Playing above the game
‘Playing Above the Game’ is an approach to amplify football’s powerful platform for commercial growth and community impact for social sustainability — widening and deepening fan culture, diversifying the business and supporting healthier and more sustainable communities.
We’re sharing some of the many opportunities for clubs and commercial partners in playing above the game. From the untapped commercial growth from brand investment into the women's game, how small is beautiful in the beautiful game, and how football brands are multi-generational platforms with the potential to bridge generational divides and help fans in growing up and old healthy; together.
A rivalry is a partnership
We were euphoric to sign for Rosenborg BK as their brand and communication agency in 2022. As is the passion for the game, with a team in Bergen as well as Trondheim, we also didn’t want to close the opportunity of working with SK Brann. We floated this thought to the leadership of Rosenborg. Their response was surprising; inspiring us to lift our heads and kick-started our approach of ‘Playing Above the Game’: – “There’s a lot we can learn from Brann. There’s a lot they can learn from us. Off the pitch we are partners”.
Football Clubs can take trophies and titles, even players, employees and sponsors but never fans! An unparalleled affinity that even the strongest global brands can only dream of.
Rosenborg’s leadership taught us what competition really means in football. A reminder of the truth of what it means ‘to compete’ [a-la ‘konkurrere’ på Norsk], from the latin ‘competere’: to come together, meet, to agree, coincide in point of time, to be equal to, be capable of.
Footballer’s compete in the colosseums, while brands compete together to lift communities. Relationships that are built on respect and the shared pursuit of high performance. With this, our approach began, how we see brands in football have the greatest impact.
Community identity and sustainability
Football has always been about more than goals and icons. It builds a sense of belonging and identity. Across Europe, initiatives like grassroots youth football, women’s and girls’ teams, and games for older generations have created new platforms for the sport.
These programs are about more than just participation, supporting healthier, more inclusive communities. Qualities that are directly connected to grassroots teams, professional clubs, to county and national federations.
Here commercial brand partnerships have a unique opportunity, supporting initiatives not just financially, but as active initiatives in the community. Offering commercial and social partners a platform to enhance both fan loyalty and community well-being.
With the spirit of high performance, personal development and team life, associations built uniquely from football sponsorships demand that commercial partners not just see football as real estate for logo placement – ‘paying for eyeballs’, also ‘working for hearts and minds’; collaborating by taking action on shared objectives and innovation that otherwise couldn’t be realised.
Finding the creative opportunities, between clubs and commercial or social partners, starts by sharing strategic objectives. Shared problems, purpose and ambitions.
We saw this with Schibsted Media, developing their product strategy for regional newspapers between 2014 and 2021, moving from print to digital. Delivering less and less papers to doorsteps and shops, regional media brands were confronted with a big question; ‘How are we connected to ‘our region’?’
The answer came in their relationship to football. Resulting in greater investment as commercial partners in sponsorships, as well as focused innovation on new fan centred products to leverage that affinity into their digital subscription model.
As many local icons of communities go online and/or are replaced by the generic, the authenticity and equity of football brands grow. As does the commercial and social value for commercial partners, football becomes a stronger platform to build authentic brand experiences that resonate with the community and deepen engagement from consumer to fan.
Uniquely connecting generations
“Never before in history have the youngest and oldest generations been so separated—a global trend cutting across geography, culture, and economic status.” – UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2019
Football’s most enduring quality is spanning the generations. For most fans, allegiance to a club is passed down through family lines, connecting grandparents, parents, and children in a powerful shared identity.
For new fans, it’s an identity shared with age groups at different stages of life. This bond creates loyal, engaged fan bases, where supporters see themselves as part of a long-standing tradition rather than mere spectators.
This tradition is an untapped asset for clubs. By recognizing the economic and emotional value of multi-generational loyalty, brands within the football space can create campaigns, experiences, products and services that deepen connections across the ages – something very few commercial players can authentically achieve.
Clubs, commercial partners, and federations that tap into the inherent loyalty, from the youngest fans to the eldest, build on relationships that last for generations, solidifying their place in the community’s identity and widening opportunities for commercial activities.
This is a unique potential for generational unity and shared affinities, resonating far beyond the stadium, using the platform of a football brand for a community to “grow up and old healthy together,”
However, this opportunity is yet to be recognised by many. Generation-focused initiatives , such as grassroots youth football and walking football for 60+, are valuable projects. However, it is the connections beyond the aged silos where the untapped potential lies.
Bridging the divide to tackle the ageing population & dependency, rising loneliness & isolation, increased family pressures in midlife, differences in values & worldview, and loss of connection to heritage – just some of the purposeful challenges football brands offer a platform to address.
For banks, retailers, automotive brands, insurers, housing developers, broadcast media, tech brands, FMCGs and more, football offers a platform that sponsors, commercial partners and social projects can leverage to achieve their missions, widen their value, unlock new products and service, and strengthen their positions in communities – building uniquely meaningful brand connections unfound anywhere else.
Unstoppable value from the women’s game
One of the most exciting brand opportunities in football are the undervalued commercial opportunities in women’s football . The rise in popularity of the women’s game presents brands with a rare chance to engage new audiences, attract diverse sponsors , and create a more inclusive culture.
Despite its rapid growth in viewership and participation, women’s football still operates in a space with less corporate attention than men’s. This represents not only a social imbalance but also a missed business opportunity.
Women’s football offers brands a relatively uncrowded space to create new narratives. Companies that engage early in sponsoring and supporting women’s teams benefit from being pioneers in a growing movement that values equality, diversity, and innovation. For sponsors, the women’s game can become a powerful channel for reaching new, and strengthening existing fans, prioritising social responsibility, gender equity, and sustainability.
