Jean-Claude Blanc (; born 9 April 1963 in

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chambér ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) is a French general manager and former marketing executive of

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

and former CEO of

Juventus Football Club )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

Education

Blanc holds an International Business and Marketing degree from

Skema Business School SKEMA Business School (School of Knowledge Economy and Management) is a French business school, devoted to higher education and research. It has the legal status of a non-profit association under the French "1901 law". It was founded in 2009 as a ...

and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Career

Blanc is one of the most experienced sport's marketing executives in Europe having led organizations in different major sports over the last 20 years. Indeed, he managed the Olympics (winter games), the Tour de France (cycling), the Paris Dakar (motor racing), the French Open (tennis), Davis Cup and has been the Chairman and CEO of Juventus Football Club. Between 1987 and 1992, Blanc was Sales and Marketing / Opening and Closing Ceremony Director for the Albertville Olympic Games in France and worked very close to Jean-Claude Killy, chairman of the Organizing Committee. After earning his MBA at Harvard, Blanc then became the CEO between 1994 and 2000 of Amauy Sport Organization (ASO), a branch of a media company owning and operating the main sporting events in France in cycling, motor racing, and athletics (Tour de France, Paris/Roubaix, Paris/Dakar race, Paris Marathon, etc.). Blanc boosted ASO's revenues and international reach as well as created an all news TV network, L'Equipe TV. Between 2001 and June 2006, Blanc was nominated CEO of the French Tennis Association and, as such, was the manager in charge of organizing the French Open (Roland Garros), the Paris Master Series, and the Davis Cup / Fed Cup tennis events when staged in France. During his tenure, the French Open reached a new level of development and success thanks to Blanc's innovative ideas, like adding an extra weekend of Grand Slam tennis by starting the tournament on a Sunday instead of a Monday. Before becoming Chairman of the Board of Juventus Football Club in October 2009, Blanc was brought in as a board member during the club's worst period in history when it was relegated to the second division (

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

) due to the ''

Calciopoli ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A and to a lesser extent Serie B. Involving various clubs and numerous executives, both from the same clubs and from the main Italian football b ...

'' scandal. Blanc focused immediately on rebuilding the team and the technical staff. He also renegotiated all major business contracts and improved the financial health of the club. The team made a great and immediate come back in season 2006/2007 to the main division (Serie A), reaching an unexpected third place (season 2007/2008), and then second place (season 2008/2009) while operating the club's finances at break even. Blanc's masterpiece in the last five years has been also to radically modify the new stadium project as well as close the financing for the construction of the new Juventus arena. This arena along with a 35,000 square meters mall is the first to be built in Italy since 1990 and is the only one privately owned by an Italian football club. Blanc has stated many times that the stadium is the future for Juventus, a major revenue-booster and the new soul of the team. On May 19, 2010, Blanc left his role as Chairman of the Board of Juventus to

Andrea Agnelli Andrea Agnelli (; born 6 December 1975) is an Italian businessman. Agnelli served as chairman of Italian football club Juventus F.C. since May 2010 to until his resignation on November 2022 following a Financial Accounts Probe ordered by the Tur ...

, son of former Chairman

Umberto Agnelli Umberto Agnelli (; 1 November 1934 – 27 May 2004) was an Italian industrialist and politician. He was the third son of Virginia Agnelli (born Donna Virginia Bourbon del Monte) and of Edoardo Agnelli, and the youngest brother of Gianni Agnelli. ...

. Blanc retained his role as General Manager and CEO. Agnelli's response to Blanc's confirmed responsibilities was, "He will take care of the operations management of the club at 360 degrees and focus mainly on the development of revenues, managed our international relations with UEFA and FIFA as well as follow up on the stadium project strategic for the future of the Club." On May 11, 2011, in line with his working contract and in agreement with the owners of the club, Blanc released his executive powers to the Board of Juventus and resigned as CEO. Instead, he became a member of the Board of Directors. However, Blanc tendered his resignation and left the Board of Directors post on October 15, 2011.

References

External links

Juventus Football Club - Official WebsiteProfile on Juventus.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanc, Jean-Claude Juventus F.C. chairmen and investors Harvard Business School alumni Living people 1963 births People from Chambéry French expatriates in the United States French expatriates in Italy Juventus F.C. directors French football chairmen and investors Paris Saint-Germain F.C. non-playing staff