El fútbol y el negocio del entretenimiento global. Los clubes como multinacionales del ocio

El artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el proceso de expansión internacional de los clubes más ricos del fútbol español durante la primera década del siglo XXI, Real Madrid y FC Barcelona. Después de que los clubes de la Premier League inglesa fueran los primeros en crear una estrategia de branding internacional, otras ligas y organizaciones deportivas han adoptado sus mismos sistemas de gestión empresarial. En España, el Real Madrid y el FC Barcelona son el ejemplo más evidente, por su número de fans en todo el mundo, por sus acuerdos internacionales en la comercialización de sus productos con otras organizaciones y por la presencia que tienen sus marcas en todo el mundo gracias a las inversiones de sus fundaciones en escuelas de fútbol en concepto de Responsabilidad Social Corporativa. Por eso, ambos clubes, Real Madrid y FC Barcelona, pueden calificarse de nuevas multinacionales del ocio

El fútbol y el negocio del entretenimiento global. Los clubes como multinacionales del ocio

El artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el proceso de expansión internacional de los clubes más ricos del fútbol español durante la primera década del siglo XXI, Real Madrid y FC Barcelona. Después de que los clubes de la Premier League inglesa fueran los primeros en crear una estrategia de branding internacional, otras ligas y organizaciones deportivas han adoptado sus mismos sistemas de gestión empresarial. En España, el Real Madrid y el FC Barcelona son el ejemplo más evidente, por su número de fans en todo el mundo, por sus acuerdos internacionales en la comercialización de sus productos con otras organizaciones y por la presencia que tienen sus marcas en todo el mundo gracias a las inversiones de sus fundaciones en escuelas de fútbol en concepto de Responsabilidad Social Corporativa. Por eso, ambos clubes, Real Madrid y FC Barcelona, pueden calificarse de nuevas multinacionales del ocio

Redox-state kinetics in water-oxidation IrOx electrocatalysts measured by operando spectroelectrochemistry

Hydrous iridium oxides (IrOx) are the best oxygen evolution electrocatalysts available for operation in acidic environments. In this study, we employ time-resolved operando spectroelectrochemistry to investigate the redox-state kinetics of IrOx electrocatalyst films for both water and hydrogen peroxide oxidation. Three different redox species involving Ir3+, Ir3.x+, Ir4+, and Ir4.y+ are identified spectroscopically, and their concentrations are quantified as a function of applied potential. The generation of Ir4.y+ states is found to be the potential-determining step for catalytic water oxidation, while H2O2 oxidation is observed to be driven by the generation of Ir4+ states. The reaction kinetics for water oxidation, determined from the optical signal decays at open circuit, accelerates from ∼20 to <0.5 s with increasing applied potential above 1.3 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode [i.e., turnover frequencies (TOFs) per active Ir state increasing from 0.05 to 2 s–1]. In contrast, the reaction kinetics for H2O2 is found to be almost independent of the applied potential (increasing from 0.1 to 0.3 s–1 over a wider potential window), indicative of a first-order reaction mechanism. These spectroelectrochemical data quantify the increase of both the density of active Ir4.y+ states and the TOFs of these states with applied positive potential, resulting in the observed sharp turn on of catalytic water oxidation current. We reconcile these data with the broader literature while providing a unique kinetic insight into IrOx electrocatalytic reaction mechanisms, indicating a first-order reaction mechanism for H2O2 oxidation driven by Ir4+ states and a higher-order reaction mechanism involving the cooperative interaction of multiple Ir4.y+ states for water oxidation

Political Engagement Principles as the Basis for New Regional Self-Determination Processes in Europe: The Case of Catalonia

The U.S. presidential campaign in 2008 signified a change on the paradigm of how the political parties deal with local communities. This means that grassroots techniques arose as a key factor for the triumph of Barack H. Obama. After the election, European political parties-even social movements-also adapted some strategies inspired by the U.S. presidential campaigns. The main objective of this article is to analyze how these grassroots techniques have been adapted in a specific scenario: the process of self-determination of Catalonia, an Autonomous Community of Spain that claims to be an independent country after the failing of Estado de las Autonomías (state of autonomies) model. Our method is to explore the parameters that drove the Obama's first presidential campaign and how they have been applied into the self-determination campaign of Catalonia, such as the creation of local opinion platforms, media spin doctoring, social networking, and the social involvement of foreign actors. We realized that the social commitment with the self-determination process by regional community organizations has had a stronger leadership than the political parties. As a result, we state that political spin doctors in Catalonia could neither drive nor control the framing process of the last parliamentary regional campaign

The Use of Football as a Country Branding Strategy. Case Study: Qatar and the Catalan Sports Press

The main objective of this article is to analyse the sport place branding strategy of Qatar, a Persian Gulf country that is using the income from the commercialisation of its gas to create an economy, which can be successful in the future without depending on this natural source. Sport, above all football, has been a key sector in which the Qatari government believes in order to promote the image of its country worldwide. One of the most interesting examples used in this article is the relationship between the Qatar Foundation and FC Barcelona. Using a qualitative methodology, this article aims to understand the key pillars of this strategy and why sport mega-events have been so important when governments want to increase their reputation in the international sphere