By overlooking women’s football or making a comparison to men’s solely based on audience volume, sponsors miss out on the higher return on objectives (RoO) that come from aligning with the sport’s values.
According to Deloitte’s Report ‘Women’s elite sports: Breaking the billion-dollar barrier’ , corporate sponsors of the women’s game often see an impressive return, with 70 nok generated for every 10 nok spent. Other women’s sports, such as the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), have reported up to 400% ROI in media value, demonstrating that investment in women’s sports can deliver better returns than men’s sports.
Beyond returns on investments, women’s football offers valuable returns on objectives. One significant example is women’s health, a keystone for social sustainability and wellbeing. As a vastly underinvested area, the women’s game offers the opportunity to bring women’s health to the centre ground for positive change.
With solid associations to ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘high performance’ at the core of the professional game, women’s football is the platform for brands committed to opening up the under-capitalised value and addressing the hard and soft innovation in women’s health.
The women’s game offers brands an authentic space to engage new and existing audiences in new ways to foster fresh and meaningful connections. Our view is clear—it isn’t about competing with the men’s game; it’s about recognising women’s football as a powerful platform in its own right.
“Small is Beautiful” in the Beautiful Game
The past five to ten years has seen a renewed appreciation for smaller, community-oriented clubs. Bringing fans closer to the game, allowing for real connections in a way that larger clubs struggle to achieve.
Wrexham is an obvious example of how a small domestic brand has value in a noisy global landscape of superstar brand-players. With their heart in the community, raw authenticity, small brands have the potential foothold to achieve a bigger impact and reach than ever before.
Successfully-small doesn't demand celebrity ownership or major budgets, of course, Wrexham has Hollywood owners. But, before brushing their growing success aside; what did a Hollywood-billionaire and his friend see in an out-of-league has-been ‘soccer’ team, in a down-and-out Welsh town? (We can say this with confidence as one of us in Nonspace is a rare-breed lifelong Wrexham fan).
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney saw the potential from ‘small being beautiful’ in the beautiful game. A unique authentic story. A community with football in their identity and in need of social development. These combined, forge a purposeful brand platform; available at low investment with high return. A return that is sustainable because it’s anchored in the positivity of social development – the perfect platform for brand collaboration; from the local Ifor Williams to the international United Airlines, FX and Disney, Wrexham Lager to Hewlett-Packard.
For commercial sponsors partnering with local clubs on strategic and purposeful activities offers a unique chance to engage at a grassroots level, creating connections that feel genuine and impactful. By supporting clubs that have genuine local identity, brands can participate in the journey of these teams, strengthening local engagement while gaining a broader reach through the power of authentic storytelling.
From Wales to Norway – the global position of Norwegian football is unique as a progressive innovator and a creative force. Through domestic clubs and brand strategies, Norway as a footballing nation is strengthening its position as a global leader off the pitch – using football for social progress. There is much work to be done but seen from the outside the opportunities are bigger than it looks.
Our approach of ‘playing above the game’ is only the beginning, with potential for even more innovative practices across Norway and around the world. By using football as a tool for health, unity, and creativity, Norwegian clubs are setting a benchmark that resonates globally, inviting more brands and communities to see ‘how’ football is a vehicle for positive change.
Football contributes to the national identity, and so the position taken, the values put into practice with social and commercial partners, is a global contribution. Soft power on the international stage of ‘nation brands’.
Football as a Creative Playground
Football brands have always been platforms where fans actively shape their identities – connected from the grassroots of fan culture and small teams up to the World Cup. Federations, leagues, and associations are used as platforms for clubs. Clubs as platforms for teams. Media and entertainment platforms for all of these and interactive experiences. Commercial brands are positioned across all levels.
In the age of ‘hyper-commercial football’ and ‘uber-professional branding’, embracing what has always been part of football and where innovation burns brightest has never been more important; to keep it real .
Beyond the commercial ecosystem of official ‘platforms’ are the most vibrant and expressive playgrounds of fan culture . From content creation and design to music and digital platforms, clubs can engage their fans as collaborators, building a vibrant, participatory culture around the brand. Tattoos to knitted scarves, handmade banners of the ultra supporters, podcasts and fan forums, fan social media channels, and songs sung from the terraces and school yards.
“The brand must capture the imaginations of people who are not necessarily into football but can be persuaded by the concept of being a ‘part of the club’.” – Juventus’ Chief Revenue Officer, Giorgio Ricci.
Inspired by Giorgio Ricci of Juventus we took this into our work with Rosenborg. In partnership with Manufacture Oslo , we developed Unbranded, a fashion line from Rosenborg that appeals to those who may not even be traditional football fans. Through this, Rosenborg has made a space for new audiences to be part of the club.
Furthermore, events like the Helt Rå conference in partnership with SpareBank 1 SMN demonstrate how the club’s brand serves as a platform for leadership where needed, alliances, and social progress.
From the open-source fan culture to extensions of the core brand to reach new fans, football is a landscape of brand relationships that demands and inspires creativity.
Play bigger, play better. Play above the game
Seizing the opportunities and future wins as a football brand or as a commercial/social partner lies in the ability to play above the game. Through this approach, embracing diversity, promoting health, fostering generational connections, and more, football can inspire lasting change and sustainable returns.
Our mission is to encourage brands to think beyond traditional sponsorships and team rivalries, to be creative, working for the win:win:wins with and for fans. As more adopt this mindset, we believe football’s influence will extend far beyond the pitch, creating healthier, more inclusive communities and setting new standards of success in the beautiful game.
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