I-League Clubs Looking to Libero Sports for Off the Pitch Services As Well

2013 was definitely the best year in Libero Sports India’s short but impactful lifespan of pioneering and shaping the Indian football industry.  Since one of my last blog posts about the DSK-Liverpool FC partnership, we have secured business  from a number of new clients which has definitely added even more cheer to this already joyous holiday time.

Beyond the fact that we have new clients and more revenue, I’m most excited about the type of new business we are securing which is 100% in line with our capabilities and, more importantly, what the industry requires to strengthen its foundation.  I can’t get into details however I can share that many I-League clubs are starting to value our services beyond  the players we can provide and have started to hire us to consult them in the areas of business strategy, marketing, fan development and social media.

I can honestly say that the fact that I-League clubs are hiring football consultants to help them structure themselves is a massive shift from the often times archaic approach to professional football club management in India which has been the case over the past few years. This shift can be directly attributed to the impact that Pune FC, Shillong Lajong and especially JSW Bengaluru has had by raising the bar in I-League club management. A very similar phenomenon is what happened in MLS when Toronto FC, Seattle FC and Portland Timbers entered the league. All of a sudden clubs like the then Dallas Burn and then Kansas City Wizards started the process to evolve into more professionally run clubs.   

As I type this post, I’m sitting at the Delhi airport about to fly out to meet with an I-League club owner and newest Libero client to start a 360 degree consulting project. And I’m feeling happy, very happy because I know that this is one of the best ways to transform the Indian football landscape….one club at a time.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 Cities, 3 Football Academies

Image
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few of the top youth football Academies in India.  It’s always interesting to see first-hand some of the blood, sweat and tears football administrators are investing into the future of the sport in the country.  Not to mention, I love experiencing different cultures, norms and idiosyncrasies in each place I visit (there are many).  I won't get too deep into my personal adventures and challenges of traveling through West Bengal and Punjab in the insanely hot month of May.  I'll need to save those for another blog.   I've included the places I’ve visited with some pictures. Pailan World School (Kolkata) http://www.pailanworldschool.com/ Workers putting in artificial turf for the new FIFA Youth Academy Chandigarh Football Academy http://chandigarh.gov.in/dept_sports7.htm The hostel where the CFA players live YFC Rurka Kalan (Rurka Kalan, Punjab...
Read more

Liverpool International Football Academy Coaches – Ray Curtis and Michael Rice

Image
The last half of 2013 was one ongoing conversation about the proposed partnership between Liverpool Football Club and our client DSK Group.  We all knew that only good could come out of this relationship, however we also knew that the level of good would be contingent on the coaches which Liverpool FC selected to represent the Academy in India.  This point couldn’t be hammered home any harder as I’ve seen countless projects fail in India due to the international club’s inability to identify the right type of coaches to make the trip to India. It’s not that these coaches lacked technical expertise or coaching ability, actually that’s never the case, it’s that they lacked a positive attitude and patience.  I actually wrote a post about this which can be found a few months back.  The coaches selected to run the Liverpool International Football Academy DSK Shivajians, Ray and Michael, were handpicked by a trusted member of the Liverpool FC international programming...
Read more

Barcelona

Image
A few months ago my client at Conscient Football and I were discussing options for an "Exposure Trip" we were planning for a group of Delhi based youth footballers.  The obvious locations came up; Manchester, London, Milan, Madrid, Munich, etc... But then Barcelona was mentioned and it was obvious that the meeting was over right then and there. There were no other options.  Barcelona is located in the country that just won the most recent FIFA World Cup, is home to the best football club in the world and home to the best football player in the world.  Why would we take the players anywhere else??? So fast forward to May 12th.  I'm at Indira Gandhi airport in Delhi with 3 other staff members meeting with 27 sets of parents and assuring them that their little princes will be fine.  I'm holding passports, collecting forms, smiling widely, shaking hands and doing my best to exude confidence and responsibility.  Somehow we get the 27 players thr...
Read more