Football without fans is a soulless venture that deprives the sport of its emotional appeal and entertainment. (Odhiambo, 2022). The value of spectators in soccer goes beyond cheering and financial implications. Rather, it dwells on... something much more deeper, a connection, and intimacy - love and loyalty. Nigeria population was 195.6 million as at 2018, 210.87 million in 2021, and, currently, 215.87 Million in 2022, according to our econometric models. Recent record estimated active football fans in the country to be around 147.98 million; that is over 76percent - a distinction. Football is generally considered the most popular sport globally, attracting about 4 billion fans worldwide. Diehard fans are extremely loyal to their teams in good and bad times. As a matter of fact, the attendance, consistent show-up, rest upon this deeper connection.
Intentional, aggressive, pragmatic investment in creation of fan base physically and virtually, placing high priority on entertainment, leveraging relationship with event spots in and around Lagos will not only ignite the soul of the game and footballers, but will also lead to the attention of value seeking power players like the media houses who has funds but seek great contents, and sponsors who also has funds but seek exposure and engaging advertisment for their products - all of which will yield uncountable profitability. Intentional, but strategic investment is the secret to filling 10,000 or more capacity stadium.
First and foremost, the question is 'how'. How do we get over 10,000 supporters to the stadium to see Sporting Lagos...and the entire league as a whole? The game must be package exclusively as an entertainment. To get the supporters to show up, more, and fill up the stadium, priority must be given to understanding this demographics - Gen-Z, Millennium...and other adults. What exactly do they love, crave; what connects these age groups - entertainment. There's a massive movement and engagement going on social media and outside that involves music and film industry. It's a global pandemic - this generation is obsessed with these things. This is the secret - Football Meets Entertainment (Music, Films...). Tom Oakley, a Marketing genius from Aston University, commented that, Intentional packaging of the soccer as a full fledged entertainment is the secret to advancing and attracting active fans to the game. A study of the Premier League, the football division of England’s top 20 clubs, widely recognised as the best domestic league in the world for its entertainment quality and competitive nature. And the world can’t get enough of it. Arguably the most successful British export industry of the last 20 years, the Premier League can no longer be considered only in football terms but also a juggernaut of business that contributed £3.4bn to UK GDP in 2013/14, according to their official site. But how has a sporting division become so valuable? How has the league and clubs within it become such valuable ‘brands’ – a phrase that makes most football fans cringe – and been marketed so successfully? A quick look at the 2016 revenue breakdown of Manchester United, the Premier League’s leading club in terms of business performance, shows how the revenue streams have changed proportionally over the Premier League era. Twenty years ago, match day was every club’s payday as the match-going supporter turned out to pay to watch their local team and hopefully buy a pie and a pint at half time. Barring the launch of a new kit every two or three years and their share of a small pot of TV money, that was pretty much these clubs’ means of balancing the books. Fast forward to today and that match day revenue could almost be swallowed whole by Manchester United’s commercial and broadcasting income (and they’re still growing fast) But why? As a ‘product’ at the most basic level, the Premier League hasn’t changed from what preceded its infancy in 1992 – it’s the same game of football with the same rules and is certainly no different to the other domestic top divisions across Europe and the world. But what’s changed is the way it’s packaged as "entertainment". Therefore, musical Artistes (Upcoming and established) performances (Musical stars save for after match mini party) and games (hosted by favourites film stars) before football match will not only increase the fans but will also increase ticket sales. So, entertainment should also include fans of the week games, Invite international superstar footballers to the game, do promo on the tickets, attach prizes to some special tickets, free buses/ give away especially for university students on campus, free entry to see training, consciously but interpretatively made players' jerseys that are not only beautiful but significant for the players and proud fans (who will be buying - another stream of revenue), consistently updated YouTube/Instagram account for the club that shows the behind scene moments - locker room, dinning room, special birthdays, special family time, training, rehearsal, players transfer, excursion invitation to secondary schools in Lagos, community football tours - games with local footballers in the trenches, on local fields, funny moments...just... engaging contents, sport magazine every 6 months, for a start, international mentorship programs for players with specially invited international players, with fans in attendance, making the fans all over feel connected and part of something bigger - the team, sporting Lagos family. Development and application of the Premier League strategy, in the Nigeria context, will skyrocket the fan base in 6 month and a 10,000 capacity space will no longer be enough.
