Interview: “The sooner we stop referring to ‘digital’, and we just become native with it, the better”

The data-driven sports marketing agency Two Circles is seeing growing demand from clubs who want to market to their fans more effectively.

 It is a sign of the increasing push towards digital in football, which will happen more quickly now due to the impact of coronavirus, believes Two Circles co-founder and CEO Gareth Balch.

As well as some of Europe’s elite clubs, Southampton have shown how data-driven activations, with digital assets at the core, can boost sponsorship revenue. 

As football plans for the return of spectators in a post-Covid world, an intelligent use of data can also significantly increase income by having a one-to-one relationship with everyone in the stadium, says Balch.

But digital ways of working need to become second nature for clubs if they are to adapt successfully, he advises.