MILAN - As the calendar year draws to a close it is also time to look back at the commercial year at the Club - a year that has seen the re-signing of many of the Club’s top partners for multi-year deals, including a new 5-year allegiance with historic shirt sponsor Pirelli - as well as the addition of many new names, including those of Suning Sports and suning.com in connection with the Club’s training centres and training kit respectively.
Chief Revenue Officer, Michael Gandler, said: “The commercial team has expanded significantly over the last few years and has done a great job of pushing the club forward on the business side in 2016. A strong year has seen the Club re-sign a number of top partners as well as adding six new names to our list of sponsors. The commercial infrastructure is now well-advanced so we can continue to drive revenues for the Club which can be reinvested into facilities and players. With Suning’s on- and off-line reach, allied with the strong Inter brand and the huge surge in the popularity of football in China, the Club is now poised to see even stronger growth in China and right across Asia.”
New and existing partners show faith
The highlight of the year from a sponsorship perspective was the successful renewal of Pirelli as the Club’s shirt sponsor - a partnership that goes back to 1995/96 season - with the relationship extended for a further 5 years. Other existing partners that re-signed for multi-year deals include; Deutsche Bank, Kimbo, Frecciarossa, Cavit, Technogym, Radio Italia and Lete.
Six new partners were signed for the 2016/17 season increasing revenues in key categories. The six new partners welcomed were; Infiniti (car), Prozis (nutrition), Keylog (cleaning service), Locauto (car rental), Manpower (human resources) and Expert (consumer electronic retail). In addition, the Club achieved seven figure revenues from international markets with its first deals concluded in the US, China and Indonesia.
Match day revenues remain strong
Match day revenues continued to be driven by strong ticket sales for Inter’s home matches. The Club still holds the single match ticketing revenue record for Serie A set at €3.94 million for the game against Juventus on 18 September 2016.
Over the last 2 years season ticket volumes have grown 30%, with a 40% increase in season ticket holder retention, while general admission revenue over the same period is up 35%. Revenue from hospitality is also up 40% over 2 years, aided by the new Orange-side hospitality lounges opened for the hosting of the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final. Meanwhile the Tribuna Family continues to be popular with families, with an occupancy rate of 95% for the 2015/16 season.
New revenue opportunities at home and abroad
As well as the ‘traditional’ revenue generating areas of sponsorship, match day and media rights, new opportunities are opening up for the Club. Negotiations are ongoing for media rights distribution of the Club’s “Inter Channel” on a global level with Infront and in China with PPTV. On the Academy front three new academies have been opened with 67% revenue growth and a key expansion into China.
Inter Club exceeded 100,000 club members in 2016 for the first time since 2013. The Club also enjoyed its most profitable tour yet in the summer of 2016 as a member of the International Champions Cup tournament in the USA. And finally 2016 was also the year the Club opened the new Inter store in downtown Milano and began planning for further expansion in Italy and abroad.
The arrival of Suning as the majority shareholder of Inter in June 2016, with its massive retail footprint of 1,600 chain stores covering 600 cities in China, Hong Kong and Japan only bodes well for the Club as it plans for further international expansion of the famous Inter brand name.
