Gao Shen always attached great importance to market research.
For example, Leeds United wanted to invest in building a new stadium. Although the club had conducted a detailed market survey more than ten years ago, with the passage of time, Gao Shen still asked the club to entrust a third party to prepare a new one.
The results were very different from the past.
For example, the Trinity Shopping Centre in the city centre, which did not exist back then.
This requires Leeds United to pay more attention to differentiation when planning the commercial mix and sponsorship for the new stadium.
The same is true for stadium naming.
When the decision was made to build a new stadium, Gao Shen hired a professional third-party agency through the club to conduct market assessments of stadium naming in several mainstream sports markets around the world.
The conclusion was that Premier League stadium naming rights are seriously undervalued.
The most obvious example is Arsenal.
When the Emirates Stadium was being built, Arsenal signed a package deal with Emirates Airlines. What was the result?
It seemed like a lot at the time, but as time went on, looking back now, it is clear Arsenal suffered a huge loss.
But there is no way around it, the long-term contract has already been signed.
There are other cases like this.
For example, the Los Angeles Chargers in the American league.
In 1997, the Chargers signed a 20-year stadium naming rights contract, with a fee of less than one million US dollars per season. What about now?
It would be worth at least five million.
Of course, we must also consider the commercial value brought by marketing itself.
However, this report from a third-party organization clearly states that many financial companies, such as banks and insurance companies, personal investment firms, as well as some retail, aviation, and internet companies, are very interested in this type of cooperation.
"They realised early on that sponsorships could generate far more than just branding."
In the Bundesliga, stadium naming is nothing new. Many teams have sold their home stadium naming rights, such as Bayern and Dortmund.
These two Bundesliga clubs both demonstrate stadium naming value well.
Bayern's cooperation with Allianz Arena can be regarded as a model. The annual sponsorship fee of more than six million euros is money well spent. Allianz also used this opportunity to tightly bind its brand to Bayern and the stadium.
Now, when people talk about Bayern, they naturally think of the Allianz Arena.
In contrast, Dortmund's situation is different.
Many people probably do not remember the name Signal Iduna Park. They still remember Dortmund's original name, Westfalenstadion.
Many may find that strange. Why?
This is the importance of first impressions.
The difference between Bayern and Dortmund illustrates the crux of stadium naming in Europe's top leagues.
All the top teams basically do not plan to build new stadiums in the short term, but the risks of naming old stadiums are high and the returns are not great.
For example, in Leeds United's report, Manchester United's stadium naming rights sponsorship is about 17 million pounds per year. That is not a small amount, but how many people would remember the new stadium name by then?
I guess when people around the world mention Manchester United, they will still think of Old Trafford.
Needless to say, whether such a sponsorship would anger Manchester United fans.
Because of historical baggage, Manchester United wanted to sell naming rights early on, but has never succeeded.
United's asking price is high, but companies that can afford it are concerned about returns.
If the price is too low, Manchester United would be unwilling to sell.
The same is true at the Bernabéu and Camp Nou.
To cater to fan sentiment, the two giants will not easily touch naming rights. They want to sell, but they also want to retain the names Bernabéu and Camp Nou, which weakens sponsor interest.
This is a bit like someone who divorced, found a new partner here, and still lives with their ex there. Who can accept that?
According to current Premier League valuations, Manchester United and Manchester City have the highest. Arsenal's first contract was not signed well, so its value cannot rise. Teams such as Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Everton are basically less attractive, since they are old grounds.
But preliminary estimates suggest that the value of Premier League stadium naming rights will at least double in the next five years.
This is because the Premier League has a huge advantage that other top leagues cannot match, the overseas market.
Therefore, Leeds United's current target is a contract of around ten years at about 15 million pounds per year.
This is also the advice given by a third-party consulting firm.
Of course, it is a bit early to talk specifics now, as we are still in the contact stage.
After all, Leeds United's new stadium is still in the planning stage and there are no visible signs yet.
…
After attending the meeting at Elland Road, Gao Shen and his team headed north, out of the city of Leeds, toward the Thorp Arch training base.
According to the original plan, after the new training base was completed, Thorp Arch would continue to serve as the youth training base, but after reconsideration, this plan was cancelled.
After seeing the plans for the new training base, everyone felt there was no need to keep Thorp Arch.
