Today the New York Times featured an article about Germany's most successful soccer team, FC Bayern München, having opened an office in the United States to better connect with their American Fans as well as to increase their revenue for buying players and support all their other efforts.
They just signed a contract with FOX Sports and their chief operating officer, David Nathanson, commented on the opening of their new office: "Bayern is without a doubt the dominant team in the Bundesliga. They’ve had some great rivals, but ultimately, it is the team with the most wins in Germany. For them to be a global powerhouse, opening an office in New York will let them have more touch points in this country.”
Only a few teams have opened permanent offices in the United States. Two European clubs, Liverpool and Roma, have offices in Boston -they have American owners. Barcelona closed their office again and Manchester City is in a partnership with the Yankees to create New York City F.C., an M.L.S. expansion team that will start play next year at Yankee Stadium.
The FC Bayern Munich U.S. Managing Director Rudolf Vidal said, that it was essential to the club’s strategy to open an office in Manhattan, rather than try to manage its American efforts from Munich, which is the clubs hometown.
Six Bayern Munich players have played and won the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Read the NYTimes article here and check out their official new U.S. Website as well as their Fan Club page on Facebook.