Ligue 1 Paris St. Germain CEO Jean-Claude Blanc "has stated the club's ambition to establish themselves in 'the top 10 of brands' in world sport" and rival the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and ManU, according to ESPN. Blanc told Les Echos that the French champions "are not finished yet." He said, "Our ambition is to make Paris St. Germain a global sporting brand. We want to get into the top 10 of brands along with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Ferrari or the All Blacks." A document destined for PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi and leaked in the French media recently showed how the club plans "to make a five-fold increase in their budget" from the relatively modest €93.9M it had to spend in '10-11 to the €540M ($742M) it hopes to generate by '16-17 "to enable them to compete with the planet's biggest clubs." Blanc:
"We have to win, but we also have to give ourselves the means to win. That's why, between now and 2015, want to build a budget of €500 million ($687M). Then we'll be in the same category as a team like Real Madrid. We've come a long way." The majority of the new money flooding into the club "will come from the recently announced agreement with the Qatar Tourism Authority," which could be worth up to €200M ($275M) annually (ESPN, 12/17).
