How Grupo City positions Bahia in the world and plans to invest BRL 1 billion
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The commitment is an investment of BRL 1 billion over the next 15 years. Half of this amount will be invested in players and the rate of injection will depend on the development of the team in the coming seasons.
Ferran Soriano, CEO of City Football Groupgave this Thursday (4) some details of the growth strategy for Bahia and explained the positioning of the tricolor within the structure that now has 13 clubs.
“Bahia is exceptional, for its size, for the size of its fans. It will be the second biggest club in the group. (…) Our effort is for Bahia to grow, sportingly, economically and socially”, warned Ferran.
THE GROUP’S VISION
The focus in the first moment is on exploring the identity of Bahia and the state, using the representativeness of the club in the “social fabric” of Bahia. Given this, they see a potential for intense work to massify the brand in front of at least 15 million people in Bahia.
The entry into the group gives Bahia a new CEO, Raul Aguirre, who will work alongside the football executive already active at the club, Carlos Santoro.
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The idea is to “put Bahia in the socket” that gives access to Grupo City’s energy, with the aim of increasing the club’s revenues in a sustainable way. Soriano calculates six months for Bahia to fully adapt to City’s operational and administrative pace.
“We want a fast pace of growth. Evidently the revenue is lower than you mentioned (Flamengo, which closed 2022 with R$ 1.17 billion). Our goal is to grow sportingly and economically. The team led by Raul will be focused on growth to grow our revenue. If we don’t grow revenue, we don’t grow revenue, we can’t invest in players, it’s part of the virtuous cycle we’re starting today”, said Feran.
Within the scope of the R$ 1 billion investment proposal, R$ 300 million will go towards debt payments and R$ 200 million will be allocated to the club’s structure and base.
VISION OF THE CEO OF THE CITY GROUP ON THE SPORTS SIDE
Sporting return: “Patience, the work is long-term. It is a reality that has already happened. If you look at Manchester City, it is a great club, it has won four of the last five Premier League titles. But that was done in ten years . It’s been 14 years of work to get here. So, it’s year zero. Patience, trust, we’re not going to make decisions based on two or three results. It’s not going to be an emotional decision”.
Game idea: “The idea of our football is the first, attacking football, beautiful football. I also know that implementing this philosophy is not easy. Guardiola does it in a way that is different in New York and that will be different in Bahia. But the basic idea will be spectacle football, football that wants to have the ball and the initiative in the game”.
OPPORTUNITY FOR SAF IN BRAZIL
The arrival of Grupo City starts a second moment of arrival of investors in Brazilian football. Something that started with the Societies Anônimas do Futebol (SAFs) of Botafogo, Cruzeiro and Vasco last year. City saw the window of opportunity and entered the project, taking advantage of the recent change in Brazilian legislation.
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“City Football Group wants to be the biggest in the world. We had to be in Brazil, the country of football, with so much football talent. And with the opportunities that are growing. It is the right time to invest in football in Brazil, not least because the law has changed”, explained Soriano.
“We were convinced, after working for a long time, that Bahia was the best option. First, for its current size and, second, for its potential. We were impressed with the board, with what we saw done in the worst circumstances, the pandemic and the relegation”.
LEAGUE PARTICIPATION
Bahia entered Libra, the block for the formation of the league that includes Flamengo, Vasco, Botafogo, São Paulo, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos, Cruzeiro and Grêmio, for example. The timing of Grupo City’s arrival coincides with the glimpse of a leap in the Brazilian market, if the project goes ahead.
“Bahia’s growth opportunity follows the growth of the Campeonato Brasileiro league, which has not developed the way it could. But we are in a moment that could happen. In England, 20 years ago, the Premier League was not what it is now,” said Ferran Soriano.
“We want to participate, like everyone else, with the difference that we are going to try to bring our experience. We work in 12 leagues in the world. Now, 13. We have experience in which things work or not. We will humbly bring to the discussion and from the point of view of being one more club participating in the discussions”.
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