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Real Madrid and Barcelona neck-and-neck as world’s most valuable football brands in the face of COVID-19
- Real Madrid remain world’s most valuable football brand, but Barcelona narrow the gap to just €6 million
- COVID-19 causes total brand value of top 50 clubs to decrease for the first time in 6 years – €751 million or 3.7% is knocked off
- English clubs dominate the ranking with six brands in top 10 and 19 in top 50
- Liverpool inches two spots up into 4th place, following historic Premier League win
- Bundesliga’s 1. FC Köln is this year’s fastest-growing brand, followed by Leicester City and RB Leipzig – all recording over 40% growth
- Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium takes top spot in Buro Happold’s Venue Performance Rating
Real Madrid remain the most valuable football club brand in the world for 2020, according to the latest edition of the Brand Finance Football Annual. Boosted by winning the LaLiga title for the first time since 2017, the club retained its position at the top of the table in the football industry, but against a backdrop of economic and social disruption, caused primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic, Real Madrid’s brand value has declined by 14% to €1,419 million.
Real Madrid’s disappointing on-pitch performance prior to 2019-20, which saw an earlier-than-normal exit from the UEFA Champions League in 2018-19 and a second successive season adrift of LaLiga champions Barcelona, eroded the club’s dominance of the Brand Finance ranking. The situation was exacerbated by COVID-19, along with a lack of stability around the management of the team. Barcelona, Real’s fierce rivals, are just €6 million behind Real with a brand value of €1,413 million, supported by strong and diverse revenue generation and continued domestic performance in Spain.
COVID-19 knocks off €751 million of brand value
Real Madrid is not the only club to see a drop in brand value this year. COVID-19 has caused the total value of the top 50 football brands to decrease for the first time in 6 years. Through its effect on the three main revenue streams – Matchday, Broadcasting, and Commercial – €751 million or 3.7% has been knocked off the cumulative brand value of the world’s top 50 most valuable football clubs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged professional football worldwide and across all levels. Matchday income for the 501 games remaining in the big 5 leagues dropped to zero, but it is often the smaller clubs and leagues which are more reliant on this revenue stream – in Scotland it makes up 43% of total revenue, compared to only 13% in England.
There have been some positive signs, as Southampton vs Manchester City on BBC broke the Premier League TV audience record with 5.7 million viewers, but the longer-term damage to the game’s economic structure has yet to be revealed.
Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance, commented:
“Top-level football has been confronted with the largest existential threat since the Second World War. Loss of income, coupled with health concerns about mass gatherings, have raised question marks about the future of the industry and the financial resilience of clubs across all levels. The full damage of the COVID-19 crisis has yet to unfold and it is not inconceivable there will be casualties in the form of club bankruptcies and changes in ownership.”
Despite the huge implications of COVID-19 for football clubs and their financial results, the majority of the brand value is secured by the clubs’ long-term future – provided they can survive the initial shock. For example, only 21% of Real Madrid’s brand value is delivered by the next five years’ financial results.
Premier power
Real Madrid and Barcelona are followed by a cluster of English Premier League clubs in the Brand Finance Football Annual 2020 ranking, with Manchester United in 3rd position after their brand value fell by 11% to €1,314 million. Liverpool, who won their first league title since 1990 in runaway style, are in 4th spot jumping above Manchester City in terms of brand value, rising from €1,191 million in 2019 to €1,262 million, a 6% increase. Chelsea dropped one place in the table to 8th after their value fell for the fourth consecutive year to €949 million. This was arguably due to the club being absent from the UEFA Champions League and also suffering a transfer ban after being charged with breaking Financial Fair Play Regulations.
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How to survive a crisis? Slotegrator’s tips on business continuity and disaster recovery
In pursuit of online casino success, operators do their best to provide players with the most interesting products and services, promote their business, analyze the revenue, grow traffic, and implement many other business development methods. Operators create marketing and plans to follow. However there is another important plan we often ignore — business continuity plan.
The iGaming business is vulnerable: it’s usually a large-scale venture, the risks are huge, and the number of potential threats is high. Starting from legal risks if the regulation changes or the market closes, to the cyber attack risks due to lack of security measures. Almost anything can go wrong and ruin a business that was built for years and took a lot of investment.
Slotegrator released a downloadable material describing what can potentially go wrong and how to make your business ready for it. Having a plan is crucial in this matter because improvising when an emergency occurs is a bad idea. What will you do if your regulator bans all forms of gambling advertising? Who will be responsible if the platform fails and the online casino stops functioning properly? How will you analyze the huge amount of data from your platform to detect a mistake? There must be a specific and very detailed plan of actions. Every minute of not accepting payments or not registering new players is an enormous loss for a casino operator, that’s why it’s so important to have your business continuously working without interruptions.
Some problems that may look less serious can cause big difficulties for businesses as well. For instance, Slotegrator talked to William Sarto, PR & Marketing Specialist at CasinoRIX, and got a few tips to help safeguard business during Google’s regular updates. Sarto points out several key advice: “Don’t rely on just one GEO; make sure you’re running projects across multiple countries. Don’t stick to just one vertical. For example, run projects in both the casino and betting sectors. This way, if one gets hit, you’ll have others to offset the impact.
Use a variety of strategies to promote your projects. If one takes a hit, others can grow or stay steady, giving you time to bounce back. Don’t rely solely on SEO for traffic—explore other channels to diversify your sources.”
Having said that, business continuity solution includes two main strategies. The first is to try to prevent the crisis and make your business less vulnerable to external events, and the second is a plan of actions to deal with a crisis and return to normal operation after it passes.
“We all know that being aware of potential risks is already a first step in preventing them. Problems that business face are various, especially in the iGaming industry, but knowing what can happen, learning from experiences gained before, and having a recovery plan can save many starting companies,” says Svetlana Kirichenko, Head of Marketing at Slotegrator.
Learn more about business continuity and disaster recovery from a new material from Slotegrator and contact their team in case of additional questions.
The post How to survive a crisis? Slotegrator’s tips on business continuity and disaster recovery appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, is excited to announce its collaboration with AbleGamers for an impactful charity campaign at TwitchCon 2024. This partnership aims to further AbleGamers’ mission of improving accessibility in gaming for individuals with disabilities through an interactive and meaningful activation.
Attendees who visit the Xsolla booth (Booth 1515-SW) at TwitchCon will have the exclusive opportunity to claim one of two specially designed charity pins. By sharing a photo of their pin on their social channels on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter using the hashtags #LightstreamAble and #XsollaAble, participants will help raise funds for AbleGamers. For every qualifying social post, Xsolla and its partners will donate $5 to AbleGamers, up to $10,000. To amplify awareness, include hashtags: #TwitchCon #BongoCat #Lightstream #Xsolla #SoEveryoneCanGame.
“We’re thrilled to partner with AbleGamers at TwitchCon 2024 to support their mission of making gaming more accessible for everyone. By engaging with our booth and sharing their experiences online, attendees collect a unique piece of Xsolla and Lightstream memorabilia and contribute directly to the gaming community. It’s an incredible opportunity to connect the gaming community with a cause that promotes inclusivity and empowerment,” said Berkley Egenes, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer at Xsolla.
2,000 pins will be distributed—1,000 featuring the iconic Xsolla Cat design and 1,000 co-designed with Lightstream. These limited-edition pins will be available only at the Xsolla booth on a first-come, first-served basis.
How Your Participation Makes a Difference:
- Peer Counseling: AbleGamers offers personalized guidance to assess player needs and provide optimal solutions for inclusive gaming
- Engineering Research: The organization supports the development of assistive technologies that remove barriers for gamers with disabilities
- Community & Inclusion: AbleGamers combats social isolation by fostering opportunities for camaraderie and lifelong friendships within the gaming community
By participating in this campaign, you’ll collect a unique pin and help fund critical resources and support for gamers with disabilities.
Industry-leading social media marketing agency SGG Media is thrilled to announce an exciting new collaboration with the prominent Canadian online casino PlayOJO.
Under the new agreement, SGG Media is set to become PlayOJO’s exclusive provider of live-action casino shows. Leveraging SGG Media’s extensive network of over 2,500 sports and casino influencers, these shows will stream thrilling casino experiences directly to PlayOJO players. Viewers will have the opportunity to interact with the streamers and place bets while witnessing all the exciting live casino action offered by PlayOJO.
Following the live shows, SGG Media will create and share short video highlights of the most captivating moments from the games across various social media platforms, engaging with SGG’s combined following of over 75 million fans. This is the third largest database of sports social media followers, a huge portion of whom have crossover potential and interest In the online casino industry.
The marketing agency has achieved significant success with its casino streams in 2024. They launched their groundbreaking ‘Casino Stream’ show in February. This innovative show offers nightly live-action casino games, providing viewers with an immersive experience in the fast-paced world of roulette, blackjack, slots, and other online games.
PlayOJO is one of the most popular legal online casinos in Ontario. The casino collaborates with major developers and content providers in the industry, offering a distinctive and enjoyable online casino experience to Ontarian’s, all of which will be highlighted as a result of this deal. “We’re thrilled to partner with the SGG team as we introduce our live casino shows in Canada. This unique live show experience will highlight PlayOJO’s best-in-class online casino, featuring slots, live casino, and table games, truly demonstrating why PlayOJO is the home of feel-good fun!”, says the PlayOJO Team.
SGG Media and PlayOJO are dedicated to ensuring a fun and safe online casino environment for players. Both parties will display clear responsible gambling messages throughout the streams, helping to inform players to gamble legally and responsibly.
Speaking about this commitment to responsible gambling, Troy Paul, CEO of SGG Media, said, “We want to create a fun and exciting show, but also make sure viewers know this is a legal casino and players need to wager only money they can afford to lose as entertainment.”
On the deal, Paul said: “We are extremely excited to begin working alongside PlayOJO. It is a brand that wants to drive innovation in the industry, sharing our vision for a more community-driven online casino experience.”
Through our streams, our micro-influencers and content creators will help shine a spotlight on PlayOJO’s fantastic gaming experiences while also growing a community that will want to return for more.
This extends beyond the streams, with our huge network of micro-influencers sharing video content across their platforms, ensuring engagement continues after the stream goes off the air.”
How to survive a crisis? Slotegrator’s tips on business continuity and disaster recovery
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