The flight to quality
There is a story told of how, soon after the Manchester United take-over by the Glazers, one of the brothers Bryan decided to get more money from their sponsors.
The Glazers had looked at the United contracts and decided they could and should do better.
Brother Bryan was the man to spearhead the sponsorship and marketing drive.
Marketing sources have recounted to me how aggressively this Glazer went in often asking for double the money and totally taking the marketing men aback.
But the Glazer tactics worked.
Vodafone paying £9m a year were replaced by AIG paying just over £14m a year, a 45% increase.
And this at a time when United were in their fallow period, not long after a bruising takeover battle which had seen the new owners fall out with many of the fans, some of whom went off to form their own team, Roy Keane leave and United without a title win for three years.
Now they go into the market as triple champions - English, European and World, hence their search for sponsors worldwide extending from dear old Pru to Sahara the Indian company who also sponsor the Indian cricket team.
Indeed I am told the United drive for their new sponsors is led by a hard-nosed marketing team working in London and targeting many of the world's leading companies.
This strategy suggests that United believe the credit crunch does not mean the game of sponsorship, which has blossomed in the last quarter of a century, is actually coming to an end, at least not for United.
However they and everybody accept that the sponsorship game has changed.
It is what marketing men are calling a flight to quality.
Keith Wyness, who knows a thing or two about running football clubs having run Aberdeen and Everton, confirms this.
He told me: "What has changed is that football shIrts can no longer be trophy assets. A club cannot just go out there and expect sponsors to fall into their laps.
"They will have to demonstrate that they are good value and they are providing a return to their sponsors. The sponsors will want to sweat the assets they have acquired.
"I agree there will be a flight to quality. Clubs that are doing well and who have had good relationships with their sponsors will still do all right.
"But the general run of clubs who just expect sponsors to queue to sign up just because they can get a football shirt are in for a shock. All this means the days of easy sell in football are over."
Or in simple terms if you are a successful team like United then you will get another sponsor and even increase the money offered but if you are not successful then you may have to adjust to life without a sponsor as West Brom have done and West Ham had to do for some months.
United are making bullish noises but not all football clubs have their track record or can be as hopeful of continuing to make a lot of money from sponsorship.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~20~RS~)
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Your blog is OK and talks about sponsorship in monetary terms but what about teams such as Aston Villa and Barcelona who have got charities on the front of their shirts?
Albeit they are forfeiting all money they could receive from a large company but do people see the clubs as being "good" so to speak rather than raking in as much money as possible?
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avfcnorthfield makes a good point, but I think the blogger is trying to report on events in this piece, rather than offer an opinion.
As far as looking "good" by offering shirts up to charity goes: clubs like Barcelona can do that, because their marketing is about retaining a certain insular cultural position, it does them good to not tarnish their iconic shirt with commercialism. But rest assured that they do it because it strengthens their brand and makes them money.
Clubs like Hammers don't have that position and they are putting charity on their shirts because they don't have a sponsor. It's damage limitation, busineswise.
Man Utd are relatively philanthropic, for a football club. However, they do better to make a few million on the shirt and then spend some of the money doing charity work for UNICEF.
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Actually, Barca have never had a sponsor on their shirts - since the shirt represents the Catalan nation, it was seen as sacrilege to do so. They offered to let their shirt carry a charity's name as a goodwill gesture. It's a sign of the generally classy way they run their club.
Mihir has once again turned the obvious into a blog. Back in the early 1990s United put together a framework of different sponsors - all blue chip companies, and working in different industries so there would be no conflict in having all of them on board. It was light years ahead of other clubs.
They are still pursuing that strategy, so I'm surprised Mihir and his many "marketing sources" (why do they need to be so anonymous???) find this so noteworthy. "United pursue same business plan as before" isn't much of a headline, is it?
AIG are bankrupt and have to pull out of their contract, so United are looking for another sponsor. Big deal. As yet, there's little actual evidence that clubs generally are finding sponsors hard to come by. It's logical that the recession will bite on this, but not apparent yet.
So this blog states the obvious, and hints at something that has no evidence to support it. Well done, everyone.
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The Hammers aren't showing a charity in the absence of sponsorship - they are sponsored by SQLBet.com, I believe?
Aston Villa have put Acorns on their shirt as it is a local children's hospice and they are attempting to raise awareness nationally. Their previous sponsorship deal with 32Red.com was only worth £800k/season, so for the Villans to forgo that isn't really much of a loss.
