September 7 – Mexico’s Club América has joined the Hispanic rush for US brand presence and marketing dollars with the opening of office in New York scheduled for the Autumn of this year, and the hiring of Arturo de la Fuente, previously head of business development at Barcelona, to run the business.
Club América has long held an affinity in the US having played more than 30 times in the country over the past 10 years and having an estimated fan base of more than 6 million.
With the push of Europe’s big clubs and into the US market, and in particular LaLiga’s recently announced US expansion plans that include playing a regular season game in the US, the Mexican club is in danger of losing brand position.
While TV deals like the Premier League’s dominate headlines, Liga MX dominates TV viewing with 44% of the total audience of all soccer leagues in the US, according to a Club América press release. This compares to 26% for the Premier League and a combined 30% for the MLS, Bundesliga, La Liga, Eredivise and Serie A.
“The decision to give more attention to the United States is a great opportunity for the passion that our fans have shown us in the matches we have played outside of Mexico to become more profound,” said Club América president Mauricio Culebro. “We are very excited to take another big step to connect with our people and our commercial allies outside of Mexico, and to establish ourselves as the largest club in the region.”
Focussed on building marketing partenerships, the new offices will be in Spanish language broadcaster Univision Network’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.
“I’m fascinated with what I found at Club América. The highest ratings year after year in the US and Mexico, a proprietary structure that goes hand in hand with Televisa and Univision, and one of the biggest and most passionate hobbies,” said de la Fuente.
“The context gives us reasons to believe that we can position Club America in the United States as one of the continent’s leading sports platforms. We will have to work harder than ever to achieve it, and we understand that the only way to do this is by forming strategic alliances with partners that have interests that align with ours.”
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