We live for football. But we’re not outside the ground, or on the terraces.
We’re in the Dugout, with unparalleled access to the world’s top clubs.
And we can bring YOU inside – we partner with brands, agencies, publishers and platforms to deliver incredible football content.
Watch the videoDugout is the ONLY media company in the world OWNED by 9 of the world’s biggest clubs. These giants joined forces with Dugout and another 60+ mega teams globally to offer something truly unique.
Fans get the ultimate 360 football experience with video content beyond the reach of any other platform. Partners get ACCESS to the biggest players and key decision makers in the game – with Dugout being alone in its ability to mobilise clubs to work collaboratively for YOUR brand, on activation campaigns, stunning branded content, events and experiential marketing.
If the world were a football pitch, there wouldn’t be a blade of grass Dugout couldn’t cover. Dugout’s phenomenal reach is achieved through its own channels, distribution partners and the clubs themselves.
With offices and operations in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and the Americas, Dugout can engage audiences globally, regionally or on a targeted local level. What makes this all possible is the world’s biggest clubs working together and producing irresistible video…
Dugout produces original content, working hand in glove with the clubs who also shoot video exclusively for Dugout and give access to decades of archive footage. Dugout content simply cannot be beaten. Alongside it is rich, cross-channel fan data.
This all presents multiple opportunities to partner with Dugout – for brands, agencies, publishers and platforms.
Brands can sponsor exclusive content, or activate product launches and campaigns with tailor-made video created by multiple clubs working with Dugout’s in-house production studio Dugout Originals.
Dugout also works with brands on experiential marketing and events, involving clubs, players and football industry decision-makers and influencers.
Dugout offers multiple advertising opportunities through its proprietary programmatic stack or direct deals.
Dugout works with media agencies, creative agencies and brand consultancies to deliver content-rich opportunities for activation campaigns, product launches, experiential marketing and events, as well as multiple advertising
Dugout partners with publishers around the world, enabling them to use ALL of its exclusive content – by embedding Dugout videos using the high performance Dugout Player.
Dugout distributes content on major platforms such as Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. Platforms and OTT providers can also commission or license exclusive content created by clubs or Dugout Originals.
Three wanted to use the World Cup as the cornerstone of a campaign to raise brand awareness and drive customers in store across the UK.
Dugout worked closely with Three to deliver a content campaign over three months, including in-store events led by football legends including Teddy Sheringham, John Barnes, Ray Parlour, Tony Adams, Robbie Fowler, David Seaman and Paul Merson.
The in-store campaign involved installation of the Dugout Wall Ball Challenge – and the players attempting to keep the ball up against the wall in store for as many kicks as possible. The results went viral on social media within minutes.
Fans were then given the chance to beat their heroes – with the Dugout Wall Ball Challenge a permanent feature in stores around the country throughout the summer of 2018.
Dugout also organised giveaways, with prizes such as signed jerseys, balls and match-day tickets. In all, over 150 pieces of exclusive content were created for the campaign, and Dugout facilitated a guest appearance by John Barnes at Three’s regional conference.
Three enjoyed increase footfall in stores – and increased brand awareness online.
“We wanted to do something fun to show our support for the boys. We’re proud to bring together such well-known football stars this summer and the #ThreeWallBall challenge.”
– Kat Ward-Smith, Director of Brand and Communications,
Three. “This marks one of the most blatant pieces of World Cup ambush marketing in 2018.”
– The Drum
Hilton wanted to drive membership of its free-to-join hotel rewards programme Hilton Honors among a global audience of football fans.
Drawing on its unparalleled access to the world’s biggest football clubs and players, Dugout devised a content-led customer acquisition campaign for Hilton Honors .
To drive sign-ups to the hotel rewards programme, Dugout created exclusive content and competitions with prizes such as signed jerseys, balls and match-day tickets, as well as stays in Hilton Hotels.
The content included City Files, an exclusive strand of 10 videos filmed with our 10 co-founder clubs and their players.
This gave fans behind the scenes access, forging a strong connection between this exclusive content and Hilton Honors.
In addition, over 300 videos increased engagement with the Hilton brand, with video pre-roll and banners advertising across the Dugout platform supporting the branded content.
