Case Study

Juventus FC: How to win in the digital era?

24 pages
February 2021
Reference: IMD-7-2264

After a rocky start to the 2020/2021 season of the UEFA Champions League and the Serie A, things were finally getting better for Juventus Football Club in December 2020. The new trainer, Andrea Pirlo, was beginning to prove he was up to the job, leading the team to good results. The latest was the triumphant win against Barcelona FC. In an empty Camp Nou stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions, Juventus made history on 8 December 2020, becoming the first Italian team ever to score three goals against the iconic Spanish team in its home stadium in a UEFA competition. As the end of a disruptive 2020 approached, Andrea Agnelli, president of the club and a member of the family that owned it, pondered the future of Juventus. At home in Italy, the club had become the best on the field and business-wise, but in Europe other clubs were still ahead. Agnelli was keenly aware there were important challenges to address if Juventus was to lead internationally in 2021 and beyond. Which strategic priorities should he focus on to ensure the club would be fit for the future? How could he further diversify the club’s revenue stream in the face of the high uncertainty to be expected going forward? COVID-19 had accelerated the shift to digital. How could Juventus take advantage of the opportunities that emerged post-pandemic?

Learning Objective
  • Analyze how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the global industry of football.
  • Analyze the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the operations of clubs such as Juventus FC.
  • Explore how digitalization transformed the business of football, pre- and post-pandemic.
  • Explore strategy in an environment characterized by a high degree of uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
Digital Disruption, Disruption, COVID-19, Pandemic, Football, Sports, Entertainment
Settings
Global, Italy
Juventus Football Club, Travel and Leisure, Football, Travel and Leisure, Sports, Travel and Leisure, Entertainment
2009-2021
Type
Published Sources
Copyright
© 2021
Available Languages
English
Related material
Teaching note
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