The Socceroos will go to the Brazil World Cup next month without a major sponsor. But Football Federation Australia is already looking ahead to Russia 2018 and is reviewing its commercial structure and strategy to maximise returns post-Brazil and set up more lucrative brand partnerships.
The review is designed to maximise its commercial assets across the Socceroos, the A League, junior leagues, digital and more, for the next five to 10 years, according to Luke Bould, who took on the commercial director role at the FFA three months ago, joining from Cricket Australia where he was head of commercial marketing for six years.
“[The FFA] has always done things in a certain way but it has plateaued. Now we have to bring it together to maximise returns, drive revenue and make sure we have more fans. If we put them first and build around that, the rest will come,” Bould said.
“This country is very good at taking a cookie cutter approach to sports sponsorship,” he said, adding that the way the NRL and AFL do it isn't right for the FFA.
While NRL and AFL are flat, football, and the A League in particular, is the fastest growing sport in Australia and one of the fastest growing globally, which means there are more opportunities for commercial activity and brand partners. But Bould said revenues have plateaued in recent years despite the growth of the sport. That fact is underlined by the lack of a major sponsor for the biggest tournament in world soccer.
Qantas pulled back from its previous involvement as naming rights sponsor a year ago, although maintained its status as the team's official airline partner. Bould told AdNews that if there was going to be a naming rights sponsor for the national team at the Brazil World Cup they would have been in place a year, or 18 months ago.
It's not an issue for the team or for the FFA but it is “disappointing,” he admitted. While the World Cup rolls around every four years, he said that in an ideal world the sporting body would have another 12 months to put in place a structure and attract sponsors for the World Cup.
“It's not just putting creative together, it all takes time so for us most of the [2014] World Cup activity is done and dusted. We're selling brand association and than takes 12 months of planning. To expect a two, three of four million dollar deal a month out is unrealistic. The world Cup is a three year campaign – the benefit [for sponsors] has to come from the journey.”
The strategy has always been to have a naming sponsor and a number of support sponsors, this year though it is just support sponsors making noise around the World Cup.
Partner activity is starting to kick off this week. Cadbury has launched the first of its ads promoting a partnership with Woolworths around the World Cup. Mondelez confirmed it had joined the ranks as a sponsor last week.
Partners include TAB, Nike, Sony, NAB, Hyundai and Cenovis.
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