Pre-Season Football – Profits from Practice?
Increasingly we’re seeing pre-season preparations forced to accommodate “brand-expansion” trips with Chelsea having traveled to the US and Liverpool to Asia in recent years (and United having traveled to both continents in the last 3 years).
This summer sees Chelsea spend time in China and Malaysia as part of their push for global domination of the two hottest football markets – Asia and USA. Oh, and there’s a trip to Moscow as well.
Manchester United are headed to South Africa and will also play a pre-cursor of the Game 39 round with a face-off against Portsmouth in Nigeria at the end of their trip.
Everton will travel to the US as part of their pre-season. West Ham make an appearance as well, squaring up to the MLS All-Star XI. Fulham will travel to South Korea as part of their pre-season and are scheduled to play two games there right after playing Celtic at home.
It’s not a criticism of Chelsea, United or any club that makes the long-haul trip to Asia / Africa / Middle East / North America in an effort to combine pre-season preparations with expanding their fan base. Financial strength is important to a club’s success and pre-season friendlies and tournaments are an easy way to generate revenues, expand your fan-base in a different continent and mix it all up with giving your players much-need match-practice to be ready for the new season.
There are 3 weeks of pre-season football left before the Premier League season kicks off (the Community Shield being the unofficial starting point) – in that time players will travel around the globe, entertain crowds and smile for the cameras as their club does it’s best to generate revenues for the future from that trip. As long as they can play competitive football and not have to push themselves too hard, the effects of continent-hopping can be minimised, players can benefit from competing in different playing cultures and their club lines their coffers.
Pre-season football is all about making profit from the club’s downtime – and as the ‘arms race’ for financial strength grows, we’ll see clubs leveraging every resource they have to make more money all year long, not just during the season or pre-season.
Football is too much about money these days. I am a Man Utd fan, but to be honest, I envy those people that stayed outside the Football League headquarters to hear the verdict oe Luton Town’s appeal against the ten point deduction. They are the real fans, I think.
For millions of people football is a distraction on which they are prepared to spend certain sums of money and the likes of Manchester United will try to take advantage of that.
Too much football these days and all of it is too money-oriented. Soon it will lose its charm, passion and connection with the real fans, just like the sports in North America.
On one hand, going to Asia, or the U.S., or Africa for friendlies is a good thing, because it allows fans in those regions to see their favorite sides play, and that’s what it’s all about…love for a club shouldn’t be restricted to a certain region. Shoot, if United came to the U.S. again, I’d go in a heartbeat if I had the cash to do it (just like I want to go to Old Trafford someday soon, when I’ve got deep enough pockets).
But on the other hand, it sparks debates about money, and when it all comes down to it, there’s some credence to the debates. The cash these clubs make from these tours, both directly and as a result of the increased exposure, certainly doesn’t hurt.
Fans will be fine once they accept the role money plays in the game…