Bayern Munich is working hard to continue its growth in the United States of America.
[ MORE: Latest Bundesliga scores ]
Since 2014 Bayern have had an office in New York City which heads up its plan to grow its fanbase in the USA through marketing. With the team coming to the U.S. for preseason in both 2014 and 2016, and again this summer, the Bundesliga giants are certainly trying to muscle their way into the American market.
The man leading that push is Rudolf Vidal, Bayern Munich’s President of the Americas, and he spoke to the guys over on the Beyond the Pitch podcast about what Bayern have been doing, and are planning to do, in the U.S. market.
He believes it is crucial that Bayern is on the ground in NYC.
Vidal also spoke to BTP about how Bayern has been able to grow in the U.S. over the past three years, as they started with eight fan clubs Stateside and now have 122 across 38 states and Canada. Connecting with fans of traditional American sports has been a big reason in their growth.
“The sports market here in the U.S. is very competitive but we also saw that all the soccer fans are interested in any kind of sports, so it is easy to connect with them when you do things together with those other leagues,” Vidal revealed. “That’s something we tried from the beginning and working with those leagues are crucial.”
Vidal also feels that Bayern’s last two preseason trips to the U.S. have been hugely beneficial in growing their fanbase and revealed they’re looking to come back the summer after next.
“We will hopefully be coming back to the U.S. in the summer of 2018,” Vidal said. “It has been very, very successful. We gained more than 180,000 people attending three matches. We gained 34 million impressions across social media and had over 12 million people watching on TV, which is awesome.”
Below you can listen to the interview in full.