Basketball Meets Football, But Is It Right or Is It Wrong
Late last night, Liverpool Football club issued an official
announcement under the guise of Fenway Sports Management. It was to let us know that Fenway Sports
Management had decided to enter into a business partnership with LRMR Marketing
and Branding. This is run by Basketball
star LeBron James and his partner Maverick Carter.
Now I know nothing about American Sport let alone
Basketball, so everything I have found out about these two young men is what
has been touted over the internet in the last twelve hours. It appears that one is still playing and the
either is Chief Executive of LeBrons Company.
Fenway Sports Management is part of the Fenway group of
Companies owned by John Henry and Tom Werner.
This is the statement from Tom Werner that was added to the press
release last night.
"We believe this will be a powerful collaboration between
FSM and LRMR and LeBron. There are very
few athletes who can march his global reach, appeal and iconic status. We are very excited that LeBron will be part
of the Liverpool FC Family. LeBron and
Liverpool each have a powerful presence internationally, with particular
strength in Asia, but we feel the business opportunities for both working and
being identified together in emerging international markets will result in
unforeseen opportunities that neither would have been able to realise
alone."
What I do know is, I am not sure I like what I have
read. The deal benefits no one apart
from LeBron James, who I understand has been given a 1% share in the club at a
cost of around £3.8mill (These figures have come from the BBC). It also ultimately benefits Fenway Sports
Group but early indications show that there will be very little benefit to
Liverpool Football Club.
OR WILL THERE? LRMR
is a marketing company, which is trying to find it way into the major markets
in the United States and I suspect or at least I hope it will help LFC break
into the American Market.
http://www.lrmrmarketing.com/
I know Liverpool are behind in their global marketing of the
brand, but in many ways that is down to the circumstances it has had to face
over the last ten years. Rick Parry and
David Moores lost their way as the world of football changed and ended up
selling the club to the biggest pair of cowboys around. As we know the only thing they knew about was
debt, although saying that, they did appear to start it on the road to recovery
where merchandising and marketing were concerned by employing Ian Ayre.
Do we need this extra push to announce that the club is
looking to expand into Europe and beyond, is something I really cannot answer
but what I do know is that we do not need an American Basketball star to do it
for us. Liverpool Football Club is an
entity that can market itself and I am sure that once the American market
learns that we play FOOTBALL and not SOCCER, as with all things English, they
will fall in love with it. Then the shirts and other merchandise will start to
sell.
Where Liverpool Football Club is concerned, I do feel that
John Henry needs to come out and say what plans he has for Anfield and the
surrounding area. The stadium decision
needs to be made in the next eight weeks as planning permission if needed for
Stanley Park will run out then. The re-generation of the Anfield area is
equally if not more important than that.
The residents have a right to know where they stand in the club's plans
- they do not need to read that the American Market takes precedence.
There is also a little matter of clearing up the managerial
position at the club and I don't care how many times we are told it will be
done at the end of season, it is something that needs to be done sooner rather
than later.
We Also need a statement from him as to why he has sold a 1%
stake in the club to an American Basketball player who until around 10.00 p.m.
last night to the majority of us was an unknown factor, when there are
supporters out there, myself included who are willing to buy a stake in our
beloved club, to ensure it retains it's true identity. An identity that must
remain as it has always done in the Anfield Area of Liverpool.
Now to LeBron James.
I am not going to go into his history, but I understand he is a bit of a
character and has caused problems amongst the American Baseball faithful. He is also sponsored by Nike which as we are
sponsored by Adidas immediately brings up a Conflict of Interest issue and this
will need to be sorted out. I have no
idea how long he has left as a player but I suspect once he has finished, he
will simply concentrate on the marketing business.
Another reason people believe that LeBron has bought a stake
in Liverpool is to help out Thomas Di Benedetto by buying his share, so
enabling him to purchase Roma, without any Conflict of Interest being involved.
Whether this is true or not, I guess we shall just have wait and see what
happens.
A pre-season tour of the Far East has also been announced
and going by what I have read LeBron may be involved in this - Is it a good
thing or just another publicity stunt that could ultimately put the team's
preparations for the new season completely off track. Time of course will tell, but that is surely
something that we do not need.
You will all have your own ideas about this and I suspect a
lot of them differ from mine, which of course I fully understand. I will be honest when I say, I think three
years of hell has quite possibly got in the way, so for the moment I will be
erring on the side of caution and hopefully find at some point in the future
that my worries can be cast aside.
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business partnership with LRMR Marketing and Branding will be amazing in my point of view.
God I loved Torres, but Suarez is an all around better player. FSG invested wisely. They didn't spend money in Jan, but people are missing the point. H&G would have pocketed a HUGE portion of that 50 million (we sold Masch for 20 million and bought Meireles for 10.5... get my drift?). FSG didn't take a cent (or quid), they reinvested it ALL. It's amazing, the contrast between the two American owners. H&G wanted money, Lerner and Henry want to win. Period. Also, I live in Washington DC, and one of the FSG board members was involved in the building of the Baltimore Orioles baseball stadium, Camden Yards. It is considered the most beautiful and best ballpark in the game. So I either way we'll get a great new stadium.
Your website has to be the elecrtnoic Swiss army knife for this topic.
Keep it coming, wrirets, this is good stuff.
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