Why global football is going local

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.

Aerial view of Barcelona football stadium

Group of people cheering to football match on computer monitor

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

Introduction
The springboard effect
Keen to go local
Getting local communities on-side
Putting clubs at the centre of a local ecosystem

Introduction

Manchester United’s plan to build a £2bn 100,000-capacity all-seater stadium close to its historical Old Trafford home is set to transform the local economy. The club says the project will create 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”.¹

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.²

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.³

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 seen to be doing something that is community oriented.”

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,” says Cairns of the venture.

There has been a really interesting transition in how local businesses are viewed within the top tier of sport.

Matt Cairns
Founder and CEO, Eleven Sports Media

Getting local communities on-side

In an era when large football clubs can feel increasingly remote from the communities they grew out of – and where pressure is growing on them to give something back – this kind of initiative is really important. More than one in six football clubs in the FedEx/Financial Times research (17%) say the ability to meet their community and sustainability ambitions is a unique benefit of working with SMEs.

“Local businesses can help clubs remain authentic,” adds Roger Hampel. He points to a recent deal between Catalonian football club Girona FC and Cafès Cornellà, which licenses the Girona-based coffee company to supply all the bars and corporate hospitality venues in the club’s stadium.⁴ In a season when Girona is playing Champions League football for the first time, the deal is especially valuable to the small business. It’s also a very public statement that the club hasn’t forgotten its roots.

Indeed, such arrangements are a key public relations tool in showcasing the commitment of clubs to their communities. In Germany, Union Berlin has long fostered a reputation as the anti-establishment club for working-class fans. Its Business Network, comprising almost 30 local SMEs, aligns well with this idea.⁵

Local businesses can help clubs remain authentic.

Roger Hampel
Founder, Football Business Journal

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.⁶ 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.⁷ 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.⁸ One project is a deal with Hamburg-based SME BRANDS Fashion intended to help farmers in India transition to growing 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.⁹