How PSG are targeting your kids to become their second favourite club

Martin Macdonald

• 17 Feb 2026 08:30 CST
• 5 min read

Analysis

Long gone are the days when football fans fiercely only supported one club and Paris Saint-Germain are looking to take advantage of that 21st-century trend.

More often than not, fans support their favourite club primarily but also have a soft spot for another team or two abroad.

PSG know it's unlikely that they will ever be as popular in the United Kingdom as the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool but their aim is to become the second-favourite club of the next generation and have already started targeting youngsters to that end.

The French giants have 14 academies running in England which means that, each week, there are over 1,500 kids donning PSG kits and training gear. The connection between a potential future fan and club has already been made at a young age.

“What is the point of that? You can attract young people with the Paris St-Germain brand,” chief executive Victoriano Melero explains to the Telegraph.

“They see us playing on TV, in the Champions League, and we want to move from a brand we love to a brand for life. Having the kids playing football with Paris St-Germain means they will be our fans for ever.”

In 2023, PSG became the first foreign football club to open a merchandise store in London and it was part of their project to become the "coolest" club in the world. As well as being a football club, they are undoubtedly a fashion institution now, as highlighted by their collaboration with the Air Jordan Nike brand.

But, they know they can't swoop in and overcome a team someone has loved forever.

“That’s correct. That really is the idea, especially in Britain. We know you are linked to your team from birth,” Melero adds.

PSG are the current reigning holders of the Champions League, yet their revenue pales in comparison to some of the historically bigger clubs in Europe like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona, while domestic broadcast revenue allows Premier League teams to be right up there when it comes to financial success.

They play in a league in which they dominate most years and so the broadcast revenue is minute compared to the Premier League.

That means they need to be a bit more creative when it comes to revenue and merchandising.

“We’ve got to think of new assets to promote Paris-St Germain,” Melero says.

"Maybe this year we will reach €25m (£21.7m) of revenue in terms of [domestic] media rights. So if we want to continue to increase our revenues, we’ve got no other alternatives than to find other ways to promote the club and the club is the brand.”

The PSG chief believes that some English clubs are afraid of going down similar avenues due to the more traditional mindset of some fans - not that they need extra revenue due to the broadcast deals.

“They don’t need to because of the revenue they have,” he says.

“It’s also not that easy to create such a brand around a football club. [AC] Milan is doing it. A good example of a new club doing it is Como. In England, each time we meet them – we played Newcastle [in the Champions League in January] and they’re discussing it – but then I think, for them, especially in Newcastle, it’s a city of football and maybe they’re afraid, that they don’t want to be too far from their fans.”

PSG competing with LA Lakers and Ferrari

While domestically they compete with the likes of Monaco and Marseille and on a European front against a host of elite teams, Melero insists that, as a brand, PSG is now competing with the likes of basketball side LA Lakers and car manufacturer, Ferrari.

“We are competing with the likes of Juventus and Manchester United on the pitch and on this brand market, we’re competing with, say, the LA Lakers,” the chief exective explains.

"When you look at the New York cap everyone thinks it’s New York, but it’s not, it’s coming from the team [New York Yankees]. On this aspect, for sure, we are competing with them. But I will even say that right now we’re even competing with a brand like Ferrari.

“Ferrari is a good example. Of course it’s a car manufacturer, then a Formula One race team and then there is a brand Ferrari. There are very few people who can afford a Ferrari, but they are developing all this merchandising around the brand Ferrari. That’s also, for us, a kind of inspiration.”

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store