Mihir's point about the more successful clubs getting more sponsorship money seems odd in the light of the £5m/season deal XL Airways were paying West Ham, who (in my opinion) are no more successful or well-supported than Aston Villa.
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Here's an interesting link detailing the sponsorship deals for all the PL teams:
http://soccerlens.com/english-premier-league-club-sponsors/19279/
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sweetsmellofsuccess, I don't think you understood my post, which might be my mistake for using poor English. I was explaining why I think not having a sponsor works for Barca - because of their cultural position. Yet it looks "classy" and doing so is good marketing, because it supports their brand and supporting their brand makes them money - see? Not every club can do that.
As for pointing out the obvious, I think you do that quite well yourself - everyone knows Barca don't have a sponsor. What is less obvious is why you don't consider clubs actually losing sponsors to be evidence of clubs having trouble retaining sponsors. It's a self evident fact.
With respect, your attitude towards the article is bemusing. It seems unsatisfiable, as if the very idea of an author writing down just the information they have on a subject is unacceptable. It's hard to fathom why you are so enraged by it.
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I think every Everton fan will agree that Keith Wyness does NOT know how to run a football club. Unless running a football club means selling all of it's assets leaving just the stadium and squad.
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guys, i guess, mihir wanted to say that with the credit cruch, although it has become difficult to find sponsorships, it is not as difficult, specially, if you have a hard nosed approach, and there are still markets that haven't been explored yet.
So, with some more exploration, you could be getting something unexpected but welcomed.
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On the main football page is a link to this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7700407.stm
Man Utd sponsor deal for Hublot
AIG will remain as Manchester United's shirt sponsor
Manchester United has signed a new multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Swiss watch manufacturers Hublot.
Hublot, which provided the timing at Euro 2008, has paid a reported £4m for a three-year partnership deal with the Champions League holders.
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famousmrturtle:
Your English is fine, thanks. I pointed out the history of Barca's shirt since no, not everyone is aware of it. Knowing that history shows Mihir's point as lacking substance. That's why I mentioned it.
I didn't say that clubs are having trouble retaining sponsors. Read my point again. I said that clubs are merely following exactly the same business plan as before (using Man Utd as an example). If a sponsor backs out, they look for another one.
Nothing revolutionary or insightful about that, so nothing worth exercising the BBC Sports Editor to write.
A more worthwhile (and timely) piece might have been on the personal marketing rights of individual players. Kaka is apparently worth $8m, and this is seen as paltry compared to others in major sports. Since a player's transfer fee is often affected by the degree of control a club has over those rights, this would be a "story behind the headlines" that Mihir and his myriad of "sources" could focus on.
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Some time ago, a businessman went and brokered a deal which made more money than the previous deal. These revolutionary tactics changed everything because nobody had thought of asking for more money in a business deal.
Manchester United have lost their shirt sponsorship with AIG, a fact which was apparent since last year, but only confirmed yesterday. They have another year to find a sponsor, and being the biggest football club in the world, as well as having a strong brand and their presence reaches into various corners of the world, means they will find it pretty easy to get a deal.
Other clubs, on the other hand, who are much smaller than Manchester United and who do not have a global support base, will struggle to attract sponsors as there is a financial crisis and nobody is throwing money around.
Rather than simply recite this as a statement of the obvious, I understand that it is better to shield my sources in a cloak of mystery. Suffice to say, they're all super-important.
Everyone clear?
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Surely, the difference between £9m and £14m is small beer for United so is this article really worth any airspace. Surely an examination of the generally precarious state of football clubs' financial situations, including shirt sponsorhips would be far more interesting. The blog above looks like it was written by a schoolkid.
Mihir, whenever I see/read your work I wonder how you got a job working for the beeb. Your "journalism" both on the TV and online is consistently second-rate.
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@#10: That's an old article (October last year I think) and only relates to a 'secondary' level sponsorship i.e. nothing to do with shirts.
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jipfcom. As a fellow Everton fan I agree with you, Wyness is just another one of the predatory fat cigar, jag and blazer set that are ruining our national sport in the name of globalisation/progress/revenue. Yes sport is a business but it is a special type of business and the people running it have forgotten this. The fact that Bose had to go as far down the barrel as Wyness says a lot. I resent paying my license fee to read such poor content.
