A.S. Roma has announced the largest sponsorship deal in club history, a 3-year pact (begins in ’18-’19) that will make Qatar Airways the club’s official shirt sponsor through the ’20-’21 season. The deal, worth $48.7 million/season (or +/- 2.5x the NBA’s most valuable patch partnership), is among the largest ever signed by an Italian futbol club. The logo of Qatar’s state-owned airline will “adorn the front of the first team’s shirts” and the company will serve as the top flight Italian soccer side’s “Main Global Partner.” Qatar Airways becomes just the 7th kit sponsor in the club’s 90-year history; the first team has played without a shirt sponsor since the ’14 season.
Howie Long-Short: Limited shares of A.S. Roma trade on the Borsa Italiana under the symbol ASR (OTC: ASRAF). Interestingly, the share price over the last 30 days has mirrored the first team’s success (or lack thereof) on the pitch. When the club stunned Barcelona (overcoming a 4-1 loss in Leg 1) on April 10th to advance to the Uefa Champions League semi-finals, the share price jumped 22% to $.73; by Tuesday morning it had risen to $.82. The team dropped the first leg of the semi-finals (to Liverpool, 5-2) on Tuesday afternoon and the share price began to dip in after-hours trading; by Wednesday’s close, shares were down -14.7% (to $.70) from Tuesday’s high.
While stock performance has little correlation with wins and losses in North America (see: MSG +48% since Oct. ’15, Knicks winning percentage over same span is .374, RCI hit a 5-year low during the Blue Jay’s first trip to the playoffs since ’93 in ‘15), it requires a closer look in Europe. Like Roma, MANU is having a strong season on the pitch ranked 2nd in the EPL standings; since the club’s August 12th EPL season opener, shares are up 14% (to $19.10). JohnWallStreet will take a deeper dive the correlation between on-field performance and the share price of publicly traded European clubs, in the coming weeks.
Fan Marino: ASR is playing in the Uefa Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 34 years, but the club is going to need a dominant performance (at least a 3-goal victory) on May 2nd (2nd leg), to qualify for the final. Of course, had the team not scored 2 late goals (they trailed 5-0 in Leg 1); all hope would have dissipated. For those wondering, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are competing in the other semi-final; Real Madrid won the 1st leg 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon.
U.S. soccer fans will have a chance to catch A.S. Roma (+ Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich) live in action this summer. Beginning on July 20th, 18 of the world’s top club teams will compete in the 6th International Champions Cup presented by Heineken. The event’s 27 matches are spread across 3 continents (North America, Europe and Asia), with 17 on U.S. soil; Roma will play in East Rutherford (NJ), San Diego and Dallas. You can find full schedule and ticket info, here.
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