Melbourne City Football Club in the Australian A-League Competition - Report Example

Student Name Lecturer’s Name Course Name and Number Date Submitted Executive Summary Melbourne City Football Club started as a small football club whose performance was average. The club participates in the Australian A-League. It was initially formed as Melbourne Heart but in 2014 it changed its named to Melbourne City Football Club. The team has had a nice time and has been able to identify its core weaknesses and strengths. It is for this reason that they have had a gradual change in their performance. We had a sponsorship that lasted for three years. After the expiry of the sponsorship, the club has had some financial constraints and therefore you accepting to offer our club a sponsorship opportunity will highly be appreciated as it will enhance smooth internal operation of our club. Melbourne City Football (Soccer) Club (MCFC). MCFC play in the Australian A-League competition. Cover letter Melbourne City Football Club is based in Australia and participates in the Australian A-League competition. It is a professional football club. Its specific point of operation is in Melbourne, Victoria. It is licensed by the Football Federation Australia. Melbourne City Football Club was founded in the year 2009 as the main football club in Melbourne. The original name of MCFC was Melbourne Heart. It operated under this name for quite a long time until in mid-2014 that the football club was renamed to Melbourne City Football Club(Hay&Heath,298). Thus was done in partnership with M.S in Australia. Or full authority of the club, Melbourne City Football Club decided to purchase Holding M.S Australia Consortium. MCFC is managed by the City Football Academy, which is located at Melbourne’s La Trobe University. The homes matches of the club are played at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium that is commercially popular as AAMI Park. This park is situated at the Melbourne City Center. It is a personal achievement for our club to have a youth team that also participates in the National Youth League. Our football club also has a senior women team that participates in the W-League. Sports Property As a football club that has fans and is recognized worldwide, there are objectives that the club has. They have set strategies so that the internal operation of the club may be geared towards the attainment of the goals. Our football objectives are, or number one priority and therefore in each and every match, the players together with the managers have the objectives at the back of their minds. Like the club, we can all speak the same tone that it is our objectives that have been our strength. Comments from supporters and fans have said that we should stick to our operation and that the management of the team should hold on tightly to the policies of the team if we want to succeed. Some of our objectives include identifying youths outside there who have talent in football and bringing them to the football club academy. By so doing, the company will be benefiting idle talents outside there. This is not only a benefit to the club but also to Australia Company as a whole. These individuals with football talents are well trained so that they can be assimilated in the club. This objective aims at improving the living conditions of people who are living poor life conditions despite having football talent that can assist them to make income. This is part of sustainable development as the objective will help in making the world a better place. Another main objective of MCFC is to play smart and hard so that they can emerge at the top- of the league(Hay&Heath,298). Just like any club, we hope that through our practices and the strong confidence within our players, we have all that it takes to play smart so that we can emerge at the top of the league. We have studied our competitors keenly, and we have been able to establish their loopholes. Identifying our competitor as part of our strength we will form strategies to take advantage of the gaps. When this is done, we are always assured to win in both home and away matches. We have so much trust and confidence in our coaches and the team managers as their coordination has assisted the players to relate well with each other. Our layers are subjected to vigorous practices before matches to keep them fit for the matches. It is for this reason that the football club has been able to have a majority of fans both within Australia and also outside Australia. In 2003, the National Soccer League was dissolved. His was brought about by Crawford Report whereby new strategies for revamped national competition were to commence in the following session (Hallinan 288). There were suggestions that new football competition should include two clubs from Mjmlelbourne. However in the year 2004, Football Federation Australia, there was an ideology of one city, one football club which announced that Melbourne Victory had acquired the license to be the Melbourne Club. I had acquired the license to compete in the national competition that is known as the A-League. During this same time, a 5-year moratorium was formed so as to prevent any form of expansion from the initial 8 A-League football clubs areas that could ship any interest in participating in the competition till the 2010-2011 season(Hay&Heath, 300). This was to create enough time for Melbourne Victory to establish itself in the league so that when other teams will join in the competition, they will not experience stiff competition or any disadvantage from their competitors due to lack of enough resources or just because they were new in the league and were not familiar to the majority of the teams. This made, Melbourne to create a strong foundation in the market. On 1st March 2008, Colin DeLutis who was a renowned businessman and former Carlton Football Club vice