisement continually during the sponsorship period. Secondly, since the club’s fans are always loyal to their club, they may extend their loyalty to the sponsors. This will in turn increase the customer base of Etihad Airways enabling them to improve their sales. Thirdly, it will help Etihad Airways to raise awareness of their organization and be able to create positive Public Relations. In addition, the sponsorship will help to strengthen ties between the club with the community it belongs. It is also expected that the sponsorship will help improve the financial strength of Melbourne City football club and that of Etihad Airways. The sporting activities and events, through will help increase awareness of the existing products and services of Etihad Airways. Apart from the branding and the opportunities for branding Etihad Airways, both the parties to the sponsorship will be working closely to create football schools for the children, promoting airfares for the fans and club members and to organize regular competitions for the fans Sport Property Melbourne city football club is an Australian based football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Melbourne city football club competes in the Australian A-league. The Football Federation Australia licenses the club. It was founded in 2009 as Melbourne Heart and the club used the name till 2014 when it was acquired and rebranded by the City Football Group when partnering with the Holding M.S Australia. The facility used to run the club is based at the La Trobe University and has a stadium known as Melbourne Rectangular Stadium where they play their home matches. Melbourne city football club has a youth team that also competes in the National Youth Premier League and a National Premier League team that participates in the National Premier League The objectives of the club include: i. Strengthening the club’s tie with the community, it belongs ii. Expansion of the club’s ability to commercially grow and derive more benefits from the city community iii. To create an identity that depicts the tradition of its fans and to create a good commercial relation with its sponsors iv. Enhancing and improving the quality of the community sport and other recreational facilities v. To ensure greater access and opportunities for participation of sports in Melbourne city and the entire community vi. To enrich and reinforce various roles Melbourne City Football club play in the sporting industry in the entire community. vii. To continue providing a robust evidence base for activities in the sport and active recreation system To achieve the above objectives the club needs a sponsor to help fund its activities and events. However, the sponsor and the sponsored must benefit mutually for continual existence of the partnership. To enable the sponsor to accept to sponsor Melbourne City Football Club, the club intends to help the sponsor, Etihad through the following: i. The club will be providing various events on the pitch and off the pitch to promote the Etihad Airways products and services ii. Melbourne City Football Club will provide different activities and events to help increase brand awareness of the Etihad Airways, and help in developing brand preferences in the market place, especially among the club fans. iii. The club will also provide an attractive context for the sponsor products and services. This will be enhanced by ensuring continuous promotion of the sponsor products during club’s events and activities, for example by displaying the sponsor banners before any match and after every match. iv. The club will help raise awareness and create a positive public relations of the Etihad Airways Company. Through the advertisements on the social media using the company logo and banners, it will help show the football community and the fans how the sponsors value football in the country and across the world. This in turn will help increase their loyalty towards the sponsors products and services. v. The club also believes that their fans will offer an extended network to their families and even friends. By informing their friends and the family members, the fans will be promoting Etihad Airways services and products across Australia and the world. vi. Melbourne City Football Club believes that soccer has become an International language being spoken by various individuals across Australia and the entire world. Therefore, with their wider fan’s base and expected customer loyalty, the club expects to improve the usage of Etihad Airways services and product across the country and the world through their events and activities. vii. Besides the branding and the opportunities for branding Etihad Airways, both the parties to the sponsorship will be working closely to create football schools for the children, promoting airfares for the fans and club members and to organize regular competitions for the fans. Target Markets For Melbourne City Football Club to be in a position to lure the sponsor, Etihad Airways, the club need to have a wide fan base which the sponsor expects to target for its products and services. Melbourne City Football Club has various avenues through which it can promote the Etihad Airways services and products. These