One of the most popular sports franchises in Brazil and in the world is practically unknown in the US, at least for now. Club de Regatas do Flamengo hired international sports marketing agency Sportfive to help it increase its brand presence internationally, including the US
Flamengo’s goal is nothing less than establishing itself as a global sports superbrand along the lines of Barcelona, Manchester United or Real Madrid. The effort will be closely watched by sports marketers who say it could test the US appetite for foreign fan interests, open up new opportunities for US brands to market in South America and take advantage of football’s growing popularity as a marketing vehicle. .
The effort comes as a counterpart in other sports, such as the NBA, NFL and MLB, working to export their brands internationally, and entities like Formula 1 burn new rubber on US roads. Bob Brennfleck, Senior Vice President of Commercial at Sportfive, commented on the growth of sports brands in the world:
“There is a fever in the consumption of sports entertainment, especially in the US. I can turn on my Roku any night and look at the offers, and a big chunk of them are sports related. Just look at the growth of F1 over the last five years. They’re going from one US event to three. The Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’ has done an amazing job building this brand. So yes, I think there is an appetite.”
Other Sportfive clients include the NBA Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls; European football clubs Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and FC Augsburg; and the NFL’s New York Jets. They all share the ambition to increase revenue by expanding their fan base to millions who may never get physically close enough to buy a ticket to a game, or even be reached by a regional sports television network broadcasting their games.
Sportfive announced the partnership with Flamengo just last month. Its executives say it will be years before their efforts create the kind of results the club is seeking. Brennfleck added:
“The final KPI is revenue, but there is a journey there. You can’t enter a new market and on day one expect a revenue impact. You have to do the hard work. You need to spend time, invest and build your brand so that it is relevant in the market. We strongly believe in building the foundational social and digital platforms that build a fan base; and two, enable reach, audience and engagement.”
Digital opportunity for Flamengo
Flamengo will look to a number of ways to reach US audiences, which may include scheduling exhibition matches (in football terms, “friendly”) with US clubs or other touring teams; support youth football programs and other community events; merchandise sales; and partnerships with US sponsors. Social media will also be an important part of outreach, said Karim Fathi, vice president of digital for the Americas at Sportfive, but it will mean more than simply translating the brand’s current Twitter messages from native Portuguese into English. According to Fathi:
“I’d rather they don’t do anything other than just translate the content, because at the end of the day the message is different from Germany or Brazil than American fans want to see. Our approach is to take the brand and build a persona that specifically fits the US market and taps into the cultural trends that are relevant here – the memes and jokes and so on.”
A recent example can be found in the feed of Dortmund, the German Bundesliga club that Sportsfive also represents. His US-specific Twitter account last month mounted the Oscar Will Smith controversy by posting a clip of a Dortmund player playfully slapping a teammate in the face. Such a post might not necessarily make sense to fans in the club’s home market, but it was a hit here, garnering nearly 5,000 likes.
Sportfive’s playbook is similar for most team brands it works with, executives say. It starts by identifying a current U.S. fanbase and then expanding its reach to those with an affinity for its sport or league, or an interest in global football in general. He will tailor an approach to each of these groups, emphasizing brand equity, which varies greatly from team to team.
For Flamengo, their position as the New York Yankees of Brazilian football offers a promising start. This differs from Dortmund, for example, which is an opponent of the Bundesliga’s main dog, Bayern Munich.
big bang international
The international Big Bang of football came 30 years ago when a group of UK clubs split from the Football League to create the Premier League and a corresponding broadcasting deal with the BBC and Sky Sports. In the years since American fans have become familiar with clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal. Similar “Superleagues” in Spain (La Liga), Mexico (Liga MX), Germany (Bundesliga), France (Ligue 1) and Italy (Serie A) have since made relevant American brands from clubs like Bayern Munich, Paris St. Germain, Barcelona and Real Madrid. All of these leagues have significant television deals bringing their games to US consumers, led by the Premier League (NBC and Peacock) and La Liga, now exclusively on ESPN+.
The American football boom began with the 1994 World Cup, which was played here, and the subsequent establishment of Major League Soccer, followed by the US success in the Women’s World Cup. The Men’s World Cup will return to the US, Canada and Mexico in 2026, providing more domestic momentum.
Whether there is room in the hearts of American consumers for even more football brands is a topic of some debate among football marketing experts. Generally, they see ample opportunity for a Brazilian club to gain appeal among Latinos and Hispanics, especially in cities like Orlando, Miami, New York and Boston with a higher concentration of Brazilians.
John Guppy, founder of Gilt Edge Soccer Marketing, an agency specializing in soccer, said he was a little skeptical about Flamengo’s ability to be a major US sports brand. His company’s latest survey of US football fans, conducted in November, named Flamengo as the 32nd most popular football club brand in the US (the top five respectively were Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea).
“If you ask the average fan how much Brazilian football he has watched in the last 10 years, the answer is basically zero. In the United States, it’s a four-horse race: there’s MLS for obvious reasons. Liga MX is by far the most watched on TV and then you have the top European leagues: the Premier League and La Liga. The entire media investment is behind one of these four leagues.”
Ricardo Fort, a former sports marketing executive at Coca-Cola who now runs a consulting firm called Sport by Fort Consulting, added that the Brazilian league’s current television deal with Paramount Plus is “very small.”
This article is a translation of the writing by Jon Springer to the website AdAge.
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