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Barclenona and such clubs who put a charity on the front of there shirts deserve nothing but praise in my opinion. For them after all this time to offer it up for free forgoing 10million + in sponsorship is a great gesture. I can't believe Manchester United haven't made a deal with coca-cola yet. . . . and not just for the apropriate colour scemes !!!
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sweetsmellofsuccess
"I didn't say that clubs are having trouble retaining sponsors"
and I didn't say you said that. Perhaps it is you who should read more carefully? You have a something of a knack of getting the wrong end of the stick.
You seem to have it in for Mr. Bose. You have some interesting ideas for articles. Perhaps you will get your own blog where you can show how it is done?
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It's not just big clubs like Aston Villa and Barcelona that give away shirt sponsorship - this year my local team (Colwyn Bay FC) forgo a sponsorship deal with InBev (our shirts had Boddingtons on the front of them) to give it to Ty Gobaith, a local charity.
Reasoning behind it is similar to what famousmrturtle said - it raised awareness of the club and help promote the brand associated with the club.
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hiw short is this blog>>>laaaaaaaaaaaaazy
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how not hiw.hiw is a fine hardworking man
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Sorry Mihir, but this blog is well below the standards of what a BBC blog should be.
Try looking at Martin Samuel's column in the Daily Mail for inspiration, well thought out and well written.
The fact that you refer to "United" eight different times shows a lack of journalistic creativity and the English use is well short of a professional blogger.
I would rather you outlined your opinion on matters like these, for example: "I think that Manchester United’s' worth as a brand is well exploited, compared to that of Liverpool because..."
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I know that, as MIhir points out so sparsely in his 'blog', that the current economic crisis necessitates sparse spending but I had no idea it necessitates an economy of words and such frugality when it comes to words, Mihir.
This is a really lazy peace of writing and most of it is used up with a long quote from Mr Wyness.
How can he get away with this?
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I have to say this is once again lacking in insight. I apprectaite Mr Bose is an award winning sports writer, but his blogs quite frankly are boring.
What does this blog tell us about sponsorship? The rich are getting richer and the poor are struggling in the credit crunch. I'm not stupid, isn't this blatently obvious and even prior to the credit crunch, the way modern football was going anyhow.
The references to 'sources' amuses me, as it would sound impressive if the information was interesting or controversial, but as it's something we already know, it just smacks of arrogance.
Mr Bose should spend a few hours with the BBC's best blogger by a million miles, Tim Vickery, who's weekly blogs are interesting, thought provoking, honest and brillaintly written, and maybe he could spare us the boring drivel we seem to get week in week out.
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£14m a year from a sponsor is a very good income, as Villa were only getting £800k a year from 32RED its not a major loss going with a Charity on the shirts and it is an amazing guesture from our club.
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So Aston Villa's old shirt sponsorship deal was worth 800k per year?
That's really not much income to lose, is it? They could recoup that put putting the season ticket prices up by 20 to 25 pounds.
Just out of interest, did they put up ticket prices this season?
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#17:
No, I don't "have it in" for Mihir. I'm sure he's a perfectly nice person.
Like many posters, I often find his choice of blog subject bemusing; focusing on non-events; re-hashing previously-known and public material; offering opinions without any solid evidence for them; etc.
As BBC Sports Editor, I hold him to a high standard. The BBC has many fine journalists and bloggers; Mr Bose should stand head and shoulders above most to reflect his higher standing, and presumably the talent that got him there.
Compare the standards of insight, analysis and knowledge of this blog with those of, say, Tim Vickery, who manages to bring ideas and stories that would otherwise escape your attention. I think we should expect Mr Bose to operate at a similar level.
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In reality 14m a year isn't really that much. Didn't United spend that this month on two pretty unknown Serbians. I know Utd have other sponsors like Seoul Council (not really sure what they get out of it).
I'm not saying they should turn this money down but I'm sure other streams of income are far more important.
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This is the umteenth time I have read Mihir's blog and it truly staggers me how people complain about his articles.
Everywhere I go, read, see....people complain.....
People who seem to know very little about sport complain all the time.
Mihir's blogs are harmless...what the heck is their to complain about in them?
How do you people care on an issue of shirt sponsorship.
Perhaps is points are obvious...but his job is to combine economics with sport.....
Not nearly as easy a subject to discuss as that of "Citeh" trying to sign Kaka.
