Bundesliga heads East

Twenty-thousand kilometers, eight days, seven training sessions and three friendlies: Bayern Munich's preseason tour to China is a prime example of the business behind the all-encompassing beast that is modern football. Long gone are the days preseason tours were selected for their climate or opposition. Now it's about target groups, investment and social media - and in preparation for their tour, Bayern have gone all out.

They have revamped the Chinese version of the club's website, created an App specifically designed to bring Chinese fans the information they want from a team on location, and finally tried to entice as many of the half a billion social media users to follow one or all of their four Chinese social media profiles. While the players on the field make the headlines, competition in football remains just as fierce off it, and the modern preseason tour has become a veritable oasis of opportunity

"We'll be going flat out to expand in this market over the next few years,” declared Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on the club's website. "We're not going there on vacation. We have to find a middle ground between FC Bayern's marketing interests and our preseason preparations.” Rummenigge went on to suggest the club are already playing catch up in the market, but, as ever, it is hard to believe. According to the club, the number of China-based Bayern fans is equal to the population of Germany, so the club's market position remains elite. That said, the question still remains: why Asia, and why now?

On top of an enormous population, an increasing spending power and a culture that's fascinated with the West, Asia has now fallen in love with football. Domestic league attendances are on the up, foreign and national investment has increased, and even China's President Xi Jinping is a fan. Having made football the number one sport in the country, three of China's wealthiest men have helped invested to help build a 167-acre football academy in the southern province of Guangdong. On top of that, the Chinese Super League (CSL) is tempting more and more aging European stars for a final chapter. Demba Ba, Asamoah Gyan and Tim Cahill all play in the CSL, and Bayern's sole local opponents on their tour, Guangzhou Evergrande, have recently signed Robinho and Paulinho.

"I know so many big European clubs trying to enter the Chinese market in recent years - it's the place to be," says Mads Davidsen, coach and scout at Shanghai SIPG. Davidsen, who has been in China since 2012 after coaching the Brondby youth with Bayern's Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, added: "Most Chinese clubs have a huge company as the main owner."

Young fans the target

While the deep pockets of China's clubs have increased international interest, domestic football remains in Europe's shadow. In Bayern and Dortmund, the Bundesliga has two powerhouses carrying the flag for German football. "The Premier League realized the potential of the Asian market before the Bundesliga,” says Philipp Kupfer, a marketing expert at the international sponsoring consultancy, Repucom. "While many fans have already got a European team… many of the younger generation hasn't. It is these young people the Bundesliga are trying to woo.”

The time for a preseason tour is, of course, now and the presence of a Bayern Munich or a Borussia Dortmund in Asia is unmatchable. There are even plans to open a club office in the world's most populated country, which would be the next logical step after opening one in New York last year. In the US, a record number of fan groups were registered this year, and partnerships deals with Univision and MSN were penned. With over 90 million followers in China and a cooperation with media giants CCTV5 in place, Bayern want to have a 365-days-a-year approach much like in the US.

Dortmund, meanwhile, already has a foot in the door after opening an office in Singapore last year. Shinji Kagawa's presence helped the club get a strong footing in the Japanese market, but as the club's director of sales and marketing, Carsten Cramer, stated at the opening of the Singapore office, the club's sales in other Asian markets had tripled. That was a year ago. The club's reception on this summer's tour suggests those numbers continue to rise.

One of the reasons for Dortmund's sustained success in the international market, even after the club's dip in success and the departure of Jürgen Klopp last season, is their personal approach. David Görges, head of new media at BVB, said to DW back in April that the club's marketing campaign was to be real with the club's fans. It has a slightly more interactive feel than Bayern's, although Bayern are on more international platforms. Both have enabled the clubs' fan base to expand well beyond the stands and streets of their respective cities.

Long-term planning key

Football no longer lives in an age where club support is based on location. With modern technology now offering fans all over the world the chance to watch live training sessions, let alone matches, is just as intense as the one on the pitch. What matters now is engagement, and after months of virtual contact, being there is the next best step.

This summer a whole host of leading European sides will do just that, competing in the International Champions Cup (ICC). Ironically, Bayern is not one of them but will still play Valencia and Inter Milan - the latter are one of 15 teams in this year's ICC tournament that spans across three continents. For all of Bayern's off-field work, the games are still the main event. In 2014, Manchester United played Real Madrid at the University of Michigan's stadium in front of 109,318 fans - the largest attendance in US soccer history. For all the numbers, there is no measuring the on-going effect such an event has for a European side on an international tour, regardless of the result.

For Bayern and Dortmund, the feast is just beginning in Asia, but Kupfer believes a one-off tour can quickly lead to more popularity. "Market development doesn't happen overnight. Bundesliga clubs need a long-term plan. It takes four to six years to create a market presence,” says Kupfer. With the market thriving, it is time for the rest of the Bundesliga to get involved.