UEFA to license its products to increase revenue

UEFA is relying on a licensed merchandising business, similar to that of the World Cup, as a way to increase revenue and raise its brand awareness.

''Definitely, one of our strategies is to increase sub-licensees and the availability of Champions League products,'' said Robert Faulkner, head of media services for UEFA. ''But as our brand is very strong, we control very strictly the use of the logo, image, and the name of the Champions League.''

Faulkner outlined the strategy when he visited Thailand last week as part of the first UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour of Asia. The trophy will be on display in Bangkok at the Central Festival Pattaya from April 6-8.

Europe's most-prized club trophy has already been displayed in Japan, Jakarta, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

The UEFA Champions League, sometimes known as the European Cup, was inaugurated in 1955 and each year features the most successful football clubs in Europe. This year's final will be played on May 23 in Athens, but the defending champions, Spanish Barcelona, have already been eliminated from the tournament.

European football clubs want a position in the Champions League because of the highly profitable television rights share that it gets. The winning team also receives EUR 7 million and the runner-up EUR 4 million, on top of starting bonuses, match and performance bonuses.

According to a global football study by the German research house Sport+Markt, about 6.3 million people in Thailand watch Champions League matches. It said that interest in football was actually higher on average in Asia at 62 percent than on any other continent, including Europe, which is at 55 percent.

UEFA, which currently has a number of sub-licensees that produce specific target products, such as Panini sticker albums, Smoby table football games, DVDs and computer games, said the availability of the products is very limited in the Thai market.

According to Faulkner, discussions are now under way with Warner Bros to produce all the licensed merchandise products, which would include cups, mascots, mini-balls and other items.

Warner Bros Consumer Products has a long-term strategic licensing agreement with UEFA and has been appointed its exclusive worldwide licensing representative for the UEFA Euro 2008 national club tournament, which will be held in Austria and Switzerland.

Revenue from licensed merchandise remains low for UEFA, which earns most of its money from TV rights sales and sponsorship fees.

The gross income for the UEFA Champions League for the current 2006-2007 season is estimated at EUR 750 million with television and commercial contracts contributing EUR 743.3 million and new media contributing EUR 6.7 million.

Under UEFA regulations, 75 percent of the total revenue from television and commercial contracts, up to a maximum of EUR 530 million, will go to the competing clubs, while the remaining 25 percent is administered by UEFA to cover organisation and administrative costs, as well as football development in Europe.

The regulations also specify that 82 percent of any revenue received in excess of EUR 530 million will go to the participating clubs, with the remaining 18 percent allocated to UEFA.

Also, 50 percent of the revenue received from new media contracts will be available for distribution to the clubs with the remainder going to UEFA.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.