The power of communication in professional football: the case study of Juventus Football Club

“Communication is the key for any global business”, thus says the business woman Anita Roddick to summarize in a few words a fundamental process of the business world known as corporate communication. This expression refers to the way in which each company implements precise communication strategies that help build its identity and its reputation, which can be defined as the result of the set of perceptions, evaluations and expectations that different stakeholders have towards a company or a brand and which are the result of factors such as history, communication and business conduct over time. The use of the right communication strategies helps the company itself to have control of the impact that it has both outside, therefore between customers, business partners and the journalistic environment, and among its employees. Among the various types of companies, football should be included. In the context of the football industry, corporate communication plays a unique and influential role. Football clubs, leagues, and governing bodies are not only businesses but also cultural and social organizations with passionate and engaged fan bases. The communication strategies employed by football organizations impact various stakeholders, including fans, players, sponsors and the media. The ability to effectively communicate with these audiences can determine the success and sustainability of a football organization. Football clubs rely heavily on effective communication to engage and retain their fan base. Through various channels, such as social media, websites and matchday experiences, clubs communicate with fans, providing updates, promoting events, and sharing the club's values and achievements. Successful communication strategies create a sense of community, fostering a strong emotional connection between the fans and the club. Moreover, corporate communication in football extends beyond fan engagement. It encompasses media relations, crisis management and player interactions. Clubs must manage public perception, handle media inquiries and effectively address crisis situations to protect their reputation. This work is structured in three parts focused on corporate communication issues and their application to the context of the football sector, with particular attention to Juventus Football Club. The aim is to identify the strategies that the most illustrious Italian football club has used to promote itself. The first chapter explores the concept of corporate communication and explains its fundamental characteristics, focusing on the three pillars on which communication is based, i.e., identity, image and reputation. The second chapter explores the relationship between football and communication. It first analyzes the way in which the football sector uses communication and it finally follows a discussion on the various types of communication used in football. The third chapter goes into more detail, introducing the Juventus club and explaining what the values on which it is based and that it has always carried on are. It will then move on to the tools and strategies through which it transmits these ideals to the outside to promote its image. After that, the purpose is to select all the documents, posts published on social media andnpress releases of the football club to set up a corpus and analyze it, explaining first what methodologies and criteria were used.