include. Fans attending the Melbourne City Football Club Events Melbourne already has an established fan base. The fans are very loyal to the team and have been supporting the team over the past years. For promotion of the services of the Etihad Airways, the club’s fans could be the first target. With the stadium capacity of 30050 people, the sponsorship is deemed to be of beneficial to the Etihad Airways since the promotion will target a wider group. The loyalty of the fans to the club could be extended to their sponsors, making them to go for the sponsors’ services and products. The clubs events will help in promoting the services of the sponsors, for example season game openers, preseason games, league games, community interactions or fan interactions, sponsor giveaway nights and playoff games will help to create opportunities for interesting and exciting television images and newspaper photographs indicating the logos of the sponsors on the banners and the shirts. This will enable the Etihad logos stand out among the competitors and be able to increase its sales among the viewers of the television programs and newspaper readers. Television viewers and Newspaper Readers The Melbourne City Football Club expects to promote the products and services of the sponsor, Etihad Airways through the television channels that air their programs. Due to their wide fan base across Australia and its surrounding, the sports club expects to attract large number of viewers, the logo of the sponsors on the shits and banners, the club expects to enhance awareness over the existence of the Etihad Airways. Australian premier league is becoming more popular and the sponsorship of Melbourne City Football by the Etihad Airways indicates the company’s commitment to sports activities in Australia and other parts of the world. This will help in changing the minds of various people in the Australia and across the world towards the use of Etihad Airways products and services. The target market will not only be tied to Australia but also across the world. Promotional Plan Sponsorship will be expected to help both the sponsor, Etihad Airways and the Sponsored, Melbourne City Football Club. As the sponsor, Etihad Airways expects to benefit from the club sponsoring is as the club expects to benefit from their sponsorship. Melbourne City Football Club expects to benefits from the sponsor’s funds that would help it meet its operations and expenses for example field maintenance, paying players, coaches, and other club staff. From the deal with the club, Etihad Airways expects to use the club to promote its services to the public. In the sponsorship deal, Etihad Airways will be receiving brandings with the Melbourne Football Club. The Club will be including the Etihad Airways logo on the front of the players Jersey and their training kit. The branding will also be done on the stadiums during the matches and even when the matches are not on. Apart from the branding and the opportunities for branding Etihad Airways, both the parties to the sponsorship will be working closely to create football schools for the children, promoting airfares for the fans and club members and to organize regular competitions for the fans Benefits involved in the Sponsorship As is always with sponsorship, both parties to the sponsorship are expected to benefit from the sponsorship deal. In this case, Melbourne City Football club expects to benefit from the Etihad funding and Etihad Airways expects to use the Etihad sporting activities to promote its products and services. Etihad Airways will expect the sponsorship to enable it exposure through media and to be able to promote their brand quality and enhance credibility. These are aimed at increasing the sponsors sales and returns. What will top the sponsor requirement will be media coverage. The sporting activities and events such as the premier league games, preseason games, playoff games, and community interactions will provide interesting and exciting opportunities for television images and newspaper photographs indicating the logos of sponsors on the banners and shirts. These exposures will help in creating the sponsors brand familiarity to the viewers who might turn to be the consumers. These logos are expected to stand out among the competitors thus enabling Etihad to compete effectively and be able to increase its sales. Sponsors expect to sponsors activities that are memorable and enjoyable for participants and audiences and to provide different occasions to help build sponsor brand value. Marketing through the social media With the existence of the Melbourne Facebook account and twitter, the club will be able to use these social media to market its sponsors, Etihad Airways products and services. The Facebook account with the Club’s logo and the sponsor’s logo will help in promoting the brands of the sponsor at the same time increasing the fan base of the Melbourne City Football Club. Creative Leverage In any relationship between different organizations especially sponsorship deals, there is usually some form of mutual benefit for the two parties, whether directly, or otherwise. The sponsorship relationship between Etihad Airways and Melbourne City Football Club is not an