New joint venture can revolutionise Scottish football marketing

A new joint venture from Scotland’s football authorities aims to “revolutionise” marketing of the sport to promote the national game.

The Scottish Football Association, Scottish Professional Football League and Scottish Women’s Premier League have launched a joint venture to create Scottish Football Marketing, a central organisation to promote the game.

They describe the launch as a move that will create “a centralised commercial hub to revolutionise the promotion and marketing of the national game in Scotland”.

The new organisation will be based at the national stadium and has been tasked with increasing revenues from sponsorship, licensing and enhanced data collection. Reporting to a new commercial board that will feature representatives form the three authorities, it also aims to create a “compelling and unified brand” for the national game in Scotland.

A statement from the organisations explained that the plan had come from last year’s strategic review that was commissioned by the SPFL and carried out by the late Hibs chairman Ron Gordon along with representatives from Celtic, Rangers Hearts and Aberdeen.

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: “Scottish football offers a compelling and unpredictable narrative on the field. We believe it is time to work smarter off the field, in an increasingly competitive marketplace, to reinforce the magic of our national game.”

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “During the pandemic, the whole of Scottish football worked in unison and the daily meetings of the Joint Response Group were vital in ensuring that clubs emerged intact from the huge challenges posed by Covid.

“That model, bringing together the considerable resources, skills, and energy of the entire sport, showed how much more we can achieve when we all pull together.

“Ron Gordon was a driving force of the Scottish Football Marketing project and we hope its creation will be a legacy of his all-too-short time in Scottish football.”

Fiona McIntyre, the SWPL’s managing director, added: “The SWPL has come a long way in a very short space of time, and underpinning this early progress has been a culture of collaboration across SWPL clubs, the SPFL, and the Scottish FA.”