Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

People and Pop Culture

Hangin' With ... Barcelona Managing Dir Americas Arno Trabesinger

ARNO TRABESINGER is Barcelona's Managing Dir Americas, a role in which he manages the club's new office in N.Y. When Barcelona opened its Park Avenue HQ in September, it became just the second int'l club with a full-time base in the U.S. -- Bayern Munich has had a presence in the States since '14. Trabesinger is one of four full-time employees. He works alongside Dir of New Business ARTURO DE LA FUENTE, Dir of Public Affairs & Institutional Relations GERARD GUIU and Office Manager IDANNIS MERCADO. In addition to existing deals with U.S. brands including Nike, Gillette, Gatorade and Stanley Black & Decker, the club has added one regional partnership since opening its U.S. office -- a deal with Scotiabank that it presented in Mexico City, Lima and Santiago in December. Trabesinger, an Austrian who spent 14 years in Barcelona working for marketing agency WWP, has been with the club since Nov. '15. He spoke to SBD Global about the appeal of the U.S. market, the difference between Barcelona's offices in Hong Kong and the U.S. and how the team can compete with top U.S. leagues like the NBA and NFL.

On the appeal of the U.S. market ...
Arno Trabesinger: Soccer is growing faster than ever in this country. For us, one of the main reasons to count on a physical presence in the U.S. is because the market is so huge. We have a big, big fan base in the U.S. We are No. 1, in terms of fans, in the U.S., not only in Hispanic society, but also all over the country. That's the reason we are here. ... Our colleagues in Hong Kong are doing a great job. Now it's on us in the U.S. to start the operations here. We also oversee the Latin American market. ... We want to improve and optimize our commercial opportunities in this country. On the other side, we want to increase the awareness of our brand in the U.S. We want to increase our fan base, we want to increase the level of engagement with our fans in the U.S. 

On the difference between the Hong Kong office and the one in N.Y. ...
Trabesinger: Basically, the office in Hong Kong is, let's say, 100 percent a commercial office. Here in the U.S., apart from optimizing our commercial opportunities, we have different other issues. We have a big school program in place, which is called FCBEscola. ... At the moment we have two schools in the U.S., one in Charlotte and one in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. One of our goals is to increase the number of schools in the U.S. Compared with the office in Hong Kong, one of the differences is that the office in Hong Kong has responsibility for so many countries. They operate from Hong Kong, but they are heavily involved in China, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, etc.

On how Barcelona will compete with more established sports in the U.S. ...
Trabesinger: Our brand is really strong. We invested a lot in our brand during the last years, not only the sporting success. Next summer, we are still negotiating to come with our team to the U.S. and play in some games here, which is still not decided ... This would be very important for us. If we have the green light for the summer tour in 2017, this would be one of the most important initiatives over the next few months for us.

On the significance of having a full-time office ...
Trabesinger: For us to be successful in the U.S. -- because of the fact that there are so many other sports and entertainment possibilities -- we have to have permanent representation in the U.S. There have been so many clubs who came here for some games and then went back. It's difficult to establish a brand of a European soccer club in the U.S. without a physical, permanent representation in the U.S. That's one of the reasons that the board of our club decided to establish the office here.

On the importance of women's football in the U.S. ... 
Trabesinger: We want to support the stakeholders of soccer in the U.S., MLS and U.S. Soccer. We are in very close relationships with both of them to develop the sport of soccer in this country. It's not a secret that we are talking with U.S. Soccer, with [President] Sunil Gulati and his team in order to establish a women's soccer franchise in the U.S. We are in talks, with no final decision for the moment, but our board is very interested in establishing a women's franchise in the U.S. Maybe in the beginning of 2017, we will have a final idea on this project. ... Women's soccer is very, very important in the U.S. If you compare it with other countries, like Spain and Germany, much more girls are playing soccer here than in Europe, and this makes us confident to participate and take part in the development of women's soccer in this country. This is one of our important goals for the next year.

On where a potential women's team would be based ...
Trabesinger: That is still not decided. We are evaluating different marketplaces, but it would not necessarily be based in New York. This is still an open question.

Hangin' With runs each Friday in SBD Global.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2016/12/23/People-and-Pop-Culture/Hangin-With.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2016/12/23/People-and-Pop-Culture/Hangin-With.aspx

CLOSE