Why we need the exposure

Yesterday Wall Street Journal announced that Under Armour are now the second biggest sports brand in the USA, behind only Nike. Our sponsors usurped worldwide brand Adidas, with reported sales of $1.2 billion in 2014 so far.

Our other major sponsor, AIA, are the largest real life insurance company in the whole of Asia. In 2012, they had a reported Net Income of $3,019 million and are famous in every major Asian country.

With both our main sponsors being key companies in their respective parts of the world, is it so wrong that we are using lesser known companies to our English fans? Not only do they generate millions of fans, they expand the identity of the club. We now have more fans across the globe than ever before and a huge reason for the expanding fan base are the sponsors.

Signings like Brad Friedel, Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin show just how well followed American players are in Europe. A simple Twitter search of ‘Yedlin jersey’ would reveal hundreds of Americans showing an interest in purchasing a Spurs shirt with Yedlin on the back once the young right back permanently joins the club.

[linequote]We now have more fans across the globe than ever before and a huge reason for the expanding fan base are the sponsors.[/linequote]

It has been widely reported that Chairman, Daniel Levy wants the new Tottenham stadium to be in use for the 2017-18 season, allowing Spurs to move to a new level. The stadium will bring in more money via ticket sales, season tickets, merchandise sales and beverages. The stadium will definitely have 18,000 more seats than White Hart Lane but we could well see a 60,000 seater if the space is sufficient – a 24,000 improvement on our current 36,000 seater.

The money coming into the club thanks to all the extra fans can be put towards the playing staff. With extra money ‘in the kitty’, we will finally be able to compete with the bigger teams in the League. More money can be put towards buying players and paying their wages, allowing us to attract a higher calibre of player and thus competing to be back amongst Europe’s elite again.

However, back to the stadium, the money for the stadium isn’t going to magically appear on Levy’s desk. It’s thanks to the moneybags sponsors that we can generate money to improve not only our stadium, but the local area too. It may mean a few more years of buying/producing lesser known players, developing them and selling them again but in the grand scheme of things, the club will benefit from the strict running of the club.

By 2018, in the short space of 17 years, ENIC will have restored us to where we belong in the table, bought some good talents that the club nurtured into world class players, built an incredible new training facility and a new stadium. Whilst it’s unrealistic to expect the club to splash out on the Costa’s, Di Maria’s and James (Hamez?!) Rodriguez’s of this world, the likes of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale prove that with the right coaching and mentality, world class players can be nurtured.

[linequote]Once the stadium is built, top four finishes can be dreamt of again[/linequote]

Yes we may have had a slightly less exciting summer window than 2013, but that didn’t work out straight away either. We may have missed out on Musacchio and Moutinho over the years but in the end, we aren’t Manchester City or Chelsea. For now, we’ve a progressive young manager who plays a good brand of football, a young and talented set of players, a fantastic training facility and a world class goalkeeper.

Once the stadium is built, Top Four finishes can be dreamt of again. And once those Champions League nights return to N17, we’ll be stood in better stead than ever. As the old saying goes, “Audere Est Facere.”

Come On You Spurs!