exception and both parties expect to mutually benefit from each other. As Etihad Airways will be providing funds to the Melbourne City Football Club, the sponsor will expect to increase sale and customer base for its products and services. Melbourne Football club will therefore help in improving the returns and customer base of the Etihad Airway by: The Club will be including the Etihad Airways logo on the front of the players Jersey and their training kit. The branding will also be done on the stadiums during the matches and even when the matches are not on. The club will be providing various events on the pitch and off the pitch to promote the Etihad Airways products and services Melbourne City Football Club will provide different activities and events to help increase brand awareness of the Etihad Airways, and help in developing brand preferences in the market place, especially among the club fans. The club will also provide an attractive context for the sponsor products and services. This will be enhanced by ensuring continuous promotion of the sponsor products during club’s events and activities, for example by displaying the sponsor banners before any match and after every match. The club will help raise awareness and create a positive public relations of the Etihad Airways Company. Through the advertisements on the social media using the company logo and banners, it will help show the football community and the fans how the sponsors value football in the country and across the world. This in turn will help increase their loyalty towards the sponsors products and services. The club also believes that their fans will offer an extended network to their families and even friends. By informing their friends and the family members, the fans will be promoting Etihad Airways services and products across Australia and the world. Melbourne City Football Club believes that soccer has become an International language being spoken by various individuals across Australia and the entire world. Therefore, with their wider fan’s base and expected customer loyalty, the club expects to improve the usage of Etihad Airways services and product across the country and the world through their events and activities. Besides the branding and the opportunities for branding Etihad Airways, both the parties to the sponsorship will be working closely to create football schools for the children, promoting airfares for the fans and club members and to organize regular competitions for the fans The club expects the sponsorship deal to help the sponsor in the following ways: Raise the brand awareness of the Etihad Airways. This will also help in developing the company brand preferences in the market especially among the club fans and their family members and friends. The club expects this to extend across the world due to increasing number of its fans. Raising awareness of the Etihad Airways as a company and build a positive public relations through the promotional services to be provided by the club. The club will place the sponsor logo on the shirts and jersey and even on the banners, thus facilitating public view of Etihad Airways Company. Providing an attractive context for the Etihad Airways’ products and services among the club fans and members. The sponsorship will enable the club to provide the sponsor with an attractive context through their products and services will be promoted. Providing continuous advertising opportunities to the sponsor’s products and services. Melbourne City Football Club will provide an advertising avenue for the Etihad Airways products and services especially during the sporting events and during the community activities. Through the advertisement, the company will be able to increase its sales and as a result realize increase in returns. In return, the Melbourne City Football Club will expect the Etihad Airways Company to raise awareness of their products and services by sponsoring more soccer events and activities. Sports provide entertainment, loyalty, passion and are able to reach out to the world’s demographics thus building an environment that has no boundaries. Therefore, as Melbourne City Football club offers entertainment and loyalty to their fans, the sponsors products and services will be promoted since the club expects customers to extend their loyalty to the sponsors products and services. Sponsee Benefits (Melbourne City Football Club) Sponsee Goals (Melbourne City Football Club) Sponsor Benefits (Etihad Airways) Sponsor Goals (Etihad Airways) Access to funds Obtaining Resources Print media Exposure Creation or improvement of the organization image Obtaining Funds Television Exposure Media relationship marketing Obtaining Services, for instance, brand positioning, raising awareness, creation of image or improvement and credibility raising. Advertising rights, for instance, sampling opportunities, merchandising rights, product exclusivity Business relationship marketing Naming rights, Logo use, ability to access Melbourne City Football club mailouts Increasing sales Development of the business Brand positioning Raising awareness Development of new distribution of flight channels Target of the new market segments Enhancing corporate social responsibility