Internationalisation of La Liga Guillermo Ordoñez & Nicolás Larrosa Escola Universitària d’Enginyeria Técnica de Telecomunicació La Salle Final Thesis Graduate in Management of Business and Technology Internationalising Football Leagues: The Case of LaLiga Student Promoter Nicolás Larrosa Gómez Chris Kennett 1 Internationalisation of La Liga Guillermo Ordoñez & Nicolás Larrosa ACTA DE L'EXAMEN DEL TREBALL FI DE GRAU Meeting of the evaluating panel on this day, the student: NICOLÁS – LARROSA GÓMEZ Presented their final thesis on the following subject: Internationalizing Football Leagues: The Case of LaLiga At the end of the presentation and upon answering the questions of the members of the panel, this thesis was awarded the following grade: Barcelona, MEMBER OF THE PANEL MEMBER OF THE PANEL 2 Internationalisation of La Liga Guillermo Ordoñez & Nicolás Larrosa Acknowledgements First of all, we want to thank collectively to our tutor, Christopher Kennett, for always having the time and showing interest in our work. Also, helping us to improve it and having the best possible version of it, it’s been a real pleasure for us, and we will not forget it. Secondly, we also want to thank our families for supporting us emotionally and economically during this management case, because without them it wouldn’t have been possible. On the other hand, we want to thank the interviewed, because it has been more than a simple interview, it’s been several lessons for life. Ivan Codina, Emilio Butrageño and Joan Laporta, thank you very much and it’s been an incredible experience. Finally, we want to express our gratitude to all the people that gave us some of their time. From our classmates to other professors to close friends. Thank you, because this has been a beautiful project that we will always remember. 3 Internationalisation of La Liga Guillermo Ordoñez & Nicolás Larrosa Abstract This management case will explore the strategic plans used in “La Liga” for international expansion, it will also analyse the impacts of this international expansion on the key stakeholders. Eventually, it will consider other models in the entertainment industry and provide a better internationalization strategy. Moreover, the aim of this project also focuses on getting a complete understanding of how this process it’s occurring, where it’s occurring and why. Furthermore, the goal is to be able to have a clear idea on La Liga internationalization plan and how it’s going to result in the future and finally, the end objective will be to determinate if La Liga can become the main option for the consumers of entertainment all around the world and then, provide different proposals on how they could expand internationally with an innovative and digital strategy that could potentially make them the first option. 4 Internationalisation of La Liga Guillermo Ordoñez & Nicolás Larrosa Executive Summary This management case investigates the current situation of LaLiga and their expansion strategies around the globe. Moreover, digs forward the understanding of what is LaLiga doing now, and how it can improve the different aspects to make it the best league and the best source of entertainment in the world. To achieve this, different topics have been analyzed, studied and opinions have been heard. In terms of why, it’s because there is an existing potential in sports, mainly in football, and La Liga is one of the top players. Therefore, some things need to change, things that are changing and of course, things that need to keep be working like they are. Moreover, this management case, mainly it’s based on how to improve this existing organization and how can they implement other ideas form different sources of entertainment. To do that, there has been comparison done with other big football leagues like the Premier League or even with sports like UFC or the NBA. In summary, after the whole recompilations of information, this management case gives out a proposal on how LaLiga could do things differently to become the first option regarding entertainment. The proposal is based mainly on social media strategies and how they can increase their monetize rate since it’s one of their main problems. Also, it tries to help in terms of the overall strategies and give an idea of what the future markets of this sport are. Finally, it’s important to say that even though LaLiga can always improve become better as a brand and as an organization, they still are one of the main sources of entertainment that people follow and that it’s been improving and escalating positions in this infinite race that is the entrainment. 5 Internationalisation of La Liga Guillermo Ordoñez & Nicolás Larrosa Table of Contents 1.Introduction ................................................................................................................... 8 2. Framing the problem: Globalization of the football industry, increasing competition and the role of LaLiga ................................................................................ 9 2.1. The growth of the football industry into a global entertainment phenomenon ........ 9 2.2. The growth of LaLiga ......................................................................................................10 2.3. The role of the big 5 leagues (EPL, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A,Ligue 1) ...............12 3. La Liga’s internationalization strategy to date ...................................................... 13 3.1. La Liga’s main actions undertaken so far ....................................................................13 3.1.1. LaLiga Global Network........................................................................................................................14 3.1.2. LaLiga Ambassadors ..........................................................................................................................15 3.1.2. La Liga Icons ........................................................................................................................................15 3.1.3. Changes in the schedule of matches ...............................................................................................15 3.1.4. Changes in the sale of media rights .................................................................................................16 3.2. Theory for market entry strategies (JV’s, direct investment) ....................................18 3.2.1. LaLiga North America .........................................................................................................................18 3.2.2. Investments on digital advertisement ...............................................................................................20 3.3. Social media strategies ..................................................................................................21 3.4. La Liga Iberdrola..............................................................................................................23 4. Comparative analysis ................................................................................................ 24 4.1. Compared leagues and other sports ............................................................................24 4.1.1. UFC ........................................................................................................................................................24 4.1.2. NBA ........................................................................................................................................................26 4.1.3. English Premier League .....................................................................................................................28 4.2. Key lessons ......................................................................................................................29 5. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 29 5.1. Primary Research ............................................................................................................30 5.1.2. Qualitative: Interview ...........................................................................................................................30 5.2. Secondary Research .......................................................................................................31 6. Proposed Solutions ................................................................................................... 31 6.1. Expansion.........................................................................................................................31 6.1.1 New Markets to penetrate ...................................................................................................................31 6.1.1 How to approach it ................................................................................................................................32 6.2. Innovation.........................................................................................................................32 6.2.1 How to approach it ................................................................................................................................33 6.3. Digitalization ....................................................................................................................35 6.3.1 How to monetize international fans ....................................................................................................35 6.3.2 How to activate new international