Who will be the next Melbourne Victory CEO?

When Trent Jacobs announced in May that he would be stepping down as Melbourne Victory Chief Executive Officer (CEO), he left a colossal task ahead for whoever is his chosen successor.

Whoever steps into the role will need to act fast, steady the ship and win support from the fans because of Victory’s recent struggles in the A-League. With a review of the structure of the club currently underway by club director and company secretary Caroline Carnegie, the decision of who takes the role will likely be influenced by club chairman Anthony Di Pietro and herself. There are a number of people available who could easily step into the role, bringing with them experience and football knowledge to give the Victory a much-needed soft reboot.

Richard Scudmore, the former English Premier League CEO, is already familiar with the A-League after working as a special adviser to competition boss Greg O’Rourke. Scudmore is an experienced football operator who could bring a wealth of knowledge to Victory’s boardroom. The sticking point is surely the price it would cost to bring in someone of his stature. Whether Victory has the funds, or the will to fork out the dollars for Scudmore is surely the biggest hurdle. However, he would a valuable asset for any club.

Should they instead focus on an experienced hand, who has been at the helm of an A-League team before? Recently departed Newcastle Jets Chief Executive Lawrie McKinna could have the experience necessary to take on the role at Melbourne Victory, and his passion for football is in display for all. After a tumultuous time at the Jets, the Victory job could be a big enough carrot to lure him back into the hot seat, despite rumours of a return to local politics.

Another option would be the former head of the A-League Archie Fraser. He was CEO of St Kilda football club for a time, and was also briefly the Macarthur FC CEO, before stepping down four months into his tenure to pursue a different opportunity. Another experienced football head, he could bring knowledge and professionalism to Victory to help in their much-needed rebuild. Whether he has the passion to re-enter football is the question.

An outside-the-box option could be Jeff Doyle, the former group CEO of Altus Traffic. Doyle is a former professional footballer in the United Kingdom, and he is a known quality to Melbourne Victory because of his involvement through front-of-shirt sponsorship deals. Someone from outside the current structure of the A-League, with time spent in different facets of the game, could prove a wise choice for the Victory going forward. Doyle recently left his role as CEO of Altus Traffic and is a hot favorite for the position within the Victory fan base.

A different angle to pursue could be to promote someone into the top job from within the club. This is unlikely however, as CEOs are rarely promoted from within an organisation.

A decision – and an announcement – is surely imminent of who will be the next Melbourne Victory CEO. Whoever it is will have the mammoth task of bringing success and titles back to one of Australia’s largest clubs. They will need to breathe new life into a club that used to demand success at all levels, which has stuttered in recent years. The pressure will be huge from a fan base hungry for titles which have eluded them since Kevin Muscat’s departure as head coach, while the new CEO will also be supporting a new coaching team headlined by Tony Popovic. Whoever it is, they have their work cut out for them.

AFC and Visit Saudi team up for global sponsorship

AFC and Visit Saudi

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has named Visit Saudi as an Official Global Partner till December 2024. The collaboration will help Visit Saudi’s efforts to promote Saudi Arabia’s rising tourism options to Asian football enthusiasts throughout the world, as well as the expansion of football and sports in the Kingdom.

Beginning with the highly anticipated AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, the AFC will offer Visit Saudi with a new, world-class platform to promote Saudi Arabia to millions of enthusiastic Asian football fans across the world.

The agreement covers major AFC National Team competitions such as Asia’s flagship competition – the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 – as well as the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024, the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Final Round) for Paris 2024, the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup 2024, the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup 2024, and the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2024.

The AFC General Secretary Datuk Seri Windsor John spoke on the deal and how the impact will reach different audiences.

“The AFC is pleased to welcome Visit Saudi as our latest Official Global Partner, which once again reiterates the ever-growing stature and profound impact of the AFC’s world-class national teams’ competitions in reaching audiences across the globe,” he stated via press release.

“We are grateful to Visit Saudi for underlining their belief in Asian football and we look forward to working together to create more milestone moments for all our stakeholders.”

The partnership will pave the road for the AFC and Visit Saudi Arabia to create a slew of remarkable activations and promotional initiatives across AFC National Team tournaments that will inform, engage, and delight Asian football fans.

The collaboration includes efforts within Saudi Arabia, during AFC events, and on other platforms around Asia to highlight the finest of Asian football and Saudi Arabia’s diverse and exciting sports and tourist offers.

Asia Football Group (AFG), the AFC’s commercial agency for 2023-2028, will administer this cooperation agreement.

Melbourne Victory joins up with KICK to promote Esports

KICK and Melbourne Victory

Melbourne Victory has confirmed the addition of KICK as the new Official Esports Partner for the 2023/24 season.

KICK.com will launch ‘Victory Esports’ in a move that incorporates aspects of the E-League team and introduces exciting initiatives to allow gaming fans to engage with their platform of choice for EAFC 24 competitions.

Melbourne Victory Managing Director Caroline Carnegie spoke glowingly about having KICK as a key partner for Esports.

“We’re delighted to welcome KICK to the Victory family and launch ‘Victory Esports’ ahead of the 2023/24 season,” Carnegie said via press release.

“KICK is an exciting, new platform that has a diverse audience both in Australia and across the globe and we’re looking forward to working with KICK to not only be front and centre of our E-League campaign, but also open new audiences to Melbourne Victory.

“Esports has been a relatively untapped market in Australia and we’re looking forward to working with KICK to open their platform to our fans while introducing their users to Melbourne Victory.”

KICK Chief Marketing Officer, Akhil Sarin added that he is looking forward to entering the Australian market with a club like Victory.

“As a proud Melbourne start-up, it is a great pleasure to partner with the biggest name in Australian football. Esports is synonymous with KICK and Melbourne Victory have some exciting plans in the space which we look forward to being involved with,” he added via media release.

The deal with KICK continues a start to the season for Victory both on and off the park, after recently extending their partnership with Checkpoint Building Surveyors that now reaches its 13th year all-time.

That arrangement itself sees the Checkpoint logo displayed on both the A-League Men’s and Liberty A-League Women’s shorts this season.

Checkpoint Building Surveyors was established in 1999 and is a company that prides itself on a committed proactive approach that continues to provide a high level of service in building consultancy. The company is primarily based in Melbourne with their main office located in Southbank.

With over 30 years of consulting experience, their goal is to offer innovative and cost effective design solutions that meet client objectives. Breaking the Building Surveying service mould, they have developed a comprehensive technology based suite of products to deliver a transparent, efficient and effective outcome to their customers.

Along with other partnership extensions with NJ Lawyers and Local Brewing Co, Victory is already bouncing back nicely despite some setbacks in the previous campaign.

All these deals contribute a lot to the work that the Club does on and off the field.

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