Fenway Sports Group, the sports marketing company owned by the Boston Red Sox, has expanded its media empire, entering into a sponsorship deal with Fulham FC, an English Premier League soccer club.The company already has a number of similar partnerships in other sports, most famously with Roush Fenway Racing, the NASCAR racing team that features top drivers Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Might this be there most impressive partnership yet?
That's hard to say, but partnering with a side from the Premiership can't be a bad thing. The EPL might not register much here in the NFL-centric United States, but its the most popular and powerful professional sports league in the world, with club revenues for the 2007-08 season exceeding $3 billion.
Picking Fulham, though? That's a little strange. The London side is probably more famous for being owned by Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed than for its success on the pitch (that's the field, for those of you that are soccer-illiterate). The Cottagers, as they're known, have never finished higher than seventh in the Premier League.
The Yankees partnered with Manchester United eight years ago, a collaboration that was much more congruous given the championship pedigree both shared. Fulham is more akin to the Minnesota Twins, while the Red Sox are similar to some of the more famous English sides like Arsenal and Liverpool.
The most exciting development for any stateside soccer fan is that Fenway Sports Group is now considering the possibility of bringing a Premier League match to Fenway Park. The oldest venue in the majors has hosted a string of rock concerts in recent years and will host the NHL's Winter Classic, an annual outdoor game, on New Year's Day.
"It's absolutely an idea at this stage," [COO Sam] Kennedy said. "It might not even be a good idea.OK, so a match on Yawkey Way seems a long way off right now, but for soccer fans in America, it's something to dream about.
"Our mission is to explore all sorts of what we call 'blue chip events' in Fenway Park. It started back in 2003 with the Bruce Springsteen concert. We're having outdoor hockey games with the NHL and Hockey East. The concept of an English Premier League game at Fenway is very, very exciting, and fits in line with our standard of events.
"I don't know that they would be interested in doing it. We need to do some more homework and see if it would work."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-22-2009 @ 10:11PM
Phil said...
"The Cottagers, as they're known, have never finished higher than seventh in the Premier League."
You are comparing two different sports here. Fulham finished 7th last year and it was one of the most celebrated events in Cottager history. They landed the highest finish in club history, earned European competition and gained continental reputation. And this is coming from a club that wasn't even a Premiership squad for most of the 90s-00s. In fact, this afternoon they nearly beat routine Champion's League side AS Roma in a Europa match.
This is a club with a budget almost 1/20th (not substantiated) of Manchester United, Man City or Chelsea. If you want an honest club that's rapidly growing, choose Fulham.
It's expected that the Yankees would partner with Manchester United. But if you want to compare your squad with a team that has a shirt sponsor contract with AIG, then go-ahead and disgrace yourself. But you should want something more...and you can find that at Craven Cottage, an almost Fenway-esqe ground in a New Yankee Stadium era.
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10-22-2009 @ 11:05PM
Andrew said...
Phil, I know all about Fulham -- saw them beat Newcastle United last year in person -- and I think my comparison to the Twins holds a lot of water.
The Red Sox are much more presitigious in the context of MLB than Fulham is in EPL. (They're growing, OK, if you say so, I won't argue that portion of the business). Another more powerful Prem side would have been more congruous just from a success/branding side