While the collaboration with Emirates as a major sponsor was about to expire at the end of the season, Paris Saint-Germain announced the replacement of the airline. The announcement was expected for several weeks, however, Paris Saint-Germain has formalized the conclusion of a sponsorship agreement with the Accor group. A signature that reflects the change in the size of the Parisian club.

The team was working on different fronts to quickly finalize an agreement. Because time is running out: in addition to the imminence of the contract with Emirates, Nike wants to quickly launch the 2019-20 jerseys of the Parisian club. According to L’Equipe, PSG management has already asked for a delay from its American equipment manufacturer to allow them time to finalize negotiations with the future sponsor. A new deadline, set at the end of February, which would have been granted by the American equipment manufacturer.

A MAJOR FINANCIAL CHALLENGE FOR PSG

Currently collecting a sum of between € 25 and € 30 million per season from Emirates, the Parisian management initially wanted to negotiate a new jersey sponsorship deal up to € 80 million per season! That is an amount comparable to – or slightly higher than – the sums collected by the main players in European football.

Nevertheless, faced with the difficulties encountered, Paris Saint-Germain has recently revised its claims downward. An agreement of more than € 50 million per year would suffice to satisfy the club’s commercial ambitions. An amount that would already be twice the amount disbursed annually by Emirates.

The success of this negotiation is important for PSG. While the club will be forced to abandon its commercial deal with QTA from next season – in accordance with UEFA requirements – the club must find new commercial revenue to fill the gap. Compensation that could also come from the equipment supplier; the Parisian club continues to develop this activity through new collaborations in co-branding and increased volumes of jerseys sold. Last year, the club has managed to commercialize 900k units of its official tunics. That is a score comparable to the biggest European clubs. According to data recently published by Deloitte, the Paris Saint-Germain generated last season more than 313 million euros in commercial income.

The Choice 

The Accor group won the bet by joining Paris Saint-Germain. According to the information provided by the Parisian club, the hotel firm will communicate around its loyalty program “ALL” via its future collaboration with PSG.

Welcoming more than 265 million customers a year in its various establishments, the Accor group is one of the most powerful hotel groups in the world. Owner of Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, and Ibis; Accor operates 4,800 facilities in more than 100 countries. Activities spread around the world that coincides with the new international reputation of Paris Saint-Germain, which now boasts 395 million fans around the world. ALL, Accor Live Limitless, the hospitality chain’s new lifestyle loyalty program, will become PSG’s principal partner and the team’s jersey sponsor beginning in the 2019-2020 season. It will replace Emirates Airline, the Dubai-based company whose logo has been on the club’s shirts since 2006.

From a commercial and eCommerce perspective, PSG’s partnership with Accor’s loyalty platform is aligned with the club’s stepped-up effort to make the team a sportswear and lifestyle brand. In September, the team became the first soccer club to partner with the iconic Jordan Brand, signing an exclusive three-year global partnership that produced a collection of more than 90 performance, training and lifestyle products.

PSG is cruising to its sixth French title in seven seasons. It is boosted by a star-studded roster that includes Brazil’s Neymar, and 20-year-old Kylian Mbappe, the French World Cup champion, as it generally considered by the football world as the best young player on the planet.  The PSG-Accor deal was announced hours before Maryland-based hotel chain Marriott, revealed its own partnership between its loyalty program Bonvoy and Manchester United.

It should be highlighted that the most lucrative jersey sponsorship deal in history is the seven-year $559-million agreement English Premier League club Manchester United signed with Chevrolet in 2014.

Closing this article, the arrival of a powerful player in the French economy alongside Paris Saint-Germain is excellent news for the Paris club. Through this negotiation, the Parisian club proves that it is able to attract large international non-Qatari groups – even if QIA holds a shareholding in the French group – which is an excellent signal sent back to UEFA.

Thank you for reading. I would appreciate if you would share it.

 

Photo Credits: https://www.foxsportsasia.com