Interview with Felipe Ribbe, Head of Innovation at Clube Atlético Mineiro
The recent model of clubs relying on video rights, player trade and ticketing has taken a serious hit in the current world. Clubs have been obliged to look beyond those traditional sources of income and digital transformation has become key for football clubs, as it allows them to grow at a fast pace in certain areas and it opens the door to new revenue streams.
Digital covers a wide range of activities, from engaging with fans to improving internal processes or enhancing sports performances. So what does digital transformation mean for football clubs?
Innovation & Digital Transformation
Felipe, you’ve been appointed as head of Innovation at Clube Atlético Mineiro 8 months ago, how did this happen? What was the reason behind this?
Last year I was working at a sports innovation consultancy, where we did the first startup program of a football club in Brazil, and people in the industry started to know me and my ideas; I also had a podcast twice a week, where I invited professionals around the world to talk about innovation and technology in sports. That’s when I met Leandro Figueiredo, the business director of Clube Atlético Mineiro, and we developed a good relationship.
In the beginning of 2021, Atlético signed with EY to help modernize its structure, develop its strategic planning and innovation became one of the key management pillars here; so the position of Head of Innovation was created and Leandro called me, saying that he thought I was the right person for the job. We spoke, I said that I was interested in, but that I wanted to know more about what the club really wanted to achieve with a Head of Innovation, if I was going to have freedom to experiment and all the things that are crucial to have a truly innovative organization. Leandro agreed with everything and here I am.
8 months is rather short but you have been quite active - What was your main mission when you arrived? What topic did you have to put a focus on? Was the strategy settled or is it still work in practice?
My position at Atlético is under the Business umbrella, so my goals now are to generate new revenue to the club and to experiment with new technologies, to see where it can go and how it’s going to impact our future. It can be done either by helping existing products that we have (like the membership program or the app) to make them better and more attractive, but also by exploring new products. Our dive into the crypto universe is a good example. We are betting on NFTs and fan tokens because they allow us to engage differently with our fans and even with people that are not Atlético fans, which brings us new sources of revenue and brand awareness. At the same time, it is also a way for us to work with blockchain technology, learn a lot, meet professionals that are working with it and together think about how blockchain could impact the future of sports. What features does an NFT have that can make it relevant to other business needs that are not just digital collectibles? Ticketing, for example, it’s something that totally fits in, in my opinion.
Do you consider digital transformation as part of it? If yes, to which extent?
It is. I believe that digital transformation is always related to innovation. If we think that innovation is doing things differently and better than they are done today, digital transformation is using digital technologies to do exactly that. The other way around is not true, though. Innovation is not always digital transformation - and a lot of people make this mistake. You can innovate without using digital technologies. In one of my podcasts last year I spoke with Franco Segarra, from Valencia, and he mentioned that Valencia changed the way they awarded points to their season ticket holders who attended more matches throughout the season, benefiting them when Valencia played a Copa Del Rey final where the club didn’t have enough tickets to sell to every season ticket holder. They innovated just by changing their approach to their fans, without using technology.
How do you drive innovation and digital transformation in a football club such as Atletic Mineiro?
Because innovation is a new subject in the Brazilian sports industry, a lot of people still mistrust what can be achieved with the right work. That’s why quick wins are so important to us; this way we gain recognition internally, trust, which will help us get what we want.
Today innovation is still part of the business area, so my focus, as I said, is on driving new revenue to the club and experimenting. In the future we want to expand to other areas, making innovation part of our culture, and the results that we achieve within the business area will help with this process. But it is a long journey. We like to say here that it is a marathon, not a 100 meters sprint.
A more personal question: as head of innovation, what experience and expertise can you offer to your club digital transformation initiatives?
A head of innovation must be someone really well informed about everything that is being done around the world in terms of technologies and different business models in the sports industry and other industries too. She/He must be familiar with digital transformation case studies, not only the successful ones, but also the ones that failed. It must be someone that actively speaks with other innovation professionals to exchange experiences and ideas. This professional must help educate leaders and workers on the topic, through lectures, workshops, courses…
With that knowledge, the head of innovation can act as a facilitator of the digital transformation process from within the organization.
Digital Transformation in South American clubs
Is digital transformation a hot topic in South America? What are the main priorities and the main trends you see regarding digital transformation in some football clubs?
I believe that it’s a hot topic but still more of a speech thing than something that is being done as part of a strategy. But anyway I see it as something positive, because a few years ago people wouldn’t even talk about it.
Regarding trends, the clubs here finally discovered the power of data and the importance of knowing their fans better, establishing a direct relationship with each one of them and starting delivering customized offers. Not too long ago (and we still see it a lot), clubs had different databases, with no integration at all, so you could have 8, 9 different Felipe Ribbes… Now they know that this is counter-productive for business purposes, so we can see a lot of sports entities looking into that issue and developing strategies to increase their database and to have all data points integrated into an unique CDP. This is a big trend not only in South America but all over the world and it will be a huge revenue driver in sport once clubs and other entities master it.
At Atlético Mineiro what are your references or sources of inspiration? Are you more taking examples of what is done in some European football clubs or are you more focusing on what is done in the US (even if the culture of football is less present)?
I like to be aware about what’s being done everywhere, from European football clubs and leagues to the big leagues in the US, new trends in Asia and even startup leagues, like the Premier Lacrosse League, Drone Racing League, Athletes Unlimited…
Specifically speaking, I’m a real fan of what La Liga has been doing since Javier Tebas became the CEO in 2013. The role that innovation and technology plays in their vision to grow the brand globally is inspiring. The NBA, of course, is always a reference. I also really like the concept of being a knowledge and new business opportunities generator that Barça Innovation Hub has. And I would also like to mention the job that Juan Iraola did at Real Sociedad, which proves that you don’t have to be an enormous global brand to do innovative things.
What is the place of the league/the federation? Is it supporting you in some global initiatives for all the clubs?
Yes, supporting global initiatives for its members is important and La Liga again is a reference with their Global Network project. But in every league or federation you have clubs that are more well developed, that are better positioned financially than others. I believe that a league/federation should also guide the clubs that don’t have the capacity to enter a digital transformation process by themselves. This is something really important that in the end will help the league/federation become stronger.
How do you see the future of football in South America?
I always like to be optimistic and I see that a lot of clubs are trying to change, seeing themselves as businesses, brands and not just football clubs. There are a lot of young professionals that are entering the sports industry with a different mindset, that want to do new things, that are not afraid to experiment, fail fast and move on. This startup mentality is something that should be more applied in the sports industry and I can see that it is being more accepted. Slowly, yes, but it’s happening.
Of course that football clubs in South America have serious financial problems and COVID-19 made it even worse, but it also made a lot of sports executives change the way they think and address new opportunities. Let’s see how it goes now that things are starting to get back to normal.