Mexico will be the focal point of the Denver Broncos in your strategy International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA). Over the next five years, the team will focus on generating sponsorships, catering to existing fans, generating new ones and developing the sport.
The NFL has a base of 16 million avid fans in Mexico, an extremely attractive market for its teams to continue exporting its brand. Not for nothing, eight of the 18 franchises that have the license IHMA decided to settle in our territory.
Among them, Broncos have the joy of monopolizing a large part of that public, says Marisol Villagomez, Senior Marketing Manager of the team. Although he did not detail figures, he indicated that the largest fan base in the Broncos outside Denver it is concentrated in Mexico, where in the last 20 years they have not left the top 10 of popularity; even cracked the top three in 2016, when Peyton Manning guided them to win the Super Bowl 50. According to data from Front Office Sports, as of March 2020, 10% of the Broncos’ Facebook followers were from Mexico (approximately 410,000).
“It is a significant investment for the Denver Broncos And it also comes with the potential for future income. Regarding the initiatives that we plan to implement in Mexico, I think that the most important thing in the first two or three years is to continue the development of the fan that exists, the important thing for us is to give support to those who are there in the way that they need,” Villagomez said in an interview with El Economista.
The team estimates that it has around 13 well-established fan clubs in cities such as Monterrey, Guadalajara, Chihuahua and the country’s capital, who have taken the initiative to create content, get together to watch the games or take the official photo; that’s why the marketing directive indicates that fans have been a big part of why the team has remained so popular since the 1990s.
To interact with that community, Broncos have launched initiatives such as the creation of a podcast in Spanish, in 2016 they began partnerships with Telemundo Denver for a weekly program, and since 1994 it has radio partners in Spanish, the current one is KNRV Radio. It has also allowed fans to travel to games in Denver with all expenses paid, as well as conducting an annual cheerleading trip to the Yucatan Peninsula.
Villagomez exemplified that 98% of Broncos fans around the world will never have the opportunity to see the team play at home, either because of the price of tickets (in 2021 the average was $110.8), because they are sold out or due to various circumstances, so it is the responsibility of the team to maintain communication with the fans and give them access in other ways, “in Mexico access existed but now what we want is more physical presence.”
In the last five years alone, the team has led more than 30 events in our country, from flag clinics, with animation groups and virtual calls with fan clubs.
Another part within the strategy in the IHMA is the generation of income through sponsorships. Depending on the area they decide to focus on, it will be the turn of the brand they decide to partner with, however, they first want to establish this project with the sponsors they already have. One of them is Bud Light, podcast sponsor Between friends.
“We are interested in having more media coverage, we are also looking for the opportunity to have more games or be covered by television or radio in Mexico. We are looking for those opportunities in every part of the business”, the directive pointed out.
The NFL It gave the teams the opportunity to strengthen their international strategy in up to three territories at the same time, but in these first five years of the project, the Broncos decided to only focus on the Mexican market.
“There are two other markets that are important to us and I am sure that in the next two or three years we will find a way to get hooked in those countries, but for us the important thing was to do it well. We’ve always had that mentality of moving at our own pace, if the league wants each team to go for three, great for them, but if the option exists to have one and do it well we prefer that and focus on the quality of experiences.
During the last seven years, the team’s trips have focused on the south of Mexico and this region will continue to be part of their project, however, this time they will also seek to expand throughout the Republic in regions such as Monterrey, for the importance of your market; Coahuila, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, where the company that manufactures the cheerleaders’ boots is located and where they have found significant growth in the number of fans; and Chihuahua, whose inhabitants find in Denver a major tourist spot.
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