Hilton Honors sign ups and customer retention increased significantly.
An added benefit for Hilton was at a B2B level because the Dugout partnership facilitated valuable senior level business connections between Hilton and Dugout co-founder clubs via direct introductions and hosting of meetings and events.
As FC Barcelona’s main global partner, Rakuten wanted to convert fans to its messaging platform Viber.
Dugout conceived the idea of creating an incredible virtual of Camp Nou on the Viber app, giving fans an experience like none other, including exclusive access to the first team’s dressing room.
The experiential tour brought fans closer than ever before to the inner sanctum of FC Barcelona and even featured a competition where first team players challenge fans to the Dugout Wall Ball Challenge.
The amazing virtual tour drove Viber app downloads and increased user eng
agement within the Viber app.
“Our ambition is to become Spain’s number one tourist destination and this collaboration will help us achieve this goal,
as well as further grow the profile of FC Barcelona around the world.”
– Francesco Calvo, Chief Revenue Officer, FC Barcelona
“Fueling the Camp Nou tour excitement with engaging technologies is a direct reflection of how we approach our sponsorship title of Global Innovation and Entertainment Partner. This collaboration will give all fans, not just those who visit the museum, a truly unforgettable experience.”
– Djamal Agaoua, CEO, Rakuten Viber
Dugout makes as many headlines as it creates.
Elliot Richardson has 30 years’ experience in the financial sector and holds strong contacts in the football, sport, music and the business world. He has been an advisor on risk to the International Olympic Committee, Formula One teams and to leading football clubs. Further, he has managed businesses with a global footprint inclusive of his prior role as Chief Executive Officer of Aon Broking.
Elliot has a strong track record for building start-up businesses, scaling them globally attracting talent to lead them.
Elliot is Chairman of RK Harrison, part of the Hyperion group of companies, and has also served on British Airways Global Advisory Board.
Matthew Baxter joined Dugout in November 2016 leading the commercial team and working directly with the clubs and other partners on the platform.
Prior to Dugout Matthew was Chief Media Officer with Liverpool FC and was responsible for the complete transformation of the club’s digital media and TV operations and well as being part of the Executive team overseeing the overall strategy of the club.
Matthew has over 20 years of global digital, media and TV experience. Prior to joining Liverpool FC he was Senior Vice President at MGM Networks where he worked across the commercial spectrum, selling movies to platforms and broadcasters in over 120 countries in 25 languages. He worked on various movie franchise launches globally including some of the recent James Bond movies.
Matthew also worked as European Marketing Director at Warner Brothers International Television working on a multitude of TV and movie property launches from Harry Potter movies and a multitude of TV series. In addition, he was part of the Fox Kids launch team driving the platform sales, distribution, development and growth of the channel to all countries across Europe.
Sebastian began his career with Quest Software working in their Microsoft sales team, leaving after a number of years to establish his own company developing mobile apps. This progressed into user interactions and digital media and led him to create Sport Digital, a digital media company that specialises in the management and commercialisation of the digital landscape for athletes, actors, musicians and celebrities.
Two years after its founding, Sport Digital now looks after over 300 athletes, including Gareth Bale, Anthony Joshua, and Adam Lallana, utilising and developing their digital and social media footprint with the long-term objective of optimising their digital media value.
Andre has multi-sector experience in the role of Chief of Staff, Board Advisor and Group Human Resources Director. Prior to Dugout he was a Board Advisor to a private equity backed UK Fintech. Prior to this he worked as Group Human Resources Director for Starr Companies, a New York based private equity business and in which he was responsible for people strategy, development and operations for multiple entities in London, Continental Europe, Russia, Asia Pacific and Latin America supporting the opening of insurance carriers and other investment vehicles and in the case of the latter particularly in China.
His time at Starr was preceded by an International HR role working for Aon Benfield which at the time was the world’s largest independent reinsurance intermediary leading the HR features of the expansion of its global footprint and the development of operations in Houston, New York and Chicago and thereafter building the US HR team to support this expansion.
Adam is an entrepreneur with 15+ years of experience in the digital, publishing, PR and marketing.