within the community of operation Employee relationship marketing Table 1: benefits involved in the Sponsorship Agreement Budget, Investment and Evaluation Budget As is always with sponsorship, both parties to the sponsorship are expected to benefit from the sponsorship deal. Melbourne City Football Club must come up with a budget that the sponsor, Etihad Airways is able to meet and in accordance with the benefits, the sponsor will derive from the sponsorship deal. A budget highlights the clubs projected expenditures in various areas. Melbourne projected budget expenditure proposal is as outlined below: Mini Club Partner Etihad name and logo on the club’s shirts and jerseys Advertisement on the Television networks and newspapers Company name and logo placed on the Club’s website Melbourne City Football Club vest and top Three tickets to soccer presentation nights Development of club’s programs and an excellent coaching staff Update on the Club’s results, on weekly basis Other events and Activities Total Sponsorship Package $ 12000 Ground Partner Advertisement on the television and newspapers Tickets to the soccer presentation nights Entry to the home games and away games Membership to the clubs group Update on the Club’s results, on weekly basis Melbourne City Football Club vest and top Placement of the Etihad Logo on the Club’s website Name and logo of the Etihad Airways appearing on the Club’s jerseys and shirts Other activities and Events Total Sponsorship Package $ 13500 Under 20 Short Sponsors Advertisement on the television and newspapers Tickets to the soccer presentation nights Entry to the home games and away games Membership to the clubs group Update on the Club’s results, on weekly basis Melbourne City Football Club vest and top Placement of the Etihad Logo on the Club’s website Name and logo of the Etihad Airways appearing on the Club’s jerseys and shirts Other activities and Events Total Sponsorship Package $ 13500 Melbourne Senior’s short sponsor Advertisement on the television and newspapers Tickets to the soccer presentation nights Entry to the home games and away games Membership to the clubs group Update on the Club’s results, on weekly basis Melbourne City Football Club vest and top Placement of the Etihad Logo on the Club’s website Name and logo of the Etihad Airways appearing on the Club’s jerseys and shirts Other activities and Events Total Sponsorship Package $ 14500 Other sponsorship packages Sponsorship for home and away club kits $ 10000 Sponsorship for the broadcasters box $ 2000 Sponsorship for the Game day Led Display sign $11000 Sponsorship for Led Electronic Scoreboard $18000 Note: All the costs to be incurred by the sponsor Based on the above budget projections, the club expects the best sponsorship agreement to be relevant at $123764 per year. Investment Proposed investment term is one year with an option of renewal in the following years in accordance with the newly agreed terms. Year one, a total of $123764. The payment in the following years would depend on the agreement terms among partners, and whether both parties are able to continue with the partnership agreement. In relation to the to the appropriate agreed sponsorship package, with the benefits and rights presented, the sponsor is expected to pay the sponsorship funds. With the outlined budget and the sponsor’s financial strength, the club expects the sponsor to accept the proposal or make necessary adjustments that will benefit both the parties to the sponsorship agreement. Since the budget aims at increasing awareness of the sponsor products and services, and at the same time benefit the club in terms of funds, both the parties are expected to reach a sponsorship agreement. Marketing Plan for Melbourne City Football Club There exists various uncertainties in the market and an organization an organization need to come up with a good marketing plan in order to be able to survive in today’s competitive business environment. A good marketing plan helps an organization to increase its customer base and as result be able to increase sales and revenue. Mission of Melbourne City Football Club To be the biggest football club in Australia in terms of fan base Vision of Melbourne City Football Club To have a wider financial base and a wide fan base in 5 years’ time. Objectives of the Melbourne City Football Club i. To increase their fan base and ensure the community feels the sense of belonging to the club. ii. Strengthening the club’s tie with the community, it belongs iii. Expansion of the club’s ability to commercially grow and derive more benefits from the city community iv. To create an identity that depicts the tradition of its fans and to create a good commercial relation with its sponsors v. Enhancing and improving the quality of the community sport and other recreational facilities vi. To ensure greater access and opportunities for participation of sports in Melbourne city and the entire community vii. To enrich and reinforce various roles Melbourne City Football club play in the sporting industry in the entire community. viii. To continue providing a robust evidence base for activities in the sport and active recreation system SWOT analysis Before an organization comes