BORIS BERGEROT is the co-founder and CEO of Give in Sport, a Montpellier, France-based “fan sourcing” company. The company helps supporters fund their favorite football clubs by guaranteeing the money they donate goes to the transfers and retention of players and managers. With many European leagues’ winter transfer windows in full swing, SBD Global talked to Bergerot about his innovative company and its future in football and beyond.
On how Give In Sport came about …
Boris Bergerot: The idea for this service dedicated to professional sport first came about three years ago. FLORENT MONDOLFO (co-founder and president, Give In Sport) and I are both passionate about sports and in particular soccer. I was thinking about creating a crowdfunding site, while Florent wanted to find a way to help clubs in financial difficulty with additional revenues to spend. Nowadays subsidies, television rights, sponsoring, tickets and merchandising just aren’t enough for a large number of soccer clubs in Europe. So we brought our ideas together to create the “fan-funding” concept, which we have launched to place supporters at the heart of their team’s success.
On the company’s business model …
Bergerot: We take a small commission on each donation made online. This covers the costs of bank transactions and exchange rates (we take donations in 7 currencies), VAT and our operating costs. We pass onto the clubs 90 percent of funds donated by supporters.
On how Give In Sport guarantees donations are used correctly …
Bergerot: Clubs will only receive the funds their supporters have donated once they make a commitment to using the donation for transfer activity by signing our Code of Ethics. That means they must prove they intend to use donations in keeping with the rules and regulations of our platform, i.e. to purchase a new player, help retain an existing star player or sign a new coach. A report will also be released following the investment of supporter donations. The club will explain how the donations were used with concrete examples of the players purchased or retained.
On the target demographic …
Bergerot: We have a large target market covering all football supporters worldwide. With over 300 potential clubs across 14 different countries, we are talking about hundreds of millions of fans across the world. Obviously, the more committed a fan is, the more likely they are to be interested in the fanfunding concept. That is true whether they are a match-attending supporter or not and whether they live close to the location of the club or not. Our service has only been in place for a short time now, but we do believe that a new trend in modern sport will take shape. We’re seeing donations ranging from 10 to 300 euros made on a daily basis.
On who stands to benefit the most from this …
Bergerot: Clubs which are in financial difficulty will certainly appreciate the opportunity to benefit from this new source of revenue. Then we’re also looking at clubs in the middle or lower end of the standings and are seeking to be more competitive. There are certain clubs out there with unlimited financial resources, due to an ultra-wealthy owner, but these are the exception to the rule when we are talking about all professional clubs out there. We want to help level the playing field, giving all teams the opportunity to challenge in league championships. Greater competition helps the sport to be more successful, with higher spectator attendance, more merchandising sales, more valuable TV rights, etc. It’s a virtuous circle initiated by the engagement of supporters.
On the competition …
Bergerot: Some of the online crowdfunding platforms out there delve into sport to an extent. However, ours is the only one clearly positioned and dedicated exclusively to professional sport. Transparency, ethics and independence are the key values of Give In Sport. Furthermore, we pass on close to the full sum of donations made by supporters so they can see quickly and clearly how their donation is used during each transfer window.
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