Why global football is going local | OneFootball

You might expect growing football clubs to be looking to partner with the biggest businesses they can find, but partnerships with local businesses also offer valuable benefits for both parties

Manchester United’s plan to build a 100,000-capacity all-seater stadium costing an estimated £2bn close to its historical Old Trafford home is set to transform the local economy. The club says the project will create approximately 92,000 jobs, many of which will be at local firms. Think-tank Oxford Economics expects the economic regeneration associated with the development to “catapult Trafford from among the worst performing local authorities in the country to among its best”.

It's a reminder that, while football is big business, it is well placed to offer local support, including to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These firms benefit not only from the business they do directly with clubs, but also from exposure to larger and often international brands; they represent a valuable opportunity for firms to pursue global growth ambitions.

Such relationships can and should be symbiotic. After all, even the largest clubs, with worldwide fan bases and international commercial relationships, are rooted in the history and heritage of their local communities – not to mention dependent on the nearby population for much of their matchday support.

The springboard effect

For SMEs, the value of support from their local club is difficult to overestimate, potentially providing a jumpstart into new markets. In Italy, for example, a collaboration between Serie A club Como 1907 and local luxury luggage brand Bric’s developed into a partnership that led to the launch of a new range of products showcased in Harrods’ flagship London store.

Securing national and international reach in this way would be very challenging for an SME acting alone. “Football can give you a credibility,” says Roger Hampel, a sports business consultant who founded Football Business Journal. “It’s important to show the product directly and let people use the product.” In the US, for example, 100 Coconuts, a start-up founded in 2018, last year signed a deal to become official supplier to Inter Miami CF, giving it access to a new audience – soccer fans – in both America and abroad.

Keen to go local

For their part, football clubs are increasingly keen to work with local businesses, says Matt Cairns, founder and CEO of branding specialist Eleven Sports Media. “There has been a really interesting transition in how local businesses are viewed within the top tier of sport,” he says. “These firms are now a strategic focus for many football clubs.”

In part, according to research carried out by FedEx and the Financial Times, this reflects a broader trend, with clubs looking to strengthen their relationships with SMEs generally. Their recent survey of more than 100 European clubs found that more than seven in 10 regard SMEs as delivering “significant value”.

Partnerships with local businesses are especially prized, says Cairns. Eleven, launched 15 years ago, connects clubs in Europe, the US and Asia with local businesses looking for sponsorship and marketing opportunities. While clubs are used to pursuing large deals with mega sponsors, they’re often poorly equipped to handle smaller arrangements with multiple local firms, Cairns suggests. Eleven pays the club a fee and then handles the logistics of sourcing and managing these contracts, earning its revenue as part of the packages it arranges.

It's a set-up that works well for all concerned, Cairns says. “Local businesses don’t know how to activate a sports sponsorship, so we do it all for them. They don’t have to worry about how to use their intellectual property or grow their social media numbers,” he explains. “The clubs are earning revenue from our fees, but they’re also engaging with local businesses, which they’ve struggled to do historically. They’re also able to deliver on a common community objective, which is playing a supporting role is helping their local business community thrive.”

As for Eleven itself, it’s also an example of an SME that is growing quickly thanks to its relationship with leading football clubs. The business’s recent expansion into the US market underlines the opportunities that football can deliver for SMEs seeking to build international footprints. “What we have found in the US is that clubs have been very proactive about trying to deliver value to small business through alignment with their bigger B2B partners. Providing teams an engaged community of local B2B partners is proving extremely valuable to blue-chip banks and business solution providers,” says Cairns of the venture.

Putting clubs at the centre of a local ecosystem

Hempel believes one significant opportunity for both clubs and local businesses is to partner with third-party organisations – the local municipality, say, or a tourism body or industry group – to create “SME ecosystems”. “It’s a way to create an SME-friendly business environment,” Hempel says. “SMEs become active partners of the club, leading to benefits for the club, local businesses and the broader community.”

In Spain, Las Palmas has a partnership with Turismo Gran Canaria to promote both the club and the island. The partnership works with local hotels and operators, and has even led to the launch of a new beer, Pío Pío, owned by the club and sold in its stadium and in local bars and restaurants.

In Italy, Genoa CFC has a partnership with the City of San Remo through which the club’s first team wear special shirts to promote a local music festival. The club has also launched a fantasy football competition with a local digital company.

There are also opportunities for football clubs to make an environmental and social impact. In Germany, BMZ, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, has launched “From the Field to the Fan Shop,” a partnership that includes clubs such as TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and FC Cologne, and focuses on sustainable procurement. One project is a deal with Hamburg-based SME BRANDS Fashion intended to help farmers in India transition to grow organic cotton.

“SMEs and local businesses are very creative and flexible because thinking out of the box is what they do to grow,” argues Hempel. “These collaborations can reshape the football industry, enabling brands to explore different sectors and business opportunities. And they have a huge impact on SMEs.”

Indeed, some of the world’s most iconic brands got their start in football. Take Kappa, the Italian sportswear brand that was a relatively small Turin-based sock and underwear manufacturer until it persuaded local club Juventus to adopt it as a jersey sponsor in 1979, the first such arrangement in Italian football; the deal catapulted Kappa on to the international stage.