On Tuesday, the 16th of July, Kylian Mbappe officially presented himself to a sold-out Bernabeu with over 80,000 fans who had travelled from all over the world to witness this event. Mbappe’s signing for Real Madrid marks the start of a new era, a new galacticos that Real Madrid and president Perez are planning to build for the future.
But what does that mean for Real Madrid outside of the football pitch?
Introduction
The signing of Mbappe adds another big star to an already star-studded squad led by Vinicius and Bellingham which just recently won the 15th Champions League alongside the Spanish La Liga. People might wonder why would Real Madrid want to invest in Mbappe following such a successful season. The answer is simple: Mbappe is arguably the biggest star in the world of football right now and the biggest signing for Real Madrid since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. For Real Madrid, he is more than just a football player but a strong global brand that can attract huge business to the club beyond what can be achieved on the football pitch.
The Business Perspective for Real Madrid
Merchandise Sales
From Real Madrid’s perspective, signing Mbappe has a huge impact on the business that the club can generate. To put his impact into perspective, Mbappe’s jersey sold out in less than 24 hours after its release. They generated over 800,000 euros which is 450% more than what Bellingham achieved when he signed last year. Also, he was able to sell out the Bernabeu on a Tuesday at noon, a time when people would be at work. All this shows why Real Madrid put a lot of effort into signing him. He will be able to generate massive traffic to all revenue streams: ticket sales, merchandise, and sponsorships.
Sponsorship
In terms of sponsorship, Mbappe will help Real Madrid enter new markets and attract a bigger range of sponsors. For example, Mbappe sponsors Sorare, which is an NFT-based fantasy sports website. This partnership Mbappe has can be leveraged by Real Madrid to enter a possible new market and appeal to the younger generation that is into technology and fantasy sports. This is just to show an example of how I think Mbappe’s strong partnerships with sponsors can benefit Real Madrid. Of course, more sponsors means more revenue which can then be reinvested to continue growing the club.
Expanded Reach
Mbappe is the 4th most followed football player on Instagram. He currently has 120 million followers from all over the world that he can influence. Being part of the Real Madrid brand and showcasing this on his social media channels will bring exposure to the club from all around the world, especially in regions where the Real Madrid brand is less prominent. The club can leverage his huge influence in many different ways such as Summer tours in areas where he is most followed as well as voluntary work with the club in underprivileged areas. I believe that his reach will enhance the already strong Real Madrid brand and ensure growth in their fanbase across the world.
The sporting perspective for Real Madrid
From a sporting perspective, adding a global star who is still 25 years old will ensure long-term success. Mbappe has a big chance to win the Balon Dor within the next few years which will benefit Real Madrid as the club’s name will be on all channels when the winner is announced. Also, Mbappe will help the team maintain their titles which in turn will lead to more money generated by the club. Imagine having 3 potential Balon d’Or winners on one team, what an amazing job done by Florentino Perez.
Overall, I believe that Mbappe’s impact will be stronger from a business side for the club as they are already smashing it from a sporting perspective. He will attract more sponsors and fans which will spill over into other revenue streams for the club. Perez is a business genius and I could see how happy he was in the celebrations on Tuesday which shows that he knows very well how big singing Mbappe is for the club.
What the move means for Mbappe
His Financial Sacrifice
To join Real Madrid, Mbappe left a lot of money on the table from PSG. He accepted a huge pay cut from 72 million euros with PSG to an estimated 15 million euros at Real Madrid. He will also receive a 150 million signing bonus spread over the 5 years of his contract. Financially, Mbappe was better off at PSG but he decided to move to build his legacy and brand with the biggest club in the world.
Higher Visibility
Playing for Real Madrid means more visibility and viewership for him. Unless someone is a PSG or Mbappe fan, Ligue 1 is not considered an entertaining league with high viewership. But now, he plays in a better league with more viewership allowing him to grow his brand on and off the pitch. Also, this will open more sponsorship doors for him as he is guaranteed to always reach advanced stages in the Champions League and win La Liga.
His Career’s CV
For his CV as a football player, Real Madrid will allow him the chance to compete for the big trophies and individual accolades. Mbappe never won the UCL nor the Balon d’Or, so being with Real Madrid will pave the way for him to achieve both. Many big players who never won a trophy in their career joined the club and now are one of the most decorated players ever. Modric is a great example of a player who joined with zero trophies and now has 26, including six Champions Leagues and a Ballon d’Or in 2018. Mbappe dreams to follow the footsteps of the greats who played for Real Madrid and get the chance to win.
Overall, for Mbappe, joining Real Madrid is purely for sporting success and being able to compete at the highest level and win individual and team accolades. Of course, being at Real Madrid will help him from a business perspective as well, but since he is already a big global star, his only concern is to realize his dream of playing with Real Madrid following in the footsteps of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo.
Conclusion
I find it very interesting in the world of sport how two different entities are attracted to one another even if the overall objective for both is different. Real Madrid signed Mbappe not only to win trophies as they already have many, but to maintain their high competitive level ensuring on-field success to generate more revenue and expand their brand globally. On the other hand, Mbappe didn’t care about the money but about his legacy as a football player and a future legend hence why he joined Real Madrid.
The question now is: How successful will Mbappe be with Real Madrid and how much will Real Madrid benefit from this signing? We will wait and see but I am optimistic that it will work out from all perspectives: Sporting achievements and more money.
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