president showed interest in a second Melbourne A-League side. He approached he FFA officials so that he can be made an independent owner of the second license. He suggested the name Melbourne City to be the name of the football club that he wanted to set up. This made the Chief Executive Officer of FFA see the need to expand the total number of clubs that participated in the A-league from eight to 12 in May 2008. This was before the teams had commenced for the 2009-2010 competition. This suggestion that was made for a new club to be initiated in Melbourne led to a third bid where there was a need to undertake a third team y the name, Melbourne Heart. This was backed up by Peter Sidwell so that the two new football club could take part in the next season. There was also the Southern Cross FC that had bid so that they cod participate in the next season. There were three new teams that had bided so that they could participate in the competition. However, on 25th July 2008, Melbourne City dropped out of the bid and therefore it was only Melbourne Heart and Southern Cross FC bids that had remained(Hay&Heath, 300). This meant that only one bid out of the two bids could be bided in, and one team could be bided out. By September, Melbourne Heart was bided in and was given the negotiating rights for the league’s 11th License. This was automatic that Southern Cross FC was bided out of the competition. Melbourne Heart, which is now Melbourne City Football Club, continued with the negotiations till the point when Sidwell’s group was given a license as an approval to join A-League’s 2010-2011 seasons by the FFA. This was on 12th July 2009. Melbourne Heart commenced its first season on 5th August 2010 playing against Central Coast Mariners. This took place at their home’s ground at AAMI Park. Our first game did not start very well as it lost 1-0 to their competitors. However, Melbourne Heart still had a target to make it big in the league, and the first goal that the Football Club got was scored by Ben Kantarovski where they were playing against Newcastle Jets. This game, however, did not end in a win-win situation but ended up in a 1-1 draw. The first win that our team first got was a game against North Queensland Fury where the team managed to have a 1-0 win. This happened in the fifth round of the first A-League season. The day is well marked I the history of the team, and it was on 4th September 2010(Hay&Heath, 302). This was an indication that our team does not believe in giving up and has the fighting spirit to see it to an end. A bad beginning is not a threat to our team, and whatever thing that the team keeps on focusing on is the key objectives of the team which includes winning the league. Their first Derby that they participated in was a match they played against Melbourne Victory. This was on 8th October 2010. Our team was able to emerge victorious in this tough game and the game ended 2-1. Owing to the fact that this was the first time our team was participating in the A-League in Australia, we were able to complete with the same points as Newcastle Jets. However, we have behind regarding goals and hat made us t be ranked position eight. It was paining that the team did not make it to the finals which only required the top six in the league to participate. It was paining because most of the times we were position six though as fate had it we were unable to finish in top six. However in the second season, we had learned much about the A-League and we had also identified our weaknesses that hindered us from finishing in top six. It was this as our strength that made us be able to make it to the final in the second league. A game that saw us off the finals was a match against Perth Glory where we had lost 3-0 at nib Stadium. Target Market Football is a game that is loved by many people living in Australia. The target markets are the large populations at the Australian towns. People are always willing to pay huge amounts so that they can get to watch our games. We are also planning to play with clubs outside Australia so that we might increase the scope of our target market. By so doing we will be working towards increasing the number of fans in the country (Stone 83). Increasing the number of fans will mean that there will be greater support. It is for this reason that we thought it wise as a team that your help will be of great benefit to our team as to achieve the targets there are finances that re involved. We cannot achieve them when we are independent. The team had signed up a three-year sponsorship with Westpac (McCrory 352). The sponsorship which was almost $2 million sustained the teams operational. It is our belief that if you grant our team the sponsorship, we will be able to train and run the internal operations of the team with fewer constraints. We will not have to compromise on the quality of our training on the quality of the materials that we will be using, but instead, we will be able to perform to our maximum(Hay&Heath, 313). The team is also on its picking up states, and this can be reflected in the good performance that the company has been showing off in the recent games. Another main reason why we were requesting for the sponsorship is to assist us reaches our target market. I believe that if you grant us this sponsorship, it will not go to waste. This is because we will be able to attract a large audience and we will also be able to win our games. This will be an indication that the general income of the club wills automatically increases. Promotional plan In promoting the sports property major events and the sponsorship, the team is more than willing to put on jazzy that can publically advertise the organization's products or services. I believe that the man fans that will be coming to witness our games will be able to see the advertisements on our clothes (Jennings 34). This will make the sports property’s