- Details
By Elena Radicchi
Photo by the author
There's no better way to experience the world of sports than visiting a professional team. Sport Marketing professor Dr. Elena Radicchi brought her Spring 2014 students to the ACF Fiorentina soccer stadium Artemio Franchi in Florence:
Our visiting experience was a great opportunity to learn the marketing operations of the team's organization. We were fortunate to be guided by Dr. Edoardo Miano, the director of ACF Fiorentina Location & Retail.
The students learned about Fiorentina marketing techniques and visited the press conference rooms, as well as the professional players' locker facilities and the game field. The press rooms are where the players are interviewed, and the group focused on a topic previously discussed in class, Fiorentina sponsorship and how sponsor presence is an important detail of these areas. Seeing the locker room provided a direct perspective of the team and how professional locker areas are set up. In the case of the Fiorentina team, large "Viola" chairs and player names on lockers were immediately observed, as well as the team's biggest sponsors whose logos were also printed inside the lockers.
The experience of being on the game field was definitely an exciting component to the field trip. The FUA group walked through the main player entrance onto the field and were photographed inside the goal net. The VIP seating areas and coaches' benches were also visited and explained by Dr. Miano.
An interesting point of contrast analyzed by the students was the relationship of investment and care between fans and teams in Italy. During the behind-the-scenes observation of the team's marketing processes, some students found that Fiorentina fans invest a higher level of commitment than fans in their home countries. In fact, it is very important for the Fiorentina's marketing team to continue a strong strategy of brand/team loyalty that translates into an involving atmosphere during soccer matches.
The overall experience was greatly beneficial for sport marketing students to visit a location that represents professional athletic operations where they learned about marketing practices from the individuals who are directly involved in the organization.
To find out more about ACF Fiorentina, visit the official team site.