Managing A Football Club In Nigeria – The Marketing Aspect

 

Understand, football is in the entertainment industry and there is an intensive competition for spectators’ money…those who will pay entry ticket and attract sponsors to associate with the club’s offers.

 

 A professional club that want to operate as a successful business enterprise must focus on all the activities that will lead to the growth of spectators following the team. When spectators are constantly engaged and satisfied with the club’s overall performance, then they will keep coming and asking for more.

 

Unfortunately in Nigeria, football is still run as a social service and are largely funded by government. So it doesn’t really matter to club management whether spectators’ show-up on match day or not. There is a gross marketing myopia (short sightedness) in the management of football clubs in Nigeria.

 

As it is, the challenges of running a club is getting even more difficult these days. Never before has club owners faced as many complex challenges as confront them today. The situation is such that cost of running a club is increasing astronomically and government can no longer bear it alone.

 

There’s urgent need for club management to sit up and not rely solely on government or owners disbursements. They should aggressively to go for other sources of revenue through strategic marketing management approach.

 

Marketing Football, What does it entail?

Football marketing consists of all activities designed to meet the needs and wants of football consumers through exchange processes. Football marketing has developed two major thrusts:

• ·         The marketing of football products and services directly to consumers of football,
• ·         And marketing of other consumer and industrial products or services through the use of football promotions.

Football marketing has two aspects: marketing of football and marketing through football. The first is marketing to persuade direct consumers to attend the club’s games in the stadium or watch on television or other electronic devices. As the club grows its audience to become large enough, then corporate sponsors come on board to associate with the club, to strategically sell their own product and services to the clubs large audiences.

 

Marketing Starts with SWOT Analysis

To start marketing your club, the first thing is to create a quality marketing department or engage a professional sport marketing agency to carry out the club’s SWOT analysis: Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat.

 

I can make a general SWOT analysis for clubs in NPFL

1.       Strength: the large population of football consumers, over 50million, is a great strength which clubs in Nigeria can work to take advantage of.

2.       Weakness: low quality games in NPFL has weakened the potentials of clubs in the top flight league.

3.       Opportunities: We can get fans to take ownership of the club close to their locality through strategic marketing and engagement of these consumers at the grassroots.

4.       Threat: the level of love and preference for English Premier League in Nigeria, threatens to extinct the domestic leagues.  Players’ flight abroad, hooliganism and match fixing scandals are also a big threat to football in Nigeria.

 

The club management and the marketing agency should look at the marketing mix (5P’s) and put them right: Product, Price, Place, Promotion and Public relations. I will have to write a very voluminous book to explain all these.

 

Product: The club must have a unique style of play and playing culture that will attract certain kind of fans. The club must be competitive at the level of the league or tournaments they participate. They should have their own stars which effectively attract large spectators to the stadium and to watch on television.

 

Pricing: The club must price their games such that spectators are willing to pay. The club’s marketing team should strategically organize a year ticket subscriptions; priced along a well divided sitting arrangement: VVIP, VIP, Popular side…

 

Place: football is played in a pitch inside a stadium and as well watched on television. May be also streamed over the Internet.

 

The stadium must be accessible and close to the core fans. There should be free traffic flow and enough packing space with security. To ensure easy entry and exist of spectators, no matter the size.

 

The club or league should close a television right deal with a media house that has the capability to effectively cover and broadcast about 90% of the games on television.

 

 

Promotion: This is a very important aspect of football marketing. The club must use every media format available to them to reach its active spectators. The club home fixtures should be well-advertised with pre-match interviews and other razzmatazz to persuade as well as instil the games in mind of fans.

 

Before now, television and radio are the most effective medium to reach the people. But with the popularity of the social media, clubs can do much more by themselves to engage its fans.

 

 

Public Relations: This is also another very important aspect of club marketing. The club must engage their community both on-site and online. The club marketing department should find a way to build a strong relationship with their community (immediate environment and their fans generally) to ensure their loyalty.

 

The club should also build a cordial relationship with the media to ensure positive mention in headline news and editorial reviews. Such relationship with media makes it easy for image laundry, in case of scandals.

 

There’s much more to share regarding the marketing aspect of club management. Perhaps, I may post another part of this publication. Watch out!