Revenue diversification is taking center stage

Now that I've had time to reflect on the many, many panels and conversations at both the World Football Summit in Madrid and Soccerex in Miami (which really benefitted from the switch to Inter Miami's Nu Stadium), there's one topic which really seems to be occupying minds in the soccer business - revenue diversification.

The need to generate income from non-traditional sources, or to better exploit under-explored sources, crosses national boundaries and applies just as much to a team in USL 2 as it does a Premier League club. For the biggest clubs in Europe it offers a way to reduce their dependency upon media rights income at a time of flux in the media market. For those in lower leagues or smaller markets, there is nothing new - income is hard to find and the need for experimentation has always been there.

Last week's podcast with Mirwan Suwarso of Como explored some of the areas that the most interesting club in Serie A are taking advantage of - tourism, fashion, lifestyle, events, hospitality and a licensing system working with clubs around the world. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a stadium in a beautiful tourist destination but there were lessons there that others can certainly learn from. One in particular is the club's aim of becoming a brand that represents much more than just the football club.

Some clubs, like Tottenham Hotspur, have taken the lead in turning their stadium into a true events and convention center. Their local rivals Arsenal have gone deep into fashion. Others, like Barcelona, are scaling a business around branded youth camps and academies while several clubs are operating start-up incubators and similar.

There is clearly huge potential for North American clubs in this respect. Especially interesting are clubs (usually in the lower divisions of USL or MLS Next Pro's independent or relocated clubs) who are the only professional sports team in their market. They have a chance to become the brand of the city and by building new stadia as part of multi-use retail and entertainment districts there is an obvious opportunity not available to others around the world with century old venues.

I'm really interested to hear from clubs who are taking innovative approaches in this area as this is a topic that we are going to return to in the future. Drop me a line at simon.evans@thesoccerbusiness.com

City verdict is hardly a 'win' for the Premier League.

I was a little surprised, in the initial reaction to the Premier League's independent commission, to see some in the British media reporting the verdict against Manchester City as a 'win' for the league. Frankly, there are no winners in this case - unless you count rival leagues enjoying watching the world's richest league tear itself apart over some of the millions in investment (or sponsorship) that has flowed into English clubs.

My homeland loves few things more than knocking down a giant, especially a highly successful one which has annoyed a lot of people over the years but when the delight at City's predicament dies down, I wonder if more balanced minds might turn to whether the increasing regulation (including a government backed football regulator) is really the best route for the game to take? It might be too late - once you set up a government regulator they tend to be rather difficult to reign in, let alone get rid of. Anyway, earlier in the week I wrote a piece questioning the direction of travel in regard to regulation and offering a reminder that Serie A was once the Greatest League in The World........

Coincidentally, this week's podcasts both offer the players perspective on the business of soccer.

In this week's Women's Soccer Business episode, I spoke to two USWNT world champions, Emily Sonnett and Sam Mewis. We discussed how they turned a sport that barely had a league into a career, what it takes to build a team around you as a pro, and how they're planning for life after the final whistle (they have two very different approaches). It was a fun chat and one which also provides some real perspective on the growth of the women's game. Click on the image below for the audio and video links

Former Manchester United, Chelsea and Spain midfielder Juan Mata and his business partner Jürgen Griesbeck have launched Unleash Football, a new project that aims to give players, fans and the wider football community a bigger say in how the game is run.

Unleash Football is part of the C Lab framework. It lets anyone take part by answering questions on an anonymous survey platform. Mata and Griesbeck say the results will be a "mandate" from the game: a first wave of data that can be built on and shared with governing bodies at all levels from local to FIFA.

Juan is a particularly thoughtful player, who also is involved in the ownership of MLS's San Diego and Australian A-League club Melbourne Victory and he is clearly passionate about ensuring that the game starts to listen to those the public pay to watch. The episode was recorded on the margins of WFS in Madrid and the links are below:

Many thanks to those of you who responded to last week's request and subscribed to our video and audio channels - it really does make a difference. As does a nice, positive rating or review.... :)

ATLANTA CITY FC UNVEILED AS NWSL’S 17TH FRANCHISE, SET TO DEBUT IN 2028 Atlanta’s NWSL expansion club will be called Atlanta City FC and will enter the league in 2028, playing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Arthur Blank-owned team becomes the NWSL’s 17th franchise, with a phoenix-led identity drawing on Atlanta red, Georgia peach and the state flower; its establishment further extends the Blank family’s multi-team venue and commercial platform alongside the Falcons and Atlanta United. Source: Reuters | CBS Atlanta​

MLS SHOPS LEAGUE-WIDE PRESENTING SPONSORSHIP AHEAD OF ‘MLS 3.0’ MLS is reportedly exploring a league-wide presenting partnership ahead of its planned 2027 calendar change, having engaged Altius8 to run the process. Early conversations have reportedly put the prospective deal in the eight figures, though no agreement has been reached and MLS has indicated it is not considering a league-name change. If sold, the rights package would become a major new central-revenue asset alongside the league’s Apple and Adidas relationships.Source: Soccer America | MarketScale​

COACHELLA VALLEY INVITATIONAL RETURNS WITH NEW PRESENTING SPONSOR AND FIRST MLS–NWSL DOUBLEHEADER The sixth Coachella Valley Invitational will run at Empire Polo Club in Indio from January 30 to February 13, 2027, now branded as the event “powered by Fundamental.” Nearly half of MLS and NWSL will participate, while February 6 will stage the tournament’s first MLS–NWSL doubleheader—an important step in turning the preseason property into a broader cross-league fan, partner and content platform. Source: Charlotte FC​

INTER MIAMI HIRES IÑIGO AZNAR TO DRIVE COMMERCIAL MOMENTUM Inter Miami has appointed former Atlético de Madrid commercial director Iñigo Aznar as Chief Revenue Officer for both the club and Nu Stadium. Aznar will oversee partnerships, ticketing, retail and licensing, food and beverage, marketing and the club’s Heron Sports & Entertainment events platform—putting one executive in charge of converting the Messi-era audience and new-stadium development into a year-round revenue operation.