Secondly, aggressive and Intentional investment in Media Campaign, Marketing and Advertisment. It is no longer news that the marketing system, especially on the social media's space, is gaining more tractions. However, that does not diminish the consistent impact of the traditional marketing system. To increase fans supports, engaging and consistent show up, priority must be given to aggressive Media Campaign and other penetrative platforms. Strategic campaigns on radio, television most popular shows -BB Naija platform, Films/Series Sponsorship, Twitter trends & influencers, Instagram Ads/Comedians and more. Everyday of the week, there's always an event in strategic places in Lagos; where the rich & wealthy, young adults, and other lagosians hang out. Places like The Vibe, Sirocco, Hrc, Wave Sport Lounge, Moist Beach, Sunday Atilashe, My Club Envy, Landmark Beach, Wave Beach, Elegushi Beach Spot...all and more in Lagos. These places can be leveraged on, by engaging the owners and coming to an agreement that make them talk about, and also hang pictorial awareness about the games and entertainment at the stadium. Even the major club houses can be leveraged on, there's something in it for them too. It is possible, it will work. Another study of the Premier League revealed that, the league, as we know it today was based upon the marketing template of American sports like American Football. The idea being to portray the 'product ( games, and the club) as entertainment that will garner interest from the media, who will be gaining the great content they crave, and sponsors who would now want to associate themselves with football, generate a sizeable television audience and gain traction in the media. This then creates a platform for rolling success because more revenue into the game that can be invested into attracting the best players, that enhances the product for further growth, keep it out of reach from the competition that is other domestic divisions that are vying for these top players. The Premier League, sponsors and media formed the three parts of the pyramid that formed the beginnings of this rolling success, with each stakeholder offering something to and wanting something from one another. As said earlier, the media craves good content, not only broadcasting an exciting football match but also a newspaper getting an interview with star footballers, because it sells copies. Sponsors want exposure and will happily pay for the privilege, so play their part in bankrolling the ever-growing investment into the Premier League. Again, in the Nigeria context, this can also be apply.
Lastly, application of the Manchester United Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps) in the Nigeria contex is the master keyt. The club is a ever growing brand, what exactly is the club's how? - the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). There are several marketing strategies like product innovation, pricing approach, promotion planning etc. These business strategies, based on Manchester United marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Manchester United marketing strategy helps the brand/company to position itself competitively in the market and achieve its business goals & objectives. The product strategy and mix in Manchester United marketing strategy can be explained as follows: Manchester United is one of the leading football clubs in the world based out of England. The product of Manchester United includes the team itself and merchandises which includes shirts, training kits, goalkeeper kits, special merchandises for women and kids. They also display products based on the players so that loyal fans can buy products of their favourite players. The company also owns their own TV channel which broadcasted matches of the players. The brand of football, tickets, merchandize etc are all a part of its marketing mix product portfolio. The website has association with other websites and they also show ads, selling campaigns and football matches of the team. The team has star players and thus, they have a leverage as the fans are eager to buy products, associated with these players. In the recent match, it stood against in the premier league. The company has tie ups like Adidas sells Manchester United Logo jerseys and thus, this way, the company expands its reach in the market.
The Pricing strategy in Manchester United marketing strategy: The club follows premium pricing as the products are marketed a premium products and the company wanted upmarket penetration. The team has a loyal fan following and thus, they don’t face any problem when it comes to customers willingness to pay the price. The seasonal tickets are further expensive, especially the first class tickets. This generates a high revenue but second largest revenue gets generated from broadcasting shows. The team has a global presence and thus, the commercialization has benefited them.
The distribution strategy in the Manchester United marketing mix: Initially, the Manchester United team played matches in field on Narh Road where the crowd capacity was 12000 spectators and in 1893, the club was banned from playing on the ground and thus, they eventually shifted to Bank Street ground, located in Clayton. In 1902, the ground was changed to Harpurhey while in 1909, the ground shifted back to Old Trafford. Presently, UK has main centre base and red colour of Manchester United is Fan’s favourite. The official website provides live updates, match coverage, match highlights, player’s fixture, and player profiles.
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Manchester United marketing strategy is as follows: Manchester United has had ( still does) star players with their loyal customer base and thus that’s a promotion strategy in itself. Apart from that company does promotion in partnership with other companies, showcasing promotional products. There has been several deals over years to promote the company. Some of them include deals with Nike, General Motors. The endorsement of various products by the star players, is a source of revenue generation for the company. Moreover, the official website is displayed as Fan’s academy and thus there are fixtures, live updates, highlights and various merchandises available. Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Manchester United.
In conclusion, as regards Premier League estimates, there are 170 million or more Nigerians tracking their teams and players with some top teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City having their own fan clubs spread across key Nigerian cities as well as other African countries. With a surging target audience, advertisers today see tremendous merit in associating with the Premier League. Additionally, the brand positivity demonstrated by fans as per the supersport report during the last season has encouraged multiple categories of advertisers to leverage the property and build strong associative value. This is the key. We can do the same, with some subtraction and additional inputs, it will work. But for it to thrive, the fans must, first and foremost, be shown how valuable they are to the team and the game in synecdoche.
Olorode, Segun Stephen.
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