One a visionary looking for a product to push in the world’s richest market, the other the world’s top product searching for a way to tap that market. Manchester United and New Jersey’s Charlie Stillitano – who engineered the ChampionsWorld Tour -are the perfect match.
United is the world’s biggest soccer club – vying with the Yankees for best-known sports team – because they were decades ahead in marketing . . . except here in the U.S.
But two men from New Jersey, Westfield’s Stillitano and North Brunswick’s Tim Howard, are helping crack that barrier.
“There’s obviously an advantage for first-movers into a marketplace,” Stillitano said. “One thing they’ve brought that benefited ChampionsWorld is other teams have seen their success and they want to emulate it, jump into the process.”
Last year United bought Howard from the MetroStars, and the first American to win the FA Cup quipped, “It’s been said I was bought for one reason. If so, we both made out.”
United usually does.
“Last year it was obviously a very successful tour as far as coverage, sold-out games, attractive games; that’s why we wanted to come back. And for building up the brand of the team,” said chief executive David Gill. “We make money out of it.”
The tour started as an idea in Stillitano’s mind, as he saw passionate, overflow crowds at the 1994 World Cup he ran at the Meadowlands. Then the ex-Metros general manager wrangled with his old club and promoted a Real Madrid-Roma tilt that packed Giants Stadium.
Two years later, he has a nineteam, 11-game, $25 million tour.
“We were going to invest in the biggest and best teams,” Stillitano said. “MLS invested their money in American players and developing the league. This is a different economic model.”
With 293 million people and disposable cash, United lists the U.S. – along with China, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand – as key markets.
“Last year, bringing the team had an incredible impact. That’s the reason we’re here again, see how far you can take it,” said coach Sir Alex Ferguson. “We have a deeprooted fan base now. We want to capitalize.”
Clubs make money in various ways: sponsorship, merchandising and fan base. United’s $503 million deal with Nike is the world’s largest, and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez claims his club will sell $171.5M in merchandise this year to surpass United as No. 1.
But United has over 50 million fans worldwide, with some paying to become shareholders and others as members of their 217 official supporters’ clubs. In some markets, those clubs are being merged as One United, and ChampionsWorld is handling that transition stateside.
Shareholders United spokesman Richard Stubbs said stateside membership has risen 500 percent in the last year to 1,500 members paying $28 annual dues.
No wonder Stillitano couldn’t wait to partner with United, as well as Chelsea – whom he’s running camps and clubs for – and several Italian clubs.
As for staging yesterday’s United-AC Milan game at Giants Stadium on the same day as MLS’ All-Star game at RFK, MLS commissioner Don Garber said, “Am I happy there’s an international match the same day as our All-Star game? Of course not. But it’s in the long-term interest of the sport.”
And most of all, it’s in the interest of United and Stillitano.
