Global Fútbol

Real Racing Club, the Santander-based LaLiga SmartBank club, are continuing to broaden horizons. After the club recently expanded its international reach through an agreement with Derby Football Academy in Nigeria, now the directors at the club from Spain’s Cantabria region have capitalised on the team’s historic links with Mexico to establish a supporters' club in the country and to continue the institution’s international growth. 

From this month, there is now a supporters’ club called ‘Verdiblancos de ultramar’ in Mexico City, one that was inaugurated by a delegation of Real Racing Club directors led by club president Alfredo Pérez. The idea of creating this Mexican Racing fan group was proposed by the Casa de Cantabria in Mexico, one of the most important such venues in the world for people with links to Cantabria, with the Mexico City one having 300 members.

Mexico has always been a territory of special relevance for Real Racing Club, especially due to the high number of Cantabrians living in the country. Alejandro de Gabriel, LaLiga's delegate in Mexico, stated: “Cantabria has an important community in Mexico, both with migrants and with second and third generations. They already organised cultural events through the Montañesa Association, but now, with the creation of this official supporters' club, this community can be brought even closer together, as this unites the community around one club and one sport.”

The historical link is not only because there are many Cantabrians living in Mexico, but there are also sporting reasons, given that players from the 1930s, such as Luis 'Pirata' Fuentes and Manuel Alonso Pría, were the first Mexican footballers to play in Spain. More recent players include Gerardo Torrado and Giovanni dos Santos, who both wore the Racing shirt during their careers.

A turning point for development and growth in Mexico

Even though the club didn’t organise many activities in the country over the past decade, those in charge now understand that the launch of this fan group should represent “a turning point”. “We should start to promote things like our summer camps, so that when families make trips back to Cantabria then their children can experience the green and white feeling at the Nando Yosu Facilities,” the club added. They also see opportunities with the technical improvement of teams, something that happened last year when a group from Miami (United States) spent time there in the summer, accompanied by their families.

It's clear that the 'Verdiblancos de ultramar' supporters' club will be of great help in the expansion of the Real Racing Club brand in Mexico and, discussing this, the club stated: “They will be our best ambassadors, because being thousands of kilometres away increases their sense of belonging to Cantabria and the club is, without a doubt, one of their greatest sentimental links with our land.”

From now on, fans living in the Mexican capital will be able to follow all of Real Racing Club's matches at the fan group’s headquarters, located in Las Lomas de Chapultepec, so long as the time difference allows it. Furthermore, they’re looking into the possibility of the fan group members being able to compete with the Real Racing Club kit in the amateur tournaments they play.

Supporters’ clubs as an asset for building loyalty and attracting new fans

The supporters’ clubs such as this one can be a key asset for carrying out activities, such as events around matches, competitions, content creation and other sporting events. They build loyalty with existing fans and also attract new supporters, while helping the football club and the competition to grow.

On the importance of fan clubs, Alejandro de Gabriel added: “This is true, as we’ve seen similar success with the other supporters’ clubs that we at the LaLiga Mexico office have promoted, such as those of Real Sporting and SD Huesca, while we’ve also helped the existing supporters’ clubs of Valencia CF, Real Oviedo, Real Betis, Sevilla FC, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona to grow. LaLiga is working in the Mexican market, helping its clubs to grow as well. If they grow, so does the competition. Approaching Mexican fans through fan clubs can be the perfect way to establish a connection. When we’re talking about super fans of a club, they are committed, active and participative, perhaps because of a simple love of the team or perhaps because of a connection to the club in question’s city or region.”

He continued: “Mexico is a very important market for LaLiga and its clubs because of the strong cultural ties between the two countries and the large following of our competition. There are many links between Spain and Mexico, from language to culture to football. There is vast knowledge of everything related to LaLiga and its clubs, which is why we owe it to the Mexican fan to offer them something more, some sort of added value in the form of special content, activations or specialised data.”

In the case of Real Racing Club, their directors are keen to expand the club’s presence in Mexico through institutional and commercial relations, but they are aware that this is a medium-term project. “For now, we want to establish new relationships and we think that being in LaLiga SmartBank can help us a lot in this aspect,” they concluded.