Player of the match: Why football clubs view SMEs as their new star players

Everyone knows that football is big business. Now clubs are starting to recognise that smaller businesses can play their part in its success.

Worker in warehouse playing with football

Group of people cheering to football match on computer monitor

Breaking into the big league: How SMEs can score with football clubs

Introduction
Where the money is
Building a brand at speed
When a lack of history helps

Introduction

Despite the popular saying, it seems that not everyone loves an underdog – or, at least, they haven’t in the past. Historically, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have struggled to win work from leading football clubs, with the latter citing concerns about scale and capacity. However, new research suggests that clubs who are growing at breakneck speed now recognize that smaller suppliers offer a range of advantages.

The beautiful game is, of course, highly lucrative. At a time when so many industries are struggling with political turbulence and ensuing economic uncertainty, football remains an oasis of comparatively tranquil optimism. By the time the winning team lifts the Champions League trophy in Munich’s Allianz Arena in May, the European football market alone will be worth over €39bn (around £33bn), according to consultant Deloitte.¹ That’s up 56% from around €25bn in the 2019/20 season, just five years ago.

Where the money is

Football continues to attract the kind of investment some other industries only dream about. PwC’s recent Global Sports Survey revealed investors worldwide still see football clubs and leagues as the premier sporting assets to own.² Owners of clubs in the UK’s Premier League – which include investors from North America, the Middle East and Asia – have collectively pumped £12.4bn into their franchises.³

As clubs decide how to channel this investment into their development, both on and off the pitch, the good news for SMEs is that club owners are starting to see the benefits of smaller, more agile business partners. In research conducted by FedEx and the Financial Times, based on a survey of more than 100 European clubs, 71% say SMEs deliver “significant value”. And while only 47% of clubs say SMEs already account for at least three in 10 of their suppliers, 85% hope to make that the case within three years.

“Football clubs have a culture of high performance. It’s not just on the pitch that they want to work with the best,” says Christopher Lee, EMEA managing director at global architectural design firm Populous, which has worked on stadium designs and redevelopments around the world, including Tottenham Hotspur’s award-winning new ground in North London and Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. “They’re very often looking for the best partner to help them tackle one particular issue, whether that’s improving fan experience or reducing energy consumption, and that will often be an SME with specialist expertise and experience,” he states.

Victoire Cogevina, co-CEO of Mercury 13, an investment group focused on women's football, echoes this sentiment. “SMEs have an ability to fix very specific problems in the football world,” she says.

“Football clubs approach women’s football by copying and pasting their approach on the men’s side. We believe you have to take a female-first view, so all our resources are focused on the women’s side.”

Indeed, the FedEx/Financial Times research suggests that football clubs are now alive to SMEs’ agility and flexibility. For example, 84% of survey respondents cite SMEs’ willingness to provide them with customised solutions, while 76% point to their faster responsiveness and 47% perceive them as offering greater creativity and innovation than larger corporates.

SMEs have an ability to fix very specific problems in the football world.

Victoire Cogevina
Co-CEO, Mercury 13

Building a brand at speed

Brand is one area where such attributes are particularly valuable, argues Roger Hampel, a sports business consultant and founder of Football Business Journal. “SMEs can have a tremendous impact in helping football clubs to build their brands in other sectors,” he says. “They understand how to think differently [and] to explore opportunities in new sectors such as fashion or music.”

Hampel points to the way Italy’s fashion brand Bric’s partnered with the Como 1907 club to develop a range of travel luggage showcased by Harrods. A rebranding collaboration between German graphic design studio Bureau Borsche and Venezia FC is another example. “Driven by the need to stand out in competitive environments, SMEs often exhibit a greater tendency to adopt innovative and creative approaches,” Hampel enthuses.

Fundamentally, in a business that is all about results, football clubs believe SMEs can deliver. In the FedEx/Financial Times survey, 79% of clubs say SMEs enable improved team performance. They point to benefits including increased revenue, greater operational efficiency and enhanced fan experience.

In fact, in terms of suppliers, many clubs now appear to think of SMEs as their star players. While just 3% say their larger suppliers have significantly outperformed expectations, the figure rises to 45% for SME suppliers.

SMEs can have a tremendous impact in helping football clubs to build their brands in other sectors.

Roger Hampel
Sports business consultant and founder, Football Business Journal

When a lack of history helps

Patrick Fischer, CEO of Berlin-headquartered digital platform OneFootball, believes this reflects the fact that many SMEs enjoy a crucial advantage. “Their lack of legacy is one of their biggest assets,” he says. “It’s much easier for a smaller business to innovate and to disrupt itself, than for an organisation with 10,000 employees and bureaucratic policies and processes.”

Fischer points to the way in which OneFootball has developed new distribution models for leagues and broadcasters, enabling them to agree rights for individual matches or tournaments in a matter of days: “If you’re small, you can really focus on the end user. SMEs are in a position to come up with a product idea and then to elevate that work very quickly.”

One last point: focus. SMEs are often much more focused on the communities and local populations where football clubs are also keen to build strong links. A third of clubs are excited about SMEs’ ability to strengthen community engagement, with 17% saying SMEs help them with their community and sustainability ambitions.

“Football clubs are local businesses,” says Hampel. “To remain authentic, they need partnerships with local sponsors, even as they gain success and play on bigger stages. Local SMEs help them to retain their identities.”