19/07/2004
Real Madrid to be biggest sports brand, says Perez
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez says the
Primera Liga club will make 138 million euros from marketing this year and will
outstrip Manchester United as the most valuable brand label in world sport.
"Some years ago Manchester United were the best selling club in the world
because of the simple fact that they had a marketing policy that was 10 years
ahead of everyone else," Perez told Spanish business daily Expansion on Monday.
"This is no longer the case because right now there is nothing to match the
global impact of the Real Madrid brand. We are the number one not just in
football but in all sport.
"This year we are going to earn 138 million euros ($171.7 million) just from
marketing, which is equal to the total income from all sources four years ago."
Perez, who was re-elected as Real president eight days ago after winning over 90
percent of the votes of club members, said his policy of signing some of the
biggest names in world football was responsible for a spectacular increase in
marketing revenues.
"We have shown that investing in the best players can be profitable," he said. "Just
like other business sectors we have tried to develop a good product that sells."
Perez spent close to 200 million euros ($248.9 million) to bring Luis Figo,
Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Bernabeu during his first four
years as president.
The spending spree was made possible by the sale of the club's city-centre
training ground to the Madrid local authority for 480 million euros, a deal
which is being investigated by the European Commission for a possible hidden
state subsidy.