ABSTRACT
‘Heads above Water’: Business Strategies for a New Football Economy
Barrie Pierpoint
Barrie Pierpoint argues that many top-flight clubs find themselves in a precarious financial situation – barely managing to keep their heads above water. The dangers of being over-reliant on television revenue are addressed, and the need to attract new communities to watching live football illustrated. In particular, Pierpoint stresses the necessity for clubs to develop marketing strategies to entice previously excluded communities, such as minority ethnic groups and women, to watch live football, and evaluates some of the methods that clubs can employ by highlighting the initiatives devised by Leicester City FC. The essay concludes by warning that the nature and amount of revenue generated through television rights will soon change, and that this may cause severe problems for all but a handful of the richest clubs.
