Blueprint for world domination Challenging United's global reach is target for Chelsea's latest signing
Vivek Chaudhary Wednesday September 10, 2003 The Guardian During his efforts to establish Chelsea as one of the country's leading teams, their chairman Ken Bates would often boast of wanting to make the west London club the "Manchester United of the south". In recruiting Peter Kenyon as chief executive, the new owner Roman Abramovich has signalled that he intends to go one step better and establish Chelsea as the new Manchester United, full stop. As Kenyon prepares to swap Old Trafford for Stamford Bridge, his appointment is the clearest indicator yet of the global vision Abramovich has for his new club. The Russian billionaire is not only concerned with taking on United on the pitch and challenging their domestic dominance but wants to match them off the pitch by turning Chelsea into the most recognised brand name in football and lucrative club in the world. Rarely has United's supremacy as the leading football brand been under such threat; Kenyon will lead a second Stamford Bridge revolution whose aim is to see Chelsea bracketed alongside the likes of Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Kenyon is credited with developing the Manchester United brand via a number of lucrative commercial and sponsorship deals, including a record �313m kit deal with Nike and a four-year, �30m deal with Vodafone. Analysts believe his first step now will be to examine how Chelsea can be turned into a brand to be exploited in the lucrative North American and far eastern markets. Six years ago at Old Trafford, Kenyon refashioned the club badge to remove the words "football club" because he believed United should be seen as leisure enterprise which could be linked to other income-generating ventures such as clothing, media and even other sports. "Kenyon will look at everything at Chelsea, big and small," Simon Banks, a football finance analyst, said yesterday. "He will examine how the club can be rebranded so that people's perception of Chelsea changes. The task will be to establish Chelsea not only as a leading European and world club but as a globally recognised brand name. "Kenyon is an expert in marketing. He achieved a lot at Manchester United and helped to make it one of the most recognised names in the world and Abramovich believes he will be able to do the same with Chelsea." Kenyon gained detailed knowledge of the United States sports market during his time as chief executive of Umbro and, in a foretaste of his new role, fought an underdog's battle for the sportswear manufacturer when Nike was the dominant brand in the marker. Abramovich is keen to establish Chelsea in North America and was apparently impressed by Kenyon's handling and organisation of United's recent tour there, where every match sold out. A club source said: "Kenyon has very good contacts within North America and all the world's leading clubs are keen to tap into that market. He has a good all-round vision on how to develop a brand and how to sell it to the public. Of course a lot of it depends on how the team do on the pitch, but Kenyon is able to exploit that success for commercial gain." Kenyon is also likely to examine Bates's vision for a Stamford Bridge which incorporates a hotel and conference centre. During Kenyon's six-year tenure at Old Trafford the stadium was drastically modified to increase capacity to 67,000. He believes a team with a global image need a stadium of equal stature and is unlikely to be satisfied with Chelsea's current 42,000 capacity. United owed much of their domestic dominance over Arsenal and the rest to the income from home attendances worth �1.5m a match. Both hotels at Stamford Bridge would have to be demolished for capacity to be increased significantly and the club would also have to foot the bill for a redeveloped underground station and improved pedestrian links. Such expenditure is unlikely to worry Abramovich. However, Kenyon has a far steeper hill to climb with Chelsea than he ever had at United. Even before he took over at Old Trafford, the club were known globally; gaining similar recognition for Chelsea will prove difficult. Abramovich's "Dream Team" theory demands the acquisition of high-profile players to ensure success on the pitch that can be harnessed with the work of an experienced chief executive to achieve commercial success. If Chelsea fail to deliver the trophies then Kenyon might find that, for all his vast experience and business acumen, it will be a lot harder to sell shirts and sign lucrative deals than it was at Old Trafford. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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