The Shortlist

By Tahoe Lillelund

Introduction

Welcome back to The Shortlist - your weekly briefing on five stories shaping the business of football. Each edition highlights what’s changing across ownership, media, and innovation, giving you a quick, curated look at the ideas and shifts shaping how the game is run.

This week’s theme is control and connection. From new models in women’s football investment to clubs acting like tech companies, the game’s power is shifting from capital to capability. The focus isn’t just who owns the clubs, it’s who owns the data, the fan relationship, and the tools that shape how football is experienced.

Here’s what’s happening this week:

1. How football clubs can expand revenue through engagement & innovation

This piece breaks down how clubs can grow revenue by investing in fan engagement technology and data-driven experiences rather than relying solely on matchday or broadcast income. It highlights how emerging markets like the Middle East and Asia are growing sports revenues faster than Europe (13.5% CAGR), emphasizing that global fan acquisition and digital interaction are now the real profit centers. For clubs, the takeaway is clear: future commercial success will depend on building scalable fan ecosystems, where engagement drives sponsorship, retention, and global relevance.

Read on Capital Riesgo →

2. Bay Collective launches multi-club platform in women’s football

Sixth Street has launched Bay Collective, a multi-club ownership platform focused entirely on women’s football, led by former FA Women’s Technical Director Kay Cossington. The collective builds on Bay FC’s success and aims to replicate the men’s multi-club model in the women’s game. For owners and investors, it signals that women’s football has entered its own “private equity era,” where value is driven by infrastructure, global reach, and data-backed performance.

Read on Sixth Street →

3. Private equity reshapes football’s balance sheets

Private equity investment continues to reshape club finances and governance, with new structures emphasizing revenue predictability and exit strategy over legacy stewardship. The report shows how these firms are professionalizing operations and driving consolidation across leagues. For clubs, understanding PE expectations, returns, timelines, and capital discipline, is now essential to survival and growth.

Read on BSP EClub →

4. How Chelsea FC increased fan loyalty off the pitch

Chelsea FC has turned its official app, The 5th Stand, into a global engagement engine, growing over 8 million active users and becoming the centerpiece of its digital fan strategy. By blending exclusive behind-the-scenes content, match-day live streams, and personalized features, the club has transformed casual followers into an always-on global community. For clubs and operators, this is a practical blueprint for monetizing international fanbases without relying on match attendance or broadcast exposure. The success shows that loyalty now comes from interaction, not geography and that owning your digital platform can be just as valuable as owning your stadium.

Read on Marketing Week →

5. ScorePlay & Wasabi Technologies: Partnership for AI-Powered Sports Media Management

ScorePlay, an AI-driven media asset management (MAM/DAM) platform built for sports organizations, has formed a strategic partnership with Wasabi Technologies, a cloud storage company. The integration adds Wasabi AiR’s automatic metadata tagging, multilingual search and transcription capabilities into ScorePlay’s system, enabling clubs and leagues to centralize, tag and distribute photos, video and live-content faster and more cost-efficiently. For club owners, investors and sports-tech professionals, this partnership signals a next-step in content operations: clubs are increasingly behaving like media companies, and efficient content workflows + data scalability are now commercial tools, not just back-office fixes.

Read on ScorePlay →

The Takeaway

This week’s stories highlight how football’s business edge is shifting from ownership and finance to operations, media, and fan connection. Clubs are learning to act like tech companies streamlining workflows, building owned platforms, and turning data into loyalty. Whether it’s UEFA testing global streaming models, Chelsea using its app to deepen engagement, or ScorePlay powering content automation, the message is the same: the future belongs to those who understand the fan as both audience and asset.