By Eloi Pomé

At a distance, the sporting landscape appears very balanced in its approach; each sport encompasses a competition pyramid, for which its stakeholder teams, leagues, and federations own similar business frameworks. These invariably include the hosting of sporting events – some weekly, others annually or every four years – for which the sale of tickets and broadcast rights has traditionally been the north star, while growing the popularity and reach of their digital brands is an essential piece in an otherwise saturated market.

Dig a little deeper, and you will see nuances begin to surface, and come to realize that no rights holder – despite their likenesses – is ever the same. While the end goals for clubs and competition organizers hold many similarities, how one approaches this task will be very different from another. Plus, the various solutions they choose depend on the direction they want to take their business, on and off the field of play, whereas others which do not yet know the direction they want to follow are still at a crossroads.

To give an analogy, strategy development is like asking three chefs of differing training to cook a dish from the same ingredients. Just as their end goal is to present a delicious meal to the customer, how they go about this task, and the end result, will inevitably differ. In sports business, while the approach will likewise vary throughout, the one common value rights holders should share is to own a clear strategy across the breadth of their organization. Whatever their makeup, strategy development is an essential piece to achieving their business goals.

Among the challenges sports properties face is to decide the purpose and direction of their business in the first instance. This approach will often vary based on the organization’s size and resources, their economic situation, and the competitive landscape. Furthermore, one’s strategy shouldn’t be defined by the existing technological framework, but to find ways to align its infrastructure to changing fan behaviors, nuances in generational trends, and to have a genuine impact on its audience and the communities to which they belong. To find a purpose in their vision, one’s strategy first requires understanding their customers personally.

Discovering the purpose behind a sports organization’s business goals is imperative to designing its business strategy. For our smaller clients, including those who have yet to consider this notion, this involves hosting collaborative sessions between the key stakeholders in the early stages, to define their vision and goals before deciding on the phases to implementing a technology stack which meets their business needs and within budget.  

Whereas, for our larger, established clients, the focus is on re-orienting their existing strategies and aligning them with current industry trends, then highlighting actions where their strategy can better serve the business. We call this a “target-operating” model, whereby the vision is transferable between tangible action plans within the organization, rather than simply “fixing” an issue with a new software or direct-to-consumer (D2C) product – as many do – and one which  may have seen success elsewhere, but has little-to-no commercial or operational benefit to yours.

As outlined earlier, sports clubs and organizations come in all shapes and sizes, while their brand will represent multiple things for its customers. For example, younger fans are more likely to engage with hyper-personalized content and products with a clearly defined purpose behind them. I was recently given the opportunity to speak on this subject at the Urban Sports Summit in Marseille (May 30th) and how the values of Gen Z fans are shaping strategy development in sports, including their need to build flexible strategies tailored to the interests of the fan. 

This requires an organization investing in a customer relationship management (CRM) solution that connects and centralizes its D2C data-collection touchpoints, so as to best understand fan behavior and what makes their brand appealing to its different types of customers. WIth Gen Z fans, we’re seeing new generations of supporters attracted to brands which provide both hyper-personalized experiences and a sense of community for its audience. Additionally, younger fans want to engage with brands with a clear purpose behind their vision, whether that is in their local community, wider society, their environmental initiatives or the global economy.

The Paris 2024 Organising Committee became a pioneer in this field by creating the first dedicated Engagement Department. Far from adding a new department and falling into siloization, the department made it possible to create specific budget lines for projects and initiatives whose sole aim was to establish a privileged relationship with fans (via Club Paris 2024) and other key sponsors and stakeholders. The aim was to better understand them and ultimately offer them a more personalized and successful experience. And they succeeded.

“It’s my firm belief that every organization should have its own business strategy. Sports properties need to personalize their vision, just as they would the fan journey.”
Eloi Pomé, Strategy & Consulting Lead at N3XT Sports

Whereas the majority of club budgets are focused on player development and recruitment, strategy development, as well as the digitization of operations and fan engagement, has become a larger part of the conversation in recent years. It’s been a long time coming, but clubs are beginning to see the value of building lasting, sustainable business practices revolving around their technological infrastructure and strategy. 

