5 Final thoughts

In this week you have started to consider some insights into the business of football and you have explored how it is different from other businesses.

You started by examining some of the ways that the business and context of football in the English leagues differ from those of more conventional businesses. You learned about a number of factors including:

• the different nature of competition
• high levels of brand loyalty
• clubs often running at a loss
• the emotional commitment to football.

You then looked at the organisation in Germany and how it is different to the English system. Differences included:

• fans have more say over what happens in their club
• there is tighter control on spending
• clubs focus more on marketing for their revenue
• there appears to be more long-term thinking.

Next, you learned about using the STEEP model to explore some of the external factors that might affect a business. You applied this to the football business.

You listened to an interview with John Cove, Chief Executive of MK Dons who described how clubs are structured and the associated businesses that sit alongside them. Using stakeholder analysis power and interest mapping you explored the different ways in which groups or individuals might influence the decisions taken at club level.

Finally, you discovered the challenges, from a business perspective, of developing women’s professional football. You heard how one club is placing a significant emphasis on social media and digital marketing techniques to grow their audience and generate the revenues to financially sustain their future.

Next week you will begin to explore motivation and look at the different reasons people have for coming to work.

You can now go to Week 2 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .