Stade Français Rugby Club

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(Edited)

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They are tenants of Stade De France as they are the small stadium next door in the middle of the photograph. Rolland Garros is off to the top right for all the tennis fans.

I think rugby is the one sport that tends to suffer as they don't have the following like certain Football teams do. It doesn't matter if you are top of your league as you need to be successful both on and off the field to make it work.

Rugby in France is very lucrative for the players as many of the clubs are owned by wealthy businessman who see it as an extra hobby to get involved with.Clubs need to be able to stand on their own two feet though as what is the point if they can't. It hasn't been an easy road though for even one of the biggest clubs based in Paris. I decided to look at where and how they became established as a household name in French rugby.

Stade Françaisis a French club that was established in 1883 which tells you it is one of the more established clubs. That stands for nothing though in the modern era and for the club to grow and have roots it needed support. based in Paris you would think they would be very popular and supported well. This wasn't the case and a decision was made in 1996 to seriously put some marketing behind their name. Rugby had been professional for one year only and they needed to empty peoples pockets to stay alive as a club.

When Max Guazzini became the clubs President he had ideas that he wanted to explore and move the club forward. He started off with the basics highlighting performances on the pitch with certain media groups trying to generate some interest.Parisians are known to be fickle and he needed them coming to watch his team.

Max started off by offering everyone free entry to the matches which he advertised and soon enough he was getting 7000 spectators on a regular basis.Phase one was complete and now he removed the free entrance fee but allowed women free access hoping to increase the spectators even more and possibly families attending as well.

He added extra things to the match day program like singers and other musical events plus some cheerleaders to dance whilst the match was being played. He managed to enroll Madonna as a sponsor as his whole aim was to encourage women and families to attend his matches.


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They have had some really whacky jerseys over the years.
The "Gods of The Stadium Calendar" was a huge hit showing the players in nude photographic scenes. He started a clothing range as Stade Français is a business and a brand. In 2005 he changed their rugby jersey to pink which is a rugby no no really and managed to sell over 20 000 jerseys making it a hit. The following year with Addidas's help they had two more new jerseys with flowers and such and sold over 100 000 jerseys.

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Some of the jerseys are way out there like this one from 2008.

He took much criticism for what he was doing,but stood firm saying rugby needs to find new audiences in order to grow as a sport. The current stadium Stade Jean-Bouin could only cater for around 10 000 spectators so when they reached the quarter final of the European Champions Cup in 2005 against Newcastle he wanted a bigger audience. the obvious choice was the Parc des Princes where footballing team Paris Saint-Germain play. His gamble paid off as it was sold out hosting 48 000 spectators.
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A little Moulin Rouge will always appeal.

Wanting to repeat his success he was denied the stadium by the football club stating they feared rugby players would damage the pitch. The only alternative was the Stade De France stadium which was much bigger and was going to be a proper challenge to fill. Max filled the stadium on more than 3 occasions smashing attendance records for club games anywhere in the world.
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On January 27th, 2007 in a match against Toulose they had a record crowd of 79,741. This was unthinkable 10 years before as he now had grown the roots of the club immensely. Each match he had to come up with some new concept to keep the crowd entertained from circus acts and chariots bringing the ball onto the pitch for the start of the match.
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Other stadiums outside of Paris were now offering their services to the club and the French Mayor stepped in saying Stade is a Parisian club that only plays in Paris. PSG offered their stadium again plus Stade De France was used for the bigger home games and European Cup competition.
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The new revamped stadium catering for just 20 000 supporters. They have come along way from those early crazy days.

The problem with the club now was that they had outgrown their 10 000 seater stadium and needed one for themselves that could cater for their supporters.The Paris City Council granted them building plans demolishing the original stadium increasing the capacity to 20 000. Overt his period they ran into financial difficulty and Max stepped down. He had lead them this far and was up to others to now step in and find a way forward.

The club struggled over the next few years remaining in the red and even tried a merger with Racing 92 which didn't go down too well with everyone. This was called off and the club was handed over to some ex players and investors who had enough business acumen to save the club. Today the club is financially strong and at least has a future and a lot of that can be down to Max Guazzini for creating the brand.



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That is pretty crazy. It is smart to have some gimmicks like that to get the fans supporting you. They are the ones that drive everything with the money they spend on apparel, tickets and any other marketing goods.

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That is why he wanted the females and families as guys don't spend that much really besides a few drinks and maybe a snack. Having a clothing range aimed at the females was fairly smart.

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