While some organizations take an independent approach to this transformation, there are cases where a mutual approach has served a wider collective. By agreeing on a collaborative, multi-stakeholder strategy, and one that is flexible across the competition’s respective clubs and infrastructure, this enables competition organizers to provide its clubs with clearer direction for growth within a competitive ecosystem, without restricting their financial and creative independence. 

For example, LaLiga’s €1.9 billion investment deal with CVC Capital was agreed with the provision that member clubs use a percentage of the cash injection to modernize both their stadia and digital infrastructure, in addition to player development. While neither club will have exactly the same level of maturity in these areas, the strategy does provide a shared direction while boosting the commercial strength and stability of LaLiga’s individual clubs and, therefore, the wider professional club ecosystem in Spain. 

This is why, collectively, it makes sense to find a way to build a common strategy or roadmap which allows clubs to learn from each other across every topic. And to do so without loosening their financial autonomy or diminishing the competitive nature of their business. A successful, collaborative strategy will improve the league’s overall commercial stability by promoting a common roadmap for its clubs to professionalize various aspects of their operations – enhancing the clubs themselves and, in doing so, the wider ecosystem.

As it stands, in 2025, strategic thinking is becoming the “new normal” in sports, especially as rights holders are also becoming increasingly aware of the fiscal challenges faced globally and the importance of embedding processes that ensure sustainable commercial growth amid economic uncertainty. 

It’s my firm belief that every organization should have its own strategy, or at least its own vision. Customers want personalized content. Organizations should not shy away from that, so – in order to meet fan demand for hyper-personalized content with purpose – sports properties need to personalize their vision and strategy, just as they would the fan journey.

However, a strategic approach should never look one way. Considering the multiple approaches to strategy development that rights holders adopt, the most common barrier isn’t necessarily what strategy to take, but first understanding what this should entail based on their current needs. For this reason, there is a lot of value in gaining an outsider’s perspective when building an overall business strategy. 

Whereby internal teams are perfectly placed to understand the intricacies of their daily operations, often – when faced with a problem – an organization looks to fix it by simply embedding a new solution without considering the broader strategic implications. Strategy development requires a different mindset; to take on a more collective effort whereby the organization first addresses its barriers to innovation and commercial growth before landing on a solution which may prove to be more disruptive than it is useful. 

One of my convictions – and I believe all sports organizations should be doing – is to engage an external perspective on their challenges. The front office is focused on its daily tasks and ongoing operations. While they are always the best people to shape the operational life of the company, as a transformation and strategy consultant, N3XT Sports’ role is to take a step back in these scenarios and help offer a fresh perspective based on our work throughout the industry and successes within other sports.

If we are talking about transforming a company digitally or technologically, for example, there will be an assessment phase to introduce a different type of software or a tool to solve a problem. When we discuss strategy development, this isn’t a specific tool – it’s not the same way of thinking. It’s a concept that needs to be designed and implemented collectively, by the human beings working inside the organization itself, and often with that external perspective.

For example, if you’re a rugby club exploring your strategic options, it could be helpful to hear from an expert who has experience in professional cycling. The best ideas don’t always come from the same disciplines. In the event that an organization needs to create a new strategic plan, whether that is adapting its digital portfolio to engage more fans or how the technology serves the commercial growth of the business, there are a host of benchmarks throughout the sporting spectrum which they can draw from, and not only from within their own ecosystem.

Effective business strategies must address the interplay between operational efficiency, cost management, and sustainable growth. At N3XT Sports, we support our clients at every stage of their strategy development, incorporating a 360° approach across strategic planning, purpose-driven thinking, market analysis and change management. To find out more about how N3XT Sports can serve your organization and develop its very own tailor-made business strategy, fill out the form below, and we’ll be in touch. I look forward to hearing more about your journey.