The Internationalisation of Football Clubs. Analysis of RasenBallsport Leipzig's Marketing Possibilities in Southeast Asia and Recommendations

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Sport - Sport Economics, Sport Management, grade: 2,0, Pforzheim University, language: English, abstract: The competition between professional football clubs is increasing both on a national as well as on an international level. Clubs do not only experience pressure for sporting success but also for economic profitability. As sporting success can hardly be planned, the club's financial well-being needs to be ensured independently from results on the pitch. The rationale seems obvious, a club's higher popularity among fans leads to higher revenues. Football is the most popular sport in the world and almost half of the world's population is interested in the sport. With this in mind, it seems naive or even negligent that the majority of professional German football clubs keep on serving the national market only. Sounding like a repeated appeal, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, CEO of the most internationalised German football club FC Bayern Munich, describes internationalisation as "without any alternative". He continues by explaining "without growth on the international markets, you risk the sporting competitiveness". With a population of over 600 Million people and a high enthusiasm for football, Southeast Asia invites football clubs to start their internationalisation in the region. Hence only a structured approach and a thoughtful strategy are required to finally and successfully enter these promising markets.