Posted on December 22, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. by TM
This summer, PSG struck a historic blow by offering Lionel Messi. Obviously, the arrival of the Argentinian is a sporting plus for the club from the capital, in particular to win the Champions League. But this arrival of Messi in Paris also had big economic and marketing repercussions.
It's incredible to say, but it is very real: today, Lionel Messi is a PSG player. While it was thought that the Argentinian would end his career at FC Barcelona , it was not the case. Still agreeing to extend in Catalonia, the seven-time Ballon D'Or was unable to continue at Barca for economic reasons, much to the chagrin of Joan Laporta. Leonardo and Nasser Al-Khelaïfi then jumped at the opportunity to achieve a coup that will go down in history. PSG offered themselves with Messi the best player in the world. An indisputable sporting added value, but today the contribution of La Pulga is noticeable far beyond the pitch.
“We have really felt an impact in all our commercial sectors”
With Lionel Messi , PSG also experienced a huge boost from an economic point of view. And this Wednesday, Marc Armstrong , sponsorship director at the club of the capital, confided in Goal on this madness Messi . “We immediately had a significant increase in offers and even before he officially signed in Paris, there were a lot of requests. We have really felt an impact in all of our business areas: from sponsorship and merchandising to hospitality and ticketing. Our community has also reached a record level, with 150 million fans on social networks, ”he explained in particular.
A Messi madness which was notably reflected in the shops of PSG where fans flocked for the Argentinian’s number 30 flocked jersey. According to Goal, a million jerseys have been sold. “This is definitely the best jersey launch in terms of sales with at least a 30-40% increase in demand. The demand has been enormous. And if we could produce more, we would sell even more, ”Armstrong told him.
From a marketing point of view, this also helped attract new sponsors, which is obviously good news for the PSG economy. On this subject, the Parisian leader confided: “Indeed, there has been an impact and the partners are committed at our price. Previously, the demand was already strong, but now it is greater than ever. (…) Our goal is not to form 150 partnerships but to be more selective. Above all, we choose our partners based on their projects and their values. We will be signing more partnerships in the weeks and months to come. And we already have talks to renew others. ”
A craze which is also reflected in the demand and the price of seats. With Lionel Messi now at PSG , the amounts are flying up to come see the Argentinian, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and company. Marc Armstrong has also developed: “There is a huge demand that we unfortunately cannot fully satisfy at the moment, so interest in the secondary market is growing as you would expect. . Increase the price of hospitality places? This is one of the many things we will be considering in the pricing strategy and in all of our ongoing renewal discussions. It would not be surprising if the prices go up. This is something we are working on. In the general public areas of the stadium, we are nevertheless committed to keeping prices affordable to allow all our fans to enjoy the Paris Saint-Germain experience “.