The Infront Sports & Media agency and Italian publishing house 24 ORE Group have been appointed as commercial advisers to the FIGC, football’s governing body in Italy.
According to Infront, the agreement will be formally signed in the forthcoming weeks and will run until the end of 2018.
Under the deal, Infront and the 24 ORE Group will market the governing body’s sponsorship rights for the men’s, women’s and youth national teams. A new sponsorship model will be established in the coming month, the agency added.
“Our goal is to spread the perception and fascination of Italian football all over the world and strengthen its brand value,” Infront Italy president Marco Bogarelli said. “As opposed to the FIGC’s previous approach, the focus of this advisory partnership is international. We will jointly work on enhancing the positioning of the Italian national team brand amongst other major football nations.”
He added: “The synergy between us and the 24 ORE Group is perfect. Our capabilities in sports marketing and the media landscape respectively complement each other in the best possible way. Infront has a strong track record in managing international projects through its global network of subsidiaries and partners – particularly for the sport of football. The 24 Ore Group is close to the needs and interests of major companies and will assist in exporting their brands outside Italy through the alignment with the prestige of Italian football.”
Donatella Treu, chief executive of the 24 ORE Group, added: “The 24 ORE Group, as the publisher of Il Sole 24 Ore – the most trusted voice of the Italian economy and the first digital newspaper in Italy, circulating over 190,000 digital copies – will provide a vital contribution toward showcasing the national team ‘Nazionale’ worldwide. This will be achieved along with ‘Made in Italy’ excellence – great Italian football together with Italian technology, manufacturing, food, fashion, design, art and culture.”