to be popular and common within the audience. They will in turn respond by increasing their usage of the products and services of that organization. This will be a means of marketing using low costs. Communicate benefits It is undoubtedly clear that there are numerous benefits accrued from sponsorship. As a club, we gain a lot from sponsorship. We gain financial support that helps us run our operations. Similarly, not only does our team gain but also the sponsors themselves. They gain a lot, for instance, they can market their products during our matches. Through this, they can increase their market share as a majority of our fans will become aware of the products, be influenced into using the products and eventually becoming loyal customers to the sponsors (Hutchins 26). It is, therefore, clear that our team and our sponsors, we mutually benefit from one another. Our team is considered a strategic fit with our sponsors since we share common ethical values, objectives and also serve and benefit from the same audience. Or instance, one of our key values is to put our fans at the forefront and ensure that their needs and wants are vehemently met and superseded. Furthermore, one of our sponsors is producers of sportswear, and thus, we together with our fans are their target audience thus in one way or another serve the same audience. Creative leverage As illustrated earlier, the sponsors will accrue several benefits.In particular, some of the advantages that they will gain include naming rights where our team will be named after our sponsors, and they will also be given the power and freedom to grace our matches, the sale of tickets, entertainment, and signage (Hay & Heath, 312). By being granted these benefits, the sponsors will be able to attain their key objectives which are creating awareness of their products and increasing their sales volume and productivity. If the sponsors are not keen and do have an adequate plan in place to maximize from our matches and take advantage of our big number of fans (Fuller 92). Therefore, they will have to leverage their relationship with our team’s management. Some of the things that they need to look into while leveraging their relationship include enhancing their communication with the team, making their wants and needs clear to the team’s management team, agree to the terms and conditions or the sponsorship. To prevent any form of ambush or disagreement between our sponsors and us, both management teams will always meet regularly and make decisions together to ensure that all teams are working harmoniously to the betterment of both sides. In cases of disagreements, both teams will always meet to find a solution to the disagreements or seek for an external mediator. Budget, Investment and Evaluation The sponsors will be providing financial support to the team and in return will gain marketing favors. They will have to agree on the amount of finance to describe the nature of the sponsorship. Based on the benefits that they will gain from the relationship they will be required to support 60% of the team’s operations. This payment can be made annually, quarterly or semi-quarterly. This will be dependent on the nature of the agreement. Similarly, on the other hand, we also gain from the relationship deal. To ensure that they are gaining in the right direction as stipulated during the signing of the MOU, this will be attained when the team’s management will constantly monitor and control the operations. Our team to remain competitive amongst other football teams we will embrace the most modern forms of marketing to increase our fans base. Different avenues such as social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter as well as the use of sponsorship will be embraced to increase the fans base. Marketing plan for the property Our marketing plan will include PEST, SWOT, brand bullseye and competitor analysis. Our main strength is the availability of competent, talented and skilled players that out the team’s name high football clubs around the word. Furthermore, the marketing plan will be extensive and will incorporate the vision, mission, and important objectives. Inventory of Assets The sponsorship manager is the one tasked with the responsibility of managing the relationship between the team and the sponsors. The assets in their inventory include the human resources, financial resources as well as physical materials that are used in the operations of the sponsorship. Works cited Billaut, François, Christopher J. Gore, and Robert J. Aughey. "Enhancing team-sport athlete performance." Sports medicine 42.9 (2012): 751-767. Fuller, Colin W., et al. "Consensus statement on injury definitions and data collection procedures in studies of football (soccer) injuries." Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 16.2 (2006): 83-92. Hallinan, Christopher J., John E. Hughson, and Michael Burke. "Supporting the ‘world game’in Australia: A case study of fandom at national and club level." Soccer & Society 8.2-3 (2007): 283-297. Hay, Roy, and Heath McDonald. "A Victory for the Fans? Melbourne's New Football Club in Recent Historical Perspective [1]." Soccer & Society 8.2-3 (2007): 298-315. Hutchins, Brett, David Rowe, and Andy Ruddock. "It’s fantasy football made real”: Networked media sport, the Internet, and the hybrid reality of MyFootballClub." Sociology of Sport Journal 26.1 (2009): 89-106. Jennings, Denise, et al. "The validity and reliability of GPS units for measuring distance in team sport specific running patterns." Verified OK (2010). McCrory, Paul R. "Brain injury and heading in soccer: head to ball contact is unlikely to cause injury but head to head contact might." British medical journal 327.7411 (2003): 351-353. Stone, Peter, Tucker Balch, and Gerhard Kraetzschmar, eds. RoboCup 2000: Robot Soccer World Cup IV. Springer Science & Business Media, 2001. Read More