I actually think he is a very good writer...and for those of you who seem less convinced I suggest you read his book regarding the history of Indian Cricket.
I am not defending him because he is a fellow person of Indian origin; it's more that I simply cannot understand why so many of you complain about things.
Let it go....you really will feel much better.
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Yes but that's what most people do...how often do you really see a new insightful comment on Alex Ferguson...never...because there is nothing more to say...it's jsut that you can repeat it as often as you want because Fergie creates interest.
I genuinely cannot understand why so many people complain about Mihir's blogs. It's so pointless.
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West Ham have a charity on their non 1st team shirts, as SBOBET isn't suitable for the kiddies.
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I think the general theme of complaints against Mr Bose is that the blog comments seem lazy.
True, in reality it isn't that important, but when you read the other blogs you appreciate how good this one should be, and it is not, especially when you consider his background in sports writing which is littered with awards.
I think people are frustrated as he is clearly capable of better. I read Tim Vickerys blogs and am dissapointed when they end, I read Mr Bose's and I am bored by the end.
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Scenicjoker, the reason that people complain about the posts is because it defies belief that things which are, as you say, obvious, should be the best that we can expect from a man who is in the most important job at the BBC Sports website.
His job is not, as you say, to combine economics with sport, and in fact I can tell you what his job is, because I'm quoting Mihir Bose directly:
"The idea is for me to break away from the [news] agency culture. I've been told my job is to keep up my contacts and develop stories. It would be a failure if I was doing everyday run-of-the-mill stories."
This blog, if you follow the top right, is supposedly a regular take on the key sports stories and issues behind the headlines. This blog is in fact nothing of the sort - it is a statement of the obvious dipped in unnamed contacts.
The only problems people ever raise in this blog are those of the quality of his work. My sources tell me that this reflects a wider exasperation. His books may be well-received, but that's neither nor there as a reflection of the BBC and his own blog.
It's not unreasonable, either, for him to consider replying to the blog and explaining to the readers why this is anything other than a statement of the obvious. If we're missing something, I'd be delighted to know what it is.
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We have our mates pub as shirt sponsors. Works really well for us as he gives us all the leftover beer after games. And if he really looks after us, he gets a game - If we are winning 10-0. Everyone happy. The club, the players and the sponsers. I'm sure it works the same here. AIG probably game employee style discounts to the man utd team.
Just like the old days when Liverpool players could get free paint and Arsenal players got nice JVC TV's.
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lawros_kit_bag
The season tickets went up, only a small fraction, nothing to really complain about.
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Regarding Barca and Villa (and any other teams adopting the same approach): There is more to it than the moral high ground. It is clear, regardless of the club, football is now a rather lucrative business. Bearing that in mind, would Villa turn down an annual 5-6m sponsorship deal? I don't think so.
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I often wonder why I keep reading Mihir's blogs. And then I reaise that they are so hilariously un-newsworthy and lacking in journalistic skill that it gives me a laugh. How did this man ever become Sports Editor at the BBC? But it keeps him off the streets and selling the Big issue (which his journalistic skills are suited to)
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Ask Martin O'Neil if he would rather 1 extra player a year or no shirt sponsor. I know he's a nice guy but I bet my house he'd want the player.
And for those carping on about the quality of the blogs - there blogs NOT articles. There meant to be fairly short and succinct. I would agree there should be more opinion in them but its the BBC, there scared to even sneeze since the Daily Mail brigade got Jonathan Ross got banned.
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Wow, there are quite a few 'experts' on blogs around here huh.
I would love to see some examples of their work, as I'm sure Mr Bose would. After all, as he is so incompetent in his role, I would imagine he would welcome the opportunity to learn from the omniscient on here.
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Hi shoots,
On a blog, there's a space for people to write comments. The idea is for people to have their say. A lot of people, and from what I have seen, far more people than on anyone else's blog, seem to find the subject matter of these pieces irrelevant, and the way they are expressed condescending. There is no criticism of the author himself, only of his work. The points are on the whole expressed eruditely and constructively.
The author of the blog has every right to come back and have his say. As I keep writing until it hurts me to type, I would love nothing more than for Mihir Bose to come back and dismiss these criticisms, and answer the queries in his arguments. I want it because I want the BBC to be that good, and the Sports Editor should be the biggest symbol of that. Unfortunately, that never happens. Ever. Incidentally, other journalists who blog do reply, stand up for their articles, engage with their audience, and they are respected for it.
