Pretty awesome, Fiorentina.
Italian club Fiorentina has perhaps inteligently decided to move on from their previous shirt sponsor Toyota. But instead of going out to broker a deal with another mega-corporation with a faulty product, Fiorentina has admirably decided to go touchy-feely.
From The Sport Review:
Serie A club Fiorentina have replaced their shirt sponsor with a message intended to reach out to the youth of Italy.
The message ‘Il calcio è un divertimento,’ (football is entertainment), has been added to promote fair play and replaces the club’s previous shirt sponsor Toyota for the upcoming season.
Fiorentina vice-president Mario Cognin explained the reasons for undertaking the refreshing initiative.
“It is a way to encourage young people to approach the game without taking it too seriously”, said Cognin.
“It reflects how Fiorentina sees football.”
The decision made by Fiorentina is similar to Barcelona’s decision to go with UNICEF as a sponsor, after years of turning down corporate sponsorship opportunities. Is it good business to forgo revenue opporunities when you are underperforming financially or when access to funds can boost the quality of your team? I’m not so sure it is. But perhaps there is some business savvy behind this move. Let’s use me as an example.
Previously, I had no strong opinions on Fiorentina as a club. Now I like them a little bit more. This one gesture will likely lead to me paying a little more attention to the club. Given the choice of purchasing an Italian jersey, this year’s Fiorentina strip is now on my radar, not because the jersey is particularly sexy (in fact, it’s not), but rather because it’s something different. Basically, with this one gesture, Fiorentina has drawn my interest for the right reasons. Something that Italian football has failed to do in the past few years.
But perhaps in another room, in another country, some current Fiorentina fan is disgusted, vowing to never be caught dead in this jersey. And to that I say, “Fair enough. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. One man’s delectable dessert is another man’s flan.”
Surely some financial modeling went into the decision to be sponsored by an inspirational statement, but ultimately, how this plays out commercially is anyone’s guess. Regardless of how the numbers play out in Excel, we may never be able to truly capture the financial implications of this gesture. But simply as a fan of the game, Fiorentina’s gesture is a positive one. I can’t quantify the value of reputation, but I do know that reputation does have value.
Anyway, regardless of how this plays out, I am slow clapping for you, Fiorentina. In fact, for this gesture, you deserve an enthusiastic slow clap.
Click here to see the unveiling of the new Fiorentina jersey. I hope you speak Italian.
As a Fiorentina supporter I have to say I like the move. But the font could’ve been stylized some, as it is it looks like someone bought a can of white paint and some cheap letter stencils. Considering the rest of the jersey looks like shite, though, I suppose it’s blandness doesn’t stand out too much. Sad, as the Viola usually have one of the more eye catching kits.
It’ would be prudent to note that the translation of “calcio e’ un divertimento” could also be read as [football is fun] or [football is an enjoyment]. The word entertainment in english has a more consumeristic connotation than it does in Italian.