Like the club, we can all speak the same tone that it is our objectives that have been our strength. Comments from supporters and fans have said that we should stick to our operation and that the management of the team should hold on tightly to the policies of the team if we want to succeed. Some of our objectives include identifying youths outside there who have talent in football and bringing them to the football club academy. By so doing, the company will be benefiting idle talents outside there.

This is not only a benefit to the club but also to Australia Company as a whole. These individuals with football talents are well trained so that they can be assimilated in the club. This objective aims at improving the living conditions of people who are living poor life conditions despite having football talent that can assist them to make income. This is part of sustainable development as the objective will help in making the world a better place. Another main objective of MCFC is to play smart and hard so that they can emerge at the top- of the league(Hay&Heath,298).

Just like any club, we hope that through our practices and the strong confidence within our players, we have all that it takes to play smart so that we can emerge at the top of the league. We have studied our competitors keenly, and we have been able to establish their loopholes. Identifying our competitor as part of our strength we will form strategies to take advantage of the gaps. When this is done, we are always assured to win in both home and away matches. We have so much trust and confidence in our coaches and the team managers as their coordination has assisted the players to relate well with each other.

Our layers are subjected to vigorous practices before matches to keep them fit for the matches. It is for this reason that the football club has been able to have a majority of fans both within Australia and also outside Australia. In 2003, the National Soccer League was dissolved. His was brought about by Crawford Report whereby new strategies for revamped national competition were to commence in the following session (Hallinan 288). There were suggestions that new football competition should include two clubs from Mjmlelbourne.

However in the year 2004, Football Federation Australia, there was an ideology of one city, one football club which announced that Melbourne Victory had acquired the license to be the Melbourne Club. I had acquired the license to compete in the national competition that is known as the A-League. During this same time, a 5-year moratorium was formed so as to prevent any form of expansion from the initial 8 A-League football clubs areas that could ship any interest in participating in the competition till the 2010-2011 season(Hay&Heath, 300).

This was to create enough time for Melbourne Victory to establish itself in the league so that when other teams will join in the competition, they will not experience stiff competition or any disadvantage from their competitors due to lack of enough resources or just because they were new in the league and were not familiar to the majority of the teams. This made, Melbourne to create a strong foundation in the market. On 1st March 2008, Colin DeLutis who was a renowned businessman and former Carlton Football Club vice president showed interest in a second Melbourne A-League side.

He approached he FFA officials so that he can be made an independent owner of the second license. He suggested the name Melbourne City to be the name of the football club that he wanted to set up. This made the Chief Executive Officer of FFA see the need to expand the total number of clubs that participated in the A-league from eight to 12 in May 2008. This was before the teams had commenced for the 2009-2010 competition. This suggestion that was made for a new club to be initiated in Melbourne led to a third bid where there was a need to undertake a third team y the name, Melbourne Heart.

This was backed up by Peter Sidwell so that the two new football club could take part in the next season.

Read More