Dirty TackleBrazilian club Gremio to open chain of fast food restaurants
Since football clubs are bottomless money pits that must feast on cash from any possible source as often as possible, Brazilian club Gremio have decided the most logical next step for an athletic organization to take is to get into the fast food business. The 2013 Brasileiro runners-up have set their sights on becoming the McDonald's for their fans as they aim to sell 90 franchises over the next five years, targeting areas with high concentrations of Gremio supporters who can soon prove they are the club's biggest fan by becoming the club's biggest fan.
From Reuters:
"In a country where 37 percent of spending is on food eaten outside the home, we needed a new product that would help us with the fact we have the most fanatical fans in Brazil," Beto Carvalho, Gremio's marketing manager, told the club's website (www.gremio.net).
Fans voted in an online poll to call the restaurants Hamburgueria 1903 in reference to the year the club was founded.
The decor will be in the club's colours of blue, black and white.
Other teams are in talks to open similar club-themed restaurants, said Fernando Ferreira, head of Pluri, a sports marketing firm that developed the idea with Gremio.
This might provide a good source of new revenue for Gremio and the other clubs that decide to follow their lead, but it's probably not the best thing for a country that had to install special seats in the 2014 World Cup stadiums to accommodate obese fans who weigh up to 560 lbs. Once Hamburgueria 1903 reach its goal of 90 locations, look for Gremio to then open a chain of club themed cardiac hospitals and gastric band surgery centers.
If you want to become a Hamburgueria 1903 franchisee, it will will cost you between $80,000 and $270,000. You can apply here.
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