J. League’s Nagoya Grampus and as Roma Formed Alliance Deep Reason for Chairman Toyoda’s Decision to Move Ahead Quickly
Born in 1965, Chairman Dunn is one of the richest men in the U.S. In 2017, at the young age of 52, he took over the management of the Friedkin Group from his father Thomas, with total assets of $4.1 billion (¥433 billion). Although there were initially concerns in Italy that an American owner would be “booed” by the appointment of an American to the long-established AS Roma club, Dunn succeeded last year in bringing in world-class coach Mourinho at an annual salary of 8 million euros (about 1.1 billion yen) until June 2024. However, Dan succeeded in inviting Mourinho, one of the world’s top managers, for 8 million euros until June 2024. He won the hearts of Roma supporters, who are known for being one of the most extreme in European soccer.
Although the club has been ranked in the top half of the league this season, and the supporters’ criticism of Dunn is not strong, the aging of the Olimpico, the club’s home ground, which was completed in 1953, the year after the club was founded and has a capacity of 76,634, has been a long-standing concern. The Friedkin Group is the only company that has been able to acquire the building.
The Friedkin Group also has plans for a major urban renovation centered on AS Roma’s home ground. There is a sense of anticipation here that Rome will be transformed by Toyota’s involvement, so this business partnership is very welcome to the people living in Rome.
For Toyota, which has a close relationship with the Friedkin Group, if the conditions are not too bad to get involved in the city renovation project, it could open up new business opportunities.
Toyota, the owner of J1 club Nagoya, has sponsored the Toyota Cup, the world’s top soccer club competition, for 25 years since 1980, and in 1988, when the club was still an amateur before the launch of the J-League, Toyota was even able to acquire former Japanese national team coach Zico. Thirty years ago, the first year the J-League was established, the club acquired England’s top scorer at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Lineker, for a salary of 300 million yen, the highest in the J-League at the time.
Toyota has a strong impression that it has been supporting the soccer world with ample funds, but this is a “sustainable” business partnership with AS Roma on an equal footing and with an awareness of mutual development. Beyond that, however, Toyota is also looking ahead to new business opportunities that will lead to its core business.
