Over the last few years Celtic, as a club, have attempted to tap into new revenue streams as the domestic market is almost saturated. We have bought players from the far east to open up new markets and financial opportunities. Celtic have also recently sponsored a major tournament in India which is currently a completely untapped area.
The strange aspect to all of this is the fact that Celtic have turned their back on potentially as big a market as the UK, a market that already has an affinity with the club. Of course I’m talking about America. This is a country that Celtic have toured twice or three times in the last decade, has a large Irish immigrant population centralised in specific cities, we hold a massive fans convention in Las Vegas every year, and I think that 3.24% of the clubs shares are owned by a prominent American business family who also own Gap.
Below is a table of information gleamed from the internet, so it must be true,
detailing the top American cities/metropolitan areas with a large population of Irish ethnicity.
| City | Estimated Population | Estimated Irish Population |
| Boston | 589,141 | 110,000 |
| Philadelphia | 1,463,281 | 213,000 |
| Buffalo NY | 1,170,111 | 131,000 |
| Pittsburgh | 325,337 | 32,000 |
If the club are looking to tap into a new market can I suggest they look no further than
the good ‘ole US of A. In the lead up to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays why don’t we take a short term lease of a couple of shops in a two shopping malls to sell Celtic tops and merchandise?
Or would that be too much like speculate to accumulate…….. as we know from recent seasons Celtic, as a business, don’t do that!
Fantastic idea. Why don’t you put this to Celtic directly. Any forward thing Celtic fans with ideas how to better the club should follow suit
Sadly I believe the club have poo pooed the the idea but if, as suggested in the article, they took short term leases in some malls in the lead uo to the two big holidays then it would at least be a guage. Nike could be asked to get the merchandise to local warehouses. A few hundred brochures printed and card with the club store website to get products to customers.
If ever there was a merchandising connection screaming out to be made then it is Glasgow Celtic and the Boston Celtic’s. Why this has not been explored beggars belief.
There is also Notre Dame university. A huge name in the states with ‘The Fighting Irish’ as a their motto. These are easy links to attempt which would grow our brand enormously.
Celtic need to be more diverse than just the Irish connection. The kids just want to look cool and selling our whole history in the absence of EPL titles or Champions League exposure is a lot to take in. Selling the look as well as the history would go a long way as the game here is massive but the connections to European clubs is flimsy for most “supporters”. Nike could do more. They only really push Man U that I can see when you go into a shop. Every other top simply hangs on a rail.
Soda stream have a tv advert out here with three girls in the mall with The hoops on talking about Soda Stream. Maybe it’s a new partnership that they have yet to announce 🙂
Nike are like any business; open to suggestion.
All the club has to do is do a little research and put forward the figures………….. and ultimately take a punt on it.
Time however is running out on this opportunity. With each passing generation the Irish link becomes more diluted. If that connection is not made shortly its time will have come and gone.
I see that Soda Stream advert every day 🙂 I did a double take the first time I saw it.
You tube of the advert dudes?
Anybody got a link to the advert?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7P7P0GdJIM
You would spend at least a dollar to appear on that advert!
What about Canada?
With 3 teams recently being added the MLS and a substantial Irish / Scottish community, why not build here as well?
Montreal (according to wikipedia) has over 161,000 Irish with the longest running St-Patty’s day parade in Canada. As well, Montreal is known for it’s non-love for the Monarchy.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Quebecers)
It is no coincidence. The MLS will have carried out their own research. That is one thing that the Americans are good at and when they see a gap in the market they fill it in jig time.
The San Francisco bay area has a huge Irish population. I know plenty of Americans here that know about Celtic and always ask me why we never play on the West coast. Plus the Hispanic population is absolutely football daft. The Real Madrid friendly would have been a sellout here. I don’t see the point of going to the East coast every year. That’s just lazy. If that continues and the club get an easy million each year it’ll stick and be a permanent fixture. You have to EXPAND the market. There are so many opportunities in this countries. Instead of wasting 4 mill on Juarez why not put some real money into marketing ? Go and buy an up and coming American player. The MLS is a joke but they have good individual athletes that can actually play if coached correctly.
If you package something correctly, it’ll sell. There’s such a lack of imagination and creativity when it comes to the marketing side of Celtic, it’s maddening.