Sponsoring a soccer team can be a costly commitment. Not only do you have to pay the players’ salaries, but you have to shell out for travel costs and other expenses as well. You might be wondering how much money you are actually investing in the team. What is Sponsoring a Soccer Team (SP) and how does it work? Let’s take a quick look.
What Is Sponsoring a Soccer Team?
You might know that soccer is one of the world’s most popular sports. It’s a competition where teams of 11 players each compete for the title of World Champion. Each game is two halves of 45 minutes, with 10 minutes of added time at the end of each half. If the scores are still level after 90 minutes, the game goes into extra time and can end in a draw. The team with the most points at the end of all the matches wins the tournament.
When you’re investing in a soccer team, you’re not just buying a bunch of players. You’re also buying a piece of the game. For every game you play, you have to pay an entry fee to the league you’re playing in. This money is shared among all the teams in the league. In addition to this, you have to pay travel expenses for your players to get to the matches. You also have to pay for training sessions and any other games that your player may play in between seasons. This can add up quickly, especially if you’re traveling frequently to play your matches.
Nowadays, the world of soccer is a lucrative one. Top soccer players can make a lot of money, and there are plenty of opportunities to make a career out of playing professionally. This attracts a lot of top-quality sponsors, who are willing to commit large amounts of money to sponsor a soccer team. If you want to be the best, you can’t afford to pass up on this opportunity. It would be a mistake to say that you won’t see any results just because you didn’t spend a lot of money. Investments in talent always pay off eventually.
The Investment
If a team is one of the best in the world, how much does it cost to own it? For a long time, it was almost impossible to find out. The majority of the time, sponsorships were negotiated behind closed doors, with teams not disclosing their financial details. This was due to the sensitive nature of these negotiations and the fact that teams didn’t want to put a price on what was effectively an insurance policy against injury or illness. The emergence of the soccer money list, which tracks the earning potential of professional soccer players, has changed all this. Today, sponsorships can be listed on public websites, with both the player’s and team’s salaries being made available.
The top earner on this year’s list is Landon Donovan, who last played for the LA Galaxy. Since his retirement in 2012, Donovan has mostly stayed in the game as a commentator and as a consultant to teams. He currently has a partnership with the New York City FC in which he provides analytical consulting services and speaks to players and coaches about mental preparation for matches. Donovan’s income in 2017 was close to $16 million.
To give you an idea of the scale of these earnings, let’s take a look at the 2017 MLS salary cap. The maximum an individual player can earn is $436,250 a year. This is apart from performance-related bonuses and appearance fees. If a team has more than $2 million in combined cap space, it can potentially sign a player with a market value of over $500,000. Teams with less than $2 million are slightly more restricted, but there is still plenty of high-quality soccer out there for them to splash out on.
Performance
If a player’s market value is based on his ability to earn, what happens when they aren’t performing up to par? The LA Galaxy didn’t enjoy much success in the 2017 season. After signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, they entered the season as the heavy favorites to win the MLS Cup. What happened instead was a bit of a disaster. The Galaxy won only one of their first 13 games before pulling out of the race in mid-May and subsequently releasing their star player, Ibrahimovic. The rest of the season was even worse with only four more wins all year, while the team earned a measly 13 points in the final half of the season.
It’s easy to point the finger at head coach and general manager Dave Sarachan. Before becoming the Galaxy’s head coach in 2016, Sarachan was the manager of the New York City FC. In his first season with the LA Galaxy, he’s faced with rebuilding a team that had a lot of talent and heart but never quite gelled as a unit. With fewer resources than most clubs, it’s going to be a long and arduous process. Nevertheless, 2018 could be a turning point for the team. Two big acquisitions in the winter transfer window indicate that the Galaxy are putting the correct pieces in place. One of the players they signed was Stefan Johansson, a 35-year-old striker from Iceland. Johansson’s experience in the Úrvals de Gulhöll won him a move to North America in the first place and could be the key to turning things around for the team.
Let’s take a quick look at what else the Galaxy have done this offseason, which could prove to be vital in securing back-to-back playoff appearances.
Tricky Business
To begin with, the club brought in Argentinian international Juninho Paz. The midfielder has over 40 years of experience in the sport and will be able to help the younger players on the team learn the ropes. Next, the Galaxy brought in former Argentina and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Matias Almeyda. Almeyda is another experienced professional who has played at a high level across four continents. He’ll be a great addition to the locker room and could help the younger players develop their game.
The Importance Of Balance
Of course, you don’t have to spend big to be successful in soccer. Some of the best teams in the world don’t even have the resources to spend on marketing campaigns or player transfers. Instead, they rely on a solid team balance and smart, calculated investment in youth development. The best team in the world is, in fact, Borussia Dortmund. In 2018, the German club became the first side in the history of the Bundesliga to finish the season undefeated. On paper, they shouldn’t have been able to pull off this feat. The team is considered to be one of the best in the world due, in part, to their age profile. More than 50% of Dortmund’s squad is made up of players aged between 23 and 29. This is a direct result of their long-term planning and careful investment in players’ development. In the 1960s, when the Bundesliga was founded, youth development didn’t exist in the same way it does today. Back then, players mainly got in shape for the upcoming season and, in some cases, even the same team would remain in the same group of players year after year. Today’s soccer players are much more likely to develop and grow from within, making the need for recruiting marquee players less important. There is still a place for exceptional talent, of course, but teams can achieve great things without needing to rely on a few superstar players to carry them through the season.
Where Next?
As we’ve established, investing in a soccer team can be a profitable venture. It’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll see immediate results. Building a team that will challenge for trophies in the coming years is going to take some time. Nevertheless, it’s essential to remain committed to the process. This doesn’t mean that you have to break the bank, but it does mean that you have to be thinking long-term and prepared to spend some money to get the results you’re looking for.