Introduction
Real Madrid is a football club based in the city if Madrid, the capital city of Spain. The club boasts of a 112 year history spanning since the sixth March of 1902, when the club was founded. This paper summarizes the case study of Real Madrid Football Club.
Summary of the Case Study
The case study highlights different moments in Real Madrid football club’s history. Part of the highlights involves transfer dealings that significantly changed the club’s financial path. Of particular importance was the transfer of David Beckham from Manchester United. The transfer was significant because it placed the club on a pedestal in terms of media coverage and revenue generation. The case study also features the impact that Real Madrid has had on the city of Madrid. This is prominently because of the tourists streaming in to see Real Madrid play the beautiful game of football.
The case study also focuses on professional management of football clubs, with excerpts from the industrious history of Real Madrid. This feature details the expenses clubs have incurred due to purchase of players, marketing, branding and other operations. In the same breadth, the case study also features different avenues of revenue generation for the club. The most prominent avenues include merchandising, match-day ticketing, sponsorship deals and television broadcast rights.
While parts of the case study give a general overview of the beautiful game and the dynamics of football management, the author also exclusively focuses on Real Madrid and its history. Special focus is given to the transformation of the club after the election into office of Florentino Perez. The focus was operations of the club and the marketing approach, which the new management felt did not reflect the status of the club. The objective of the new management were to offer Real Madrid the financial muscle to broaden its brand reach and acquire talent, assemble a team of the highest skilled players and leverage the club’s content and brand across different channels.
This gave forth to the Galacticos era. This was an era born by one of the objectives of the new management; to build a team of highest skilled players. The most prominent and top players of the Galacticos were Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Raul Gonzalez, Ronaldo (Brazilian striker), David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Iker Casillas. The players in this team got the same annual salary. In the survey of 2004 featuring the highest paid players in the game of football, Real Madrid produced five players in the top ten.
In terms of international domination and expansion, the case study offers a comparison of Real Madrid with other football clubs. Some of the parameters include income generated and fan base. The case study also features the shift in club’s revenue. Although there was a steady increase in the club’s revenue since the 1984/1985 season, there was an exponential increase in revenue after the 2000/2001 season. This is testament to the change in the club’s philosophy after the election of Florentino Perez. The momentum gained in the 2000/2001 season has been sustained till today with the club posting impressive results.
Conclusion
Real Madrid is the story of a well managed football club. The case study details the transformation of the club from a team of national significance to a global brand with significant support in all parts of the world. The club bridged the gap between it and other top performing teams like Manchester United through sound principles and effective management.
Work cited
Quelch, John, Luis Nueno, Jose, Knoop, Carin-Isabel. Real Madrid Club de Futbol. Boston. Harvard Business School. 2007. Print.
