Juventus
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. is one of the prominent professional football clubs internationallywith a fan potential of approximately 40.8 million supporters1 in Europe(including Italy and Russia) and approximately 13 million supporters2 in Italy.
The Company’s key activity is participation in national and international competitions and the organisation of matches. The Company’s main sources of revenues stem from the economic exploitation of sports events, of the Juventus brand and of the image of the First Team, among which the most significant are the licensing of television and media rights, sponsorship and the selling of advertising space.
Juventus' winning track-record is the richest among all Italian football clubs and Juventus is one of the most victorious team at international level with 27 Italian Championships (except that of the 2004/2005 season revoked and the non-assigned trophy of the 2005/2006 season), 9 Italian Cups, 4 Italian Super Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups, 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, 3 UEFA Cups, 1 Cup Winners' Cup and 2 European Super Cups.
HISTORY
Founded in 1897 thanks to the idea of a group of young students from the Liceo D’Azeglio school in Turin, Juventus won its first Italian championship as early as 1905 after only a few years and the switch to the current black and white strip.
1923 saw the debut in the team of Giampiero Combi, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. Edoardo Agnelli, the son of the founder of Fiat, was elected as the Company’s new Chairman, the beginning of a special association that was to last through the years.
The number of fans grew rapidly, and in 1925/26 the “bianconeri” won their second championship, the prelude to a cycle of victories that led them to win 5 championships in a row starting in the 1930/31 season. The Juventus trainer in that period was Carlo Carcano and his team included legendary players like Orsi, Caligaris, Monti, Cesarini, Varglien I and II, Bertolini, Ferrari and Borel II. In this period, the team made a fundamental contribution to the Italian squad which won its first World Cup in 1934.
The championship victories gave Juventus its first true international experience, participating in the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League), and reaching the semi-finals on 4 occasions.
With Giovanni Agnelli as Chairman from 1947, the team won 2 more championships and Carlo Parola and Giampiero Boniperti marked an era.
Under the chairmanship of Umberto Agnelli and with Omar Sivori and John Charles, Juventus won 3 consecutive championships and in 1958 the team was the first Italian team to receive the star for winning 10 Championships.
After the championship victory of 1966/67, Juventus began a long and triumphant cycle which coincided with the arrival as Chairman in 1971 of Giampiero Boniperti. The team was lead by trainers with a powerful personality: Vycpalek, Parola and, above all, Giovanni Trapattoni. On the field, alongside great Italian champions like, Zoff, Scirea, Tardelli, Cabrini, Causio, Paolo Rossi, Gentile (the players who formed the backbone of the Italian team that won the World Cup for the third time in 1982), Furino, Anastasi and Roberto Bettega, were many foreign super stars, headed by Michel Platini. In the 1981/82 season Juventus gained its second star after winning its 20th championship.
Juventus, by now a leading team in Italian and international football, became, together with AFC Ajax, the only club to win all the most important international competitions.
Other victories followed: the UEFA Cup and Italian Cup under the trainer Dino Zoff, and the UEFA Cup again.
Juventus’ recent history is linked to the work of the current management group under the chairmanship of Vittorio Caissotti di Chiusano (1990 – 2003) and Franzo Grande Stevens (2003 - 2006) and under the management of Antonio Giraudo, Luciano Moggi and Roberto Bettega. With the First Team trained by Marcello Lippi and Fabio Capello and with the hallmark of champions like Gianluca Vialli and Alessandro Del Piero (the all-time record-holder in the company’s history with over 500 matches and more than 200 goals), the team won a further 7 championships (the one for the 2004/2005 season revoked and that of the 2005/2006 season not assigned) and was a leading player on the international scene, playing four UEFA Champions League finals, winning it in 1996, and triumphing in its second Intercontinental Cup. In July 2006 the Italian national team won its fourth World Cup thanks in part to the contribution of 5 Juventus players.
In June 2006 the current Board of Directors was appointed with Giovanni Cobolli Gigli as Chairman and Jean-Claude Blanc as Chief Executive Officer and General Manager.
The sports proceeding against the Company begun in June 2006 was closed in October 2006 with the confirmation of the relegation of the First Team to Serie B (with a penalty of nine points), the revocation of the 28th championship title won in the 2004/2005 season and the non-assignation of the 29th championship for the 2005/2006 season.
At the end of the 2006/2007 season, the First Team was promoted to Serie A after winning the Serie B championship.
As regards company aspects, as of 1994 Juventus, following significant regulatory changes, transformed itself from a sports club to a business adding related projects to its main activity and in December 2001 the Company was listed on the Italian stock market.
In recent years work has continued to strengthen the First Team and enhance its brand, through the construction of the new “JuventusCenter” in the municipality of Vinovo (Torino) and the development of programmes and projects for activities linked to its main activity.
MID-TERM DEVELOPMENT PLAN
On 14 March 2007, the Board of Directors of Juventus examined and approved the mid-term development plan that contains the guidelines for the Company operational development and growth goals for the next five years. The plan has been defined taking into account the following objectives:
1. Assertion of leadership in European football
The Company will strive for excellence in sports performance, linked to the quality of the team and the technical staff.
The current composition of the team is characterised by the presence of outstanding players, alongside young talents who are developing experience on the pitch. The objective of the development plan is to ensure the competitiveness of the team in Serie A and at the international level, strengthening all sectors and ensuring at the same time the stability of the technical staff. The plan envisages further reinforcement of the youth sector and the scouting system, so as to guarantee a constant influx of talents to the first team.
2. New commercial strategy
The development plan envisages the introduction of a new marketing strategy that will make a significant contribution to the further development and enhancement of the Juventus brand. This new commercial strategy is based on two pivotal points: the identification of a small, select group of national and international partners that can offer a significant contribution to revenues and enhancement of the brand, and exclusive rights by trade sector. Further action will be taken in the key international markets, including team tours and friendly matches.
3. Solidity of assets and financial position
From the financial point of view, the objective over the period of the plan is to implement a model of sustainable development that enables excellent football performance, guaranteeing the Company equilibrium in its finances and assets.
_______________________
1 Sport+Markt, “Juventus F.C. Fan Potential – The Global Sponsoring Study” report, August 2005 (source: www.sportundmarkt.de)
2 Customized Research & Analysis, “Monitor Calcio 2007” research