‘Fans not customers’ read a blue and white banner during one of the many protests against the proposed breakaway European Super League (ESL) back in April. It illustrated clearly the sentiment among football supporters who had felt betrayed by the club owners. Within 72 hours, all six English clubs had withdrawn, issuing open letters of apology to supporters and the wider football community. It was as big an own goal as you will ever see in football club politics but why did it ever reach this stage?

Undermining trust and fan loyalty

The inference is that club owners took the support of both fans and players for granted and pressed ahead regardless of the potential consequences. A commercially-driven venture, the ESL plan completely misread the mood of fans and players alike, undermining trust and endangering loyalty at a time when the whole sports industry was under pressure from the pandemic.

The disconnect was glaring. If the clubs had been fully engaged with their core support and connected with their wider communities, it could have saved time, money and pain. The ESL would never have reached the boardroom table and the key to this is that banner. Fans are not customers. This is not just a financial exchange. There is a social contract between sports teams and individuals that have become brands, and the supporters that want to identify with those brands. This goes way beyond just a viewing experience.

It is therefore essential that sports organisations learn from this experience. Understanding supporters is key to any future strategy, both economically and culturally. For sports clubs this means loyalty cannot be bought. It can only be understood. And if sports organisations, teams and clubs do not understand this and change, they are in danger of making similar errors to the ESL and alienating core support.

How to build fan engagment which rewards loyalty

What can organisations and rights holders do to build a strategy that encourages and rewards loyalty?

Firstly, you need to know who you are talking to. Organisations need to be able to tap into the sentiment of supporters and understand how their engagement touches all departments, from marketing, ticketing, through to merchandising, social media and events. This is about reconnecting with supporters through data. Understanding core support but also engaging digitally with the wider community, across multiple locations.

Within an agile, data-driven infrastructure, sports teams can build relationships, not transactions, between the club, players, fans and partners, making content and opportunities relevant. They can start to think about personalisation, delivering content at a granular, targeted level that encourages engagement on individual fans’ terms. Square pegs for square holes.

Loyalty, of course, has to be earned, so it’s important to not think too short term. It may seem like a good idea to offload responsibility to a third party or hand over full rights to a media company but that’s like selling the family silver. For sports organisations fans are the lifeblood, so they need to regain control and put fans at the centre of the future strategy.

Then it’s about building trust. Communication, respect, shared ideas and goals can all lead to strong ties. It’s about building lifelong connections and not taking fans for granted. Only a data-driven strategy can really deliver that level of knowledge and engagement. It takes time to build that trust but as we saw with the launch of the ESL in April, it can take seconds to lose it.

What are your thoughts on loyalty? How can sports clubs improve the experience for fans? Look out for our next blog in the series, A perfect match: the changing face of sports sponsorship and how to get brands that fit

Take a read of the The Transformation Playbook to learn how to change mindsets, connect silos, and centre around your customer.