Xavier Asensi left FC Barcelona to grow Inter Miami brand, sleeve sponsor latest deal
Xavier “Xavi” Asensi seemed to have it all.
The Barcelona native and lifelong FC Barcelona fan spent more than a decade working his way up that storied club’s executive ladder – from project manager to Asia manager to managing director of Asia Pacific to Chief Commercial Officer. By age 39, armed with an executive degree from Stanford University, Asensi had distinguished himself as one of the most respected young minds in European professional soccer.
So, why did he leave all that in early 2021 to become chief business officer of Inter Miami, a two-year-old MLS franchise going through growing pains on and off the field?
“I’m a romantic, I love projects,” Asensi told the Herald in a recent interview.
“I love data and analytics and I think there’s no other property in the world that has the growth potential the MLS has, percentage wise. I love the United States and want to live here with my wife and young daughter. To be able to be in a project like this with the ownership group of Jose and Jorge Mas and David Beckham and an area like Miami…it was impossible to say no. It was a no-brainer.”
Asensi also said he was looking for a fresh start after the “BarcaGate” scandal, an alleged social media defamation campaign initiated by some club executives, left a stain on the Spanish club. Asensi was not involved, but the mess left him eager to try something new.
“After what happened with BarcaGate, I wanted to unplug,” he said. “Other projects came along, but none of them felt right. Then my wife got pregnant, and COVID hit. When Jorge (Mas) called, I fell in love with the energy and the passion.”
Tucked away in Inter Miami’s Coral Gables office, Asensi has been toiling for nearly a year to help the club maximize revenue, increase brand value, and integrate the team into the South Florida community.
On Tuesday morning, the club announced its latest corporate partnership, a multi-year deal with software technology company, XMANNA. As part of the agreement, XMANNA becomes the club’s first jersey sleeve partner as well as its Official Loyalty and Gamification Partner.
During the 2022 MLS season, XMANNA and Inter Miami will reward fans for their continuous loyalty with exclusive prizes as well as elevate the fan experience through gamification within the Inter Miami CF App.
“Inter Miami CF is a young, forward-thinking club with a large local and global fan base,” said XMANNA CEO and co-founder Steve Stein. “XMANNA’s partnership will enable Inter Miami to elevate the fan experience through our loyalty and gamification platform, while increasing our global brand awareness.”
Among the other business deals reached under Asensi’s leadership:
A shirt sponsorship with XBTO, the first cryptofinance partnership deal in the league and among the biggest deals in MLS to date. It is a four-year deal believed to be worth $4-5 million per year.
A stadium naming deal with AutoNation (DRV PNK Stadium). The partnership includes an initiative to drive out cancer. The club raised $125,000 this year with AutoNation for cancer research.
The stadium has become a revenue generator even when the team isn’t playing. It hosted the U.S. men’s national team, the Gold Cup Preliminaries, high school football championships, and will host a friendly between Colombia and Honduras on Jan. 16 and another between Canada and Guatemala on Jan. 22. The stadium was also repurposed into a COVID vaccination site in partnership with Broward Health (100,000 vaccinations given) and a food distribution center.
Determined to “harness the power of soccer to make an impact on society,” Asensi said he is proud of the club’s many community initiatives.
The club brand, with its slick pink and black logo and chic merchandise, is popular despite the team’s struggles on the field.
Inter Miami was the fastest MLS club to reach 1 million Instagram followers and ranks second behind the Los Angeles Galaxy, which has 1.3 million. Its merchandise is among the best-selling in the league.
Asensi believes the team could sell a lot more merchandise in Europe, Latin America and Asia. It was one of the league goals to have Miami become a “global brand” but MLS handles the sales and distribution for all clubs’ merchandise through Fanatics, and as of now there are not many foreign outlets that carry MLS gear. Asensi hopes that changes soon.
Forty percent of Inter Miami’s revenue comes from game days, 40 percent comes from sponsorships, and the other 20 percent comes from other sources. The team averaged 13,847 fans per game in 2021, about 4,000 shy of capacity and 3,000 below the league average. Atlanta United led MLS with 43,965 fans per game, followed by Seattle Sounders with 25,125.
Winning consistently will help drive attendance, Asensi said. The club is also reaching out to potential new fans who live within 15-20 minutes of the stadium. Season ticket prices were adjusted for the 2022 season. Sixty six percent of the tickets remained the same price or dropped. Thirty-four percent increased in price because of demand and because some premium seat values were reconfigured.
Asensi remains optimistic that the club will build a stadium in Miami in the coming years. The Miami Freedom Park project is ongoing, but lease negotiations have dragged on. In the meantime, he will work with what he has.
“The challenge drives you,” Asensi said. “With Barcelona we were a juggernaut. It was like Walt Disney, 300 million people one click away. This is exciting in a different way, being with something from the very beginning. For me it’s not about the size. I am from Barcelona. I’ve been with Barcelona member since I was born. I was blessed and lucky enough to be an executive there for a decade, but does that mean I have to be there forever?
“Right now, this project is more exciting to me than FC Barcelona. We were making $800-900 million there and here we are making $50 or $60 million. But here you can shape things.”
Ticket Update: Individual match tickets for each of the 17 regular season home matches – beginning with the home opener against the Chicago Fire on Sat. Feb. 26 – will go on sale through ticketmaster.com beginning at 10 a.m. on Dec. 24. Fans can also call 305-428-0611 for more information.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 9:05 AM.