I notice you didn't make any observations on the blog itself. Do you disagree with what the majority are saying here, and if so, why?
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The blog format is best suited to brisk, off the cuff commentary and quick remarks about emerging events and ongoing issues. It's a different form of journalism that favors expediency over depth.
In this blog we get to read a snippet of what is going through the BBC Sport Editor's head, without it being interrupted by a strive for perfect form. It's a glimpse at the notebook of a person who is exposed to a lot of information on the sports industry, not a deep investigation into a topic.
That is what blogs are for - not for winning Pulitzers. You'll get used to it.
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man utd can't make a deal with coke... they already have one with pepsi!
they give loads of support to UNICEF, so it is easily possible that if no suitable sponsor could be found for 2010, then they would use the UNICEF logo for a season.
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sorry; HAD one with pepsi!
of course budweiser use red and white as coporate colours too!
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Right, I feel like I'm belabouring the point here, but someone has to, I suppose.
'The blog format is best suited to brisk, off the cuff commentary and quick remarks about emerging events and ongoing issues.'
That sounds more like Twitter than blogging, but I take the point.
'It's a different form of journalism that favors expediency over depth.'
I'm not sure that is strictly true. A blog can be about more or less anything, on any terms. Other writers on the BBC blogs all have an individual style.
'In this blog we get to read a snippet of what is going through the BBC Sport Editor's head, without it being interrupted by a strive for perfect form. It's a glimpse at the notebook of a person who is exposed to a lot of information on the sports industry, not a deep investigation into a topic.'
Which would be fine, as I've said above, were it not for a few things.
Mihir writes articles here - it is only nominally a blog. People reply to their posts in the blog. Mihir does not. If he did, I suspect many would be more forgiving.
Most importantly, the parameters of this blog have been well-estbalished by the author - 'my regular take on the key sports stories and issues behind the headlines'. This particular subject matter is neither of the above - it's only a meandering vehicle for unsubstantiated stories dipped in unknown sources. Forget style; this is not the blog's brief. If it weren't so, again, I suspect many would be more forgiving.
Furthermore, this is Mihir's only known output for the BBC online. His name does not appear on other articles, his name only seems to turn up on other articles in the context of 'Mihir Bose understands'. He has a lot of TV and radio work for the BBC, but let's not pretend Nick Robinson and Robert Peston don't; and they blog twice daily at times. So when the only two things we see in a week are that sponsorship will be hard unless you're Manchester United, and Olympics touch the contingency fund that was set aside for contingencies such as a giant credit crunch, then I get shirty, if you'll forgive the pun. He's the Sports Editor; it ought to be bloody good. Or at least make you think. If it did, I suspect many would be more forgiving.
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Personally, I lamented the day when Athletic Bilbao succumbed and allowed a sponsor to grace their shirt, however the fact they held out for so long, given the signing police of the cantera etc, is testament to the Basque resolve.
The inevitable compromise was reached with the sponsor being the Basque oil refinery, Petronor.
Having survived in a league with far less revenue than the P'ship, and with their Basque-only signing still remaining intact, it perhaps shows the 3rd side of the coin when compared to the likes of Man Utd, & Barca etc.
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N0 27
I agree with these comments 100%. I have nothing against any bloggers at the BBC. I read every blog with an open mind I hope. But I have to say Mr Bose's blogs are usually a statement of the obvious or an attempt to gain greater significance than the blogs deserves , in this case, from a brief conversation with My Wyness. To summarise - In a recession the stronger brands will be at anadvantage over the weaker brands and will try to maximise their revenue. THERE, that could have saved you a lot of words Mr Bose.
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The game of football and the business of football are two different things. This is an article about the business of football which is an increasingly ugly affair as demonstrated by the cynical quote offered up by Holger Haims of Deutsche Venture Capital with respect to a possible purchase of Chelsea:
"You don't make money because 11 guys run around the pitch, you make money because of all the other commercial aspects that go with a football club, particularly real estate and television rights."
(You can add shirt sponsorship to the list.)
As a fan of the game, I now turn a blind eye towards the business side of football. The guys on the pitch are there to play the best football they can. If the football is beautiful and entertaining then they deserved to be applauded. Demonstrating good value and ensuring a return on shareholder equity should be the last thing on their minds.
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