ATLÉTICO DALLAS AND DALLAS TRINITY FC NAME DALE PETROSKEY PRESIDENT OF USL DALLAS USL Dallas has named former Dallas Regional Chamber president and CEO Dale Petroskey as president of the parent operation behind Atlético Dallas, Dallas Trinity FC and Atlético Dallas Youth. The appointment gives the North Texas project a civic and business-network operator as it seeks to build regional partnerships and align its men’s, women’s and youth properties under one commercial structure.

MODULAR STADIUM PLANS FOR WINNIPEG NSL ‘DREAM COME TRUE’ Winnipeg’s incoming Northern Super League side will play in a purpose-built modular stadium at Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex, supported by an C$8.5 million joint investment from the league and federal, provincial and city governments. The venue is planned to offer more than 4,000 seats, premium suites, FIFA-grade turf and expandable capacity, providing the 2027 expansion club with a soccer-specific home from launch rather than a shared large-capacity venue. Source: Northern Super League

HUNT SPORTS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS ON MIXED-USE DISTRICT AT TOYOTA STADIUM, FRISCO Hunt Sports Development, Peak Curated Development and Venu Holding Corporation plan a mixed-use district on the east side of FC Dallas’s Toyota Stadium campus, with groundbreaking targeted for 2027. Phase one includes a roughly 290-room boutique hotel and more than 40,000 square feet of convention, meeting and event space, including a configurable 3,000-capacity music venue—extending the club’s stadium renovation into a year-round hospitality, entertainment and real-estate play. Source: Business Wire

CHICAGO FIRE FC SETS NEW LUXURY-HOSPITALITY STANDARD AT MCDONALD’S PARK Chicago Fire has brought 600 high-end hospitality seats to market for McDonald’s Park, its 22,000-seat stadium scheduled to open in 2028. The products include invite-only Chairman’s Club access, field seats with a tunnel-facing speakeasy-style club, and loge boxes; the club says its 80-seat top product will cost $25,000 per seat annually, while loge inventory begins at $10,000. Source: Sports Business Journal​

E.L.F. TAKES OVER THE NWSL WITH NEW TALENT, CITIES AND PARTNERSHIPS Beauty brand e.l.f. expanded its NWSL activation in 2026 to Boston and Denver, giving it a presence in all 16 league markets. The programme combines league rights, player talent and local-market activity, illustrating the appeal of women’s football to consumer brands seeking a year-round community and culture platform rather than a conventional logo-placement deal. Source: e.l.f. Beauty​

ALLSTAR HEALTH BRANDS ACQUIRES 60% OF FUTURE GIRLS SOCCER ACADEMY Allstar Health Brands has acquired a controlling 60% interest in Future Girls Soccer Academy, with Miami identified as the first market in a planned North American expansion. The founders will retain responsibility for daily operations and player development, while Allstar supplies the capital and organizational support intended to scale the girls’ youth-to-professional model across the US and Canada. Source: Access Newswire​

RAYADOS OPEN SEVEN NEW OFFICIAL ACADEMIES IN MEXICO AND THE US Monterrey’s Rayados have continued to build their licensed academy network across Mexico and the United States, adding seven Official Academies. The programme offers the Liga MX club a scalable route to internationalize its brand, collect grassroots participation revenue and create a player-development and fan-acquisition funnel beyond its core northern Mexico market. Source: Rayados​

US INVESTOR BUYS GIRONDINS BORDEAUX FOR ONE EURO Park Bench has agreed to acquire Girondins de Bordeaux for the symbolic price of €1, while assuming the club’s debt burden. The transaction offers a potential route away from liquidation for the six-time French champions, who are due to restart in the sixth tier, but still requires approval from the regional financial-control commission and a viable budget for 2026–27. Source: Reuters​

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS EXTEND BC PLACE LEASE FOR 2027 SPRINT SEASON Vancouver Whitecaps have extended their BC Place lease through MLS’s 2027 “sprint season,” enabling the club to start ticket sales for that campaign. The agreement provides a short-term operating solution but does not resolve the broader strategic issue around the club’s lack of control over its 55,000-seat home, which Whitecaps and MLS executives have identified as a constraint on matchday revenue and a complication in efforts to secure a buyer committed to keeping the team in Vancouver. Source: CityNews Vancouver​

BAY FC SIGNS MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH PEBL Bay FC has signed a multi-year deal with Pebl, an AI-first global employment platform, built around the shared message that geography should not restrict access to talent. The partnership will include original content, fan experiences and community activations. Source: GlobeNewswire​