So once the project is completed, the entire club will move to the new base.
It is human nature to prefer the new to the old.
As Leeds United continues to grow, Thorp Arch has indeed become more and more crowded.
From the data center to the scouting team, to the methodology department, as well as the coaching staff, kit department, and medical room, Leeds United is becoming more complete, and Thorp Arch feels smaller and smaller.
Now, everyone at the club is eagerly looking forward to the new base being completed and put into use.
Gao Shen and his team inspected every department.
Under Borrell's management, there were no major problems.
After all, Borrell is a veteran of Barcelona's youth system, so there is basically no problem with him running Leeds United's training base.
More importantly, Gao Shen has always adhered to professionalism, so every department at Leeds United gathers specialists from across Europe.
With an investment of over ten million pounds every year, Leeds United's youth setup is growing by the day and has now become a force in England that cannot be underestimated.
Of course, many also criticize that Leeds United's youth development is built on money and that they poach players from all over the world.
Gao Shen did not see anything wrong with that at all.
Even when meeting scouting director Steve Walsh, Gao Shen repeatedly urged him to quickly improve the South American scouting network and to work closely with talent bases in South America, especially Brazil and Argentina.
Leeds United's positioning is very clear, a transit station for stars.
Before Gao Shen transmigrated, many people criticized Real Madrid for spending big to sign Vinícius, Rodrygo, and Reinier in Brazil, but few understood why.
According to convention, Brazilian players should first make their mark at home, then be noticed by mid- and lower-table clubs in Europe's top leagues, or by teams in second-tier leagues such as the Eredivisie and Primeira Liga. After performing well and proving their strength and potential, the top teams then move in.
This step-by-step model minimizes recruitment risk for elite clubs.
Therefore, we can see wealthy teams paying high prices to snatch players because it is safe and the risk is not high.
Of course, teams like Barcelona and Manchester United, which sometimes poach without clear rules, are exceptions.
But with Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, and especially more wealthy teams pouring into the big four leagues, everyone found that path no longer worked.
Once a player proves himself and makes his mark in a European league, he becomes very hot and everyone scrambles.
That is outrageous.
Even some relatively unknown players can easily fetch over 100 million. Is that not absurd?
Therefore, clubs like Real Madrid began buying lottery tickets, going to Brazil to search for talents, paying higher fees to identify gifted youngsters early and develop them themselves.
This led to the signings of Vinícius, Rodrygo, and Reinier.
Of course, there are also cases like Valverde in Uruguay, where the quality is high and the price is low.
But not all clubs are like Real Madrid. Even Real Madrid are not always willing to go this way because the risks are indeed very high.
Before Gao Shen transmigrated, many saw the success of Vinícius and Rodrygo, but Reinier was not very successful, and the former prodigy Ødegaard did not take off quickly either.
Behind every success, there are many who fail, but their failures are little known.
If given a choice, Real Madrid would still prefer to pay high prices to sign players from European leagues.
For example, in 2017, they wanted to sign the 18-year-old genius Mbappé from Monaco for a huge 160 million euros, plus add-ons up to 180 million.
Unfortunately, they could not beat Paris Saint-Germain.
Gao Shen's focus during this visit to Thorp Arch was the methodology department, where he held a meeting with two experts, Paco Seirul·lo and Juan Vila, to discuss Leeds United's youth development research.
In the past two years, they have invested in youth development studies. From tailored instruction to daily training programs, these have been key projects with very fruitful results.
For example, this season Leeds United's U21, or reserve team, has performed well in the Premier League Reserve League. Local players Kalvin Phillips and Dele Alli have both impressed. Coupled with young players such as Martial and Kimmich, who often come back to play in the reserves, Leeds United's results in the reserve league are very eye-catching.
The methodology department also focuses on these U21 players, tailoring training programs and development plans specifically for them, including diet, training, and other aspects, doing everything possible to nurture them.
The Spanish coach Luis Ramis led the team in a wave of attacking football in the reserve league. The players performed well and improved significantly.
The methodology department deserves credit for this.
Moreover, in the past two years, they have been committed to creating a youth system for Leeds United that is rich in English characteristics and in line with the development trends of European football.
It has basically taken shape and the effects are starting to show.
Gao Shen came this time to inspect the results.
(To be continued.)