Hold on to your Lederhosen’s people, FC Bayern Munich are coming.
The reigning European champions announced on Tuesday that they will open their first ever overseas subsidiary, FC Bayern Munich LLC, in New York City this spring.
According to a statement on the club’s website Bayern are hoping to “grow the FC Bayern brand, develop networks and acquire new co-operation partners” in the U.S. through their new Manhattan office which will open in April.
So who is in charge of Bayern’s masterplan to break the U.S. market? Look no further than U.S. born German national Rudolf Vidal who will be leading the operations Stateside. His remit is to manage FC Bayern’s internationalization drive in North America and with Vidal being a former youth and reserve team player for Bayern in the 1980’s, he has the club at heart and the expertise to succeed.
Jörg Wacker, FC Bayern board director for internationalization and strategy, hailed Vidal (a Colorado native) and spoke about why Bayern chose to set up their first-ever overseas subsidiary in NYC.
“As a US-born American national Rudolf Vidal is an ideal appointment for FC Bayern thanks to his long years of experience in sports, media and marketing,” Wacker said. “We’re sure the great commitment and expertise of Rudolf Vidal and his team in New York will significantly advance Bayern’s internationalization program.“
All of this of course ties in with FC Bayern being the opposition for the MLS All-Stars in Portland this July, and the club also stated they will be playing a match in New York in late July as part of their preseason preparations.
