¶ … Real Madrid Soccer Club the Greatest of all the time Over the last three decades sports has developed. Sports have evolved from amateur to professional and many of those owning these clubs have commercialized them. This applies to all kinds of sporting activities. Since the sixties sports has evolved into "sports industry" and has joined to some degree the field of economics and business. Owing to this, sporting success as the main objective of sports organizations is coupled with others such as profit. Although countries may differ in characteristics of professional sports, nowadays, sports have more than one aim. In the United States, organizations that manage these clubs do it primarily to maximize profit, whereas European clubs put ambitions first (Kase n.p).

In Europe, football is the most popular sport and Real Madrid is among the top clubs in Spain and Europe. According to the rankings in the year 2009, Real Madrid was the richest club globally and the third most valuable brand. The club is very successful because it has gained a large fan base, audience and revenues. In addition, another factor that has contributed to its success is the ability to retain its status as a club, while numerous clubs in Spain have become public companies. Owing to its success, experience and financial fronts in the recent past, the club calls for close study to establish why Real Madrid is the best club of all times.

Before there was airing of sports competitions on television and all the commercial trappings, the main source of football financial resources came from gate receipts. Real Madrid recognized this factor. Therefore, the club concentrated its efforts to maintain the supporter's interests to ensure high attendance during match days. In the field, the rating of matches is not central to the performance, but is based on results. This factor is among many others that Real Madrid puts in mind, and has helped it reach at the level it is now (Kase n.p). Additionally, in numerous business evaluations concerning Real Madrid's success, strategies grouped numerous public relations as marketing strategies. This research paper outlines the significance of Real Madrid's business strategies and relationship-management in the construction of its brands for financial and overall success.

Theoretical Framework

Strategic Long-term Management

The strategic long-term management approach perceives the long-term success of an organization on having one mind concerning the organizations objectives, a strategy well utilized by real Madrid. This strategy is in line with the proto-image of the firm, or PIF. In addition, Real Madrid has all the attributes outlined with a PIF approach. First, the club has a set of emotional values, which the club shares with the fans, for example, honesty, discipline, leadership and fighting spirit. Second, the club has a long-term aim of eliminating debts and achieving a firm financial ground. Third, the club has developed communication tools and new products aiming at increasing financial turnover. Through this model, the club has managed to retain its outstanding performance in the sports arena (Kase and Martinez 149).

Football Management Staff

For a football club, the administration and distribution of tasks and responsibilities is vital, especially in the long-term. Management of the sports and polices matters in the overall success of the club. This approach shows the internal consistency of the club because it shows the logical relationship between decisions, organizational design and distribution of roles and responsibilities. Since the year 2000, real Madrid has constantly developed a particular team management in the hands of different directors (Kase n.p). For instance, Jorge Valdano the director of Real Madrid in 2000, ensured there was stability in organizational arrangements, policies and the workforce. This strategy gave the club a competitive advantage and it won two trophies; La Liga and UEFA league.

Playing Squad

In the highly aggressive setting of the major European National Football Leagues such as Italy, England, Germany and Spain, clubs required to explore the globe for the best upcoming players...

Real Madrid built its squads according to three categories of players: stars, workhorses and juniors. Stars represent the excellent players; workhorses represent top-level soccer players from national or international clubs; and juniors are those who have come up through the academy and deserve to have an opportunity in the first team. Real Madrid has always used this concept and strategy throughout their matches. This has made them retain their top rank.
Methodology

Owing to the growing importance of public relation in sports, this research paper examines several materials to offer a public relations perspective on one of the globe's top clubs, Real Madrid Football Club. This paper evaluates the role played by the relationship-management strategy central to the content creation and integrated business decisions in the club's branding and financial prosperity. This paper further explores the periods of (2000-2006) and (2009 to present). In addition, the paper depends on relevant literature from articles, academic blogs, journals that talked about Real Madrid's success both in the field and in the sports business.

A Public Relations Perspective on Sports Business Management

Florentino Perez, who was among the Forbes's richest men in the globe, joined real Madrid in mid-2000. He set out to create a professional organization utilizing a strategy of achieving a debt free profitable organization. Since then, numerous business literatures on the club's business approach were one of reference. In addition, Perez founded a strong foundation for the continued success of the club to date. Many scholars have affirmed that indeed Perez managed to transform the club into a modern sports organization. According to a report by the Global Football Monitor, Real Madrid had 490 million followers. The primary objective of the club was to change all the supporters into customers. The club aimed to achieve this through providing content and entertainment (Garcia 284-299).

The above strategy was to build a relationship with its fans; they were to do this by using the media. Something that makes the club different is that Real Madrid is more than a football club because of its entertainment aspect. The club uses the entertainment to attract audiences and make them potential supporters. Real Madrid starred its excellent players in the media by using stories that demonstrated suspense, excitement and emotions. The use of storytelling is used in many different forms as a way convert emotions into cash. Therefore, this strategy helped the club make a lot of money, which translates to its prosperity (Holmes n.p). Additionally, the club enhanced this strategy by attracting and retaining players who had substantial influence in the media.

Another aspect in relations to public relations that led to the prosperity of the club is the promotion of the club's young players. The players were in place as reinforcement to the club. In addition, the club referred the strategy as "Zidanes and Pavons" or a combination of global soccer celebrities and excellent local players. Although the strategy later focused on the Zidanes, it gained appreciation from the fans. In addition, the club has a tradition of buying the world's most expensive players (Callejo and Francisco 51-64). Although the motivation behind this is not explainable in the sport's context, it is among the objectives of building relationships with their fans. The fans that will later purchase shirts or tickets further making the club prosper.

The club has a tradition of changing their coaches. The decision of changing coaches was in accordance with the objectives of building relationships. Additionally, the overall objective of real Madrid to expand and maintain the relationships with its fans, came about after executing six public relations approaches, which include real Madrid's website, utilization of social media, Real Madrid TV, planning of events, organizing tours and editing targeted publications (Beech and Chardwick 59-78). It is important to note that these strategies are not exceptional to Real Madrid, but they have added to the prosperity of the club. Although other clubs in…