up with a sound marketing plan it needs to know where it is and where it plans to be some time in future. SWOT analysis takes into consideration the organizations’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The organization size, mission, goals and objectives will influence these. Strengths Strengths comprises of the business features that will help in achieving the laid down objectives. Melbourne City Football Club exhibits the following strengths: Well-structured committee Support from the local community, which makes up the club fans Wide range of volunteers An equipped club house Wide fan base Weaknesses Weak financial base Inadequate support from the local service organizations Fewer new club members Minimal support from the local politicians Inability to hire a well-trained coach Opportunities Weaknesses comprises of the attributes of the organization that would negatively influence achievement of the business goals and objectives. Therefore, the weaknesses of this club may include: Promotion of sports by the Australian sport governing body Organizations willing to sponsor the club, for instance, Etihad Airways International or national interests in various sports, for example the Commonwealth games Grants by the federal authorities to help encourage sport activities and events New population of fans supporting the club Promotion of the club sport activities and events by different gender, that is, male and female Promotion of the club sport activities and events by people of different age groups Match day promotions Threats Threats comprises of the external factors or conditions that may negatively influence the performance of the organization. Some of the factors that threaten the achievement of Melbourne City Football club objectives include: Some organizations giving up on sponsoring soccer to sponsor other sports, for instance rugby and netball Seasonal concentration on other sports that affect the level of field attendance Interests in other activities by youths, for example, school activities, video games, hobby groups and part time work Inadequate interest and knowledge about soccer among other groups of people Other bigger clubs with better facilities that may attract a good sponsor Limited available time for both the children and their parents, thus limiting the field attendance time Competitor Analysis Organizations exist in a competitive world and sports are no exception. Competition analysis involves assessing of the strengths and weaknesses of the current and potential competitors. Clubs compete in various ways. Melbourne City Football Club competes with various clubs in the Australian premier league, including Melbourne Victory, Sydney Football Club, Adelaide United and Wellington Phoenix Football Club. Most sponsors like sponsoring those clubs that usually win the leagues and participate in continental competitions. Therefore, Melbourne City has to fight for the best position in the league in order to be able to get a good sponsor such as Etihad Airways. Target Market The target market for the Melbourne City Football Club will be the club’s fans and its members. The focus of the campaign will be targeting fans who come to the field to watch the club events and matches and those that watch the events through the television. The club will also target the youths, who will be recruited to the team. In addition, the club will target those who read the newspapers especially the sports. Services Description Branding Displaying Melbourne City Football Club logo on the LED electronic scoreboard during all the games played at home or away Promotions of Etihad Airways on the club’s twitter and Facebook account Linking the Club’s website with that of the sponsor Editorials and advertising on the sponsors’ website through creation of a link with the Club’s website Creation of the sponsors’ billboard Designations The club to fully support the sponsor of the club, Etihad Airways Medias Partnering with a television through which the Club’s programs will be aired Melbourne City Football Club The club will be responsible for the circulation of the advertisement materials across all the relevant media. Table 2: Promotional ways Inventory Assets Average home games attendance, 9 games, Melbourne City Football Club, ABC telecast final games, 4 games Melbourne City Football Club, ABC telecast away games, 4 games Merchandise Food and Beverages Conclusion Sponsorship deals help both the club and the sponsor. As the sponsor, Etihad Airways expects to benefit from the club sponsoring is as the club expects to benefit from their sponsorship. Melbourne City Football Club expects to benefits from the sponsor’s funds that would help it meet its operations and expenses, for example field maintenance, paying players, coaches, and other club staff. From the deal with the club, Etihad Airways expects to use the club to promote its services to the public and crate positive public relations. References Blackshaw, I. S. (2012). Sports marketing agreements: Legal, fiscal and practical aspects. The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press. Etihad Airways, 2015, Available at http://www.etihad.com/ Gross, P. 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