The Brand Value of Turkish Football Discussed at Our University!!

The Brand Value of Turkish Football Is Steadily Increasing!

As President of the Turkish Football Federation Mahmut Özgener had to go to İzmir after the sudden loss of a relative, Acting President Lutfi Arıboğan and National Teams Manager Fatih Terim, representing the Turkish Football Federation, met with our university's students at the conference titled "The Brand Value of Turkish Football" held at our University.

At the conference, which attracted great interest from students, Turkish Football Federation Acting President Lutfi Arıboğan stated that since taking office on 14 February 2008 they have received very positive feedback from society, the sports community and the business world, and that they manage Turkish football with the principles of justice, reliability and transparency. Stating that they had increased sponsorship revenues from 12 million dollars to 35 million dollars in the last year, Arıboğan added that this was a world record.

Explaining that the national team's third places in Europe and the World and Galatasaray's winning of the UEFA Cup and the Super Cup had contributed to the brand value of Turkish football, Lutfi Arıboğan said, "We will do very important things in the medium term to increase the value of the Super League. We are taking the necessary measures for our clubs to be well managed administratively and financially. In 2010, we plan to expand abroad in order to make the Super League an important brand in the world."

National Teams Head Coach Fatih Terim stated that when they qualified for the European Championship with the national team in 1996, they signed a sponsorship agreement with Pepsi thanks to the great efforts of Şenes Erzik and his team, saying, "Mercedes would give us the vehicle to carry us on the condition that it would be returned. Now there is no space left on our jersey. This shows how important the brand value of the Turkish team is. There is a brand, and we must take this brand further together. The end of March is an important opportunity to promote the brand a bit more. To make people remember the brand, you have to be successful."

Fatih Terim said that what was remembered about Türkiye after the European Championship was "a team that never gives up, is full of surprises, plays within a system that can do anything at any moment, and from which we can always expect anything at any moment", and that the increasing number of footballers playing in Europe would raise the brand value of Turkish football.

Explaining that the fact that many teams were competing for the championship in the league created a special excitement, Terim said, "Being followed by other countries and the emergence of teams they find interesting has added a distinct brand value to our league. When Sivas, Trabzon and Kayseri joined in, the excitement increased. As it increased, awareness and recognition also increased. And as these increase, brand value increases too."

The Spain matches are also important in terms of brand value

Noting that in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers they would play against the last European Champion Spain, unbeaten for the last two years, at the 90,000-capacity Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Fatih Terim said, "It is a very important match in terms of brand value. Being successful in such a place would be news that shakes the world."

In response to a student's question about the Spain matches, Head Coach Terim said, "It has been years since a national team match was brought to Madrid. We will play at the 90,000-capacity Bernabeu and the stadium will be full. Our opponent has been unbeaten for the last 2 years, fine; it is the last European Champion, fine as well. It is made up of very important players. My players will remind everyone of the Turkish National Team in the 2 matches in 4 days."

At the end of the conference, which attracted great interest, our University's President Deniz Ülke Arıboğan presented Fatih Terim and Lutfi Arıboğan with plaques representing the 10 saplings planted by our university in their names in the TEMA Antalya Memorial Forest, in memory of the visit of Mahmut Özgener and Fatih Terim to our university.