For ICC, growth and talk of a stake for sale

The International Champions Cup kicked off its fourth edition last week, with organizers citing growth across its prime revenue streams but with the event also carrying reports of a possible sale as its creators seek to build the summertime event into a yearlong property.

Organized by Relevent Sports, this year’s ICC features 23 matches being played across 11 countries in three concurrent tournaments — one across the United States and Europe, others in China and in Australia. The event again this year features some of the world’s most notable club teams, including FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.

Michigan Stadium, which sold out for a 2014 ICC match, will host another game this year. Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

Higgins said sponsorship revenue is up more than 60 percent year over year, with Under Armour, Gatorade, Equinox, Geico and DHL all recently signing deals with the tournament. Higgins said broadening the tournament to include more teams, more games and more exposure to other parts of the world has led to increased sponsor interest. The 2013 event, for example, featured 12 matches, with 11 of those in the United States and one in Europe.
Matches in China and Australia were added last year.

That increase in the number of games being played globally has translated to an increase of roughly 40 percent in global television revenue from last year, Higgins said. This year’s event has done well with advance sales on the ticketing front, as well, with many matches nearing advance sellouts — including the event’s return to 109,000-seat Michigan Stadium, which sold out for an ICC match in 2014.

All told, the tournament is expected to generate more than $150 million in revenue this season, according to a source. But that comes as organizers have engaged in discussions regarding selling a minority stake to Chinese investors, according to a source and earlier reported by Bloomberg News. When asked about potential interest from the Chinese market, Higgins declined to comment directly but said the company gets approached often on new business ideas and ancillary spinoffs. Relevent Sports declined to comment further.

Looking ahead, in terms of making ICC a year-round play, organizers have discussed hosting a separate tournament that would match the two highest teams from its U.S. and European tournament against the winners of its Australia and China tournaments in a four-team field that would take place in the spring following the conclusion of the European soccer season. Such a tournament could be held at the newly renovated Miami Dolphins stadium, owned by Stephen Ross, who also is chairman and co-founder of Relevent Sports parent company RSE Ventures.

Both Higgins and Relevent Sports Chairman Charlie Stillitano said the ICC may even consider expanding to other areas of the world, such as Africa or South America, but would wait to see where clubs are interested in traveling to as well.

“The ability to marry both the clubs’ needs and their partners’ needs in traveling on these tours is very important,” Stillitano said. “At the end of the day, every club wants to go to China, and now we’ve proven that under the umbrella of ICC, these matches become a lot more compelling to the local market than just another friendly match.”

There’s growing pressure and competition in the global soccer tournament space. UEFA officials have noted possible changes to their Champions League format, in part a nod to talk of creation of a European Super League that would feature top clubs. Such an event could seriously threaten RSE Ventures’ ability to attract the best teams.

But Jeff L’Hote, managing director of soccer business consultancy LFC International, notes the strength ICC can draw from its organizing staff.

“They are now looked at as the go-to organization to take part in very professionally run and relevant preseason matches,” L’Hote said, “which, especially when played in the U.S. and Asia, is very important to these clubs.”