He has held numerous senior positions in leading businesses including The LAD Bible (COO), Weber Shandwick (Head of Digital) and The Economist Group (MD – TVC); giving him a unique perspective on the ever-changing landscape of content and social media. He has a proven track record of delivering significant commercial impact, with a passion for building and leading world-class teams.
Throughout his career he has worked with many of the world’s leading brands including Louis Vuitton, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Nestle, Red Bull and Ralph Lauren – delivering large-scale and often ground-breaking global programmes. Adam has enjoyed a broad range of international experience, having led a team across 35+ territories in EMEA during his time at Weber and opened offices in New York for TVC Group, whilst at The Economist.
He has been recognised on many occasions for his work, winning numerous awards including taking two separate agencies to the prestigious position of EMEA Digital Agency of the Year. Adam is a frequent speaker on the conference circuit and regularly appears in the press and on TV as a spokesperson on digital, leadership, marketing and how technology is changing the world.
A former Daily Mail executive, Paul has 20+ years of experience in print and digital publishing and is now immersed in the start-up world – running one himself as well as investing in and advising others.
Paul is CEO EMEA of TouchCast, a ground-breaking video technology transforming communications in global enterprise including Accenture, Unilever, Pfizer and HSBC.
He is also an Operating Partner at New York-based bMuse, an incubator which nurtures and launches start-ups disruptive in the media space. Paul’s angel investments and board roles include Amaliah, a fashion and lifestyle platform for Muslim women; The Memo, a digital publisher; and Staylists, a travel tech business behind the Daily Mail’s new direct hotel booking service Mail Breaks.
In a successful newspaper career, Paul rose to be third in command at the Daily Mail where he regularly edited the paper, oversaw features and spearheaded Weekend magazine before launching Mail Plus, a suite of interactive apps. Paul was also one of the founders of Mail Online in 2006, now the world’s biggest newspaper website.
He was Editor In Chief of the Irish Daily Mail and Irish Mail on Sunday and Executive Editor of The Mail on Sunday, and spent two years in New York as the youngest ever Editor In Chief of the National Enquirer.
Shaun has over 14+ years experience in the media industry. This includes publishing, digital and experiential. He has executive relationships at the largest media agencies, creative agencies and global brands across all verticals.
Starting his career off in National press, he worked for Associated Press and Express Newspapers. Shaun then moved to Mode Media as Head of Programmatic, which at the time was the 4th biggest global destination. He then joined LoveLive as Sales Director. Here, he headed up their commercial department creating partnerships for brands with music artists which ranged from Madonna, Disclosure, Little Mix to Adelle. Prior to Dugout Shaun was EMEA Sales Director for Copa90. He lead the EMEA agency sales for the business. Whilst there, he was a key part in breaking the mold of how a football business should be built for a millennial digital first football fan.
A serial start-up enthusiast, Shaun has a track record of disrupting the media landscape and specialising in the transformation, development and growth of businesses and their advertising revenue. His relationships enable him to expose media businesses to the very heart of the media landscape.
Due to his experience in both Media, Brand Partnerships and Start-ups, Shaun has a unique perspective on our ever-changing landscape. This allows him to be at the center of winning major brand solutions, whilst running a high performing sales team.
Jono is a social and branded content specialist. He joined Dugout from his position as Creative Lead at LADbible Group in November 2017.
A pivotal figure in LADbible’s rapid ascent to the biggest publisher in youth media in the UK, he has a vast knowledge of audience behaviours and the nuances of the Facebook algorithm. From implementing digital and social initiatives to producing some of the most viral videos on the internet, Jono has built up a portfolio writing award winning creative for campaigns for the most recognisable brands in the world. He also consulted on the most viewed piece of branded content on Facebook to date.
His work has been recognised at the Cannes Lions Festival and DADI Awards among others. Prior to LADbible, he led the Global Influencer Program at Red Bull in Salzburg.
Adam qualified as a solicitor with an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Glasgow in 2006 and subsequently trained at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP (MMS), one of the premier law firms in Scotland. Following completion of his training contract, Adam was retained as a lawyer by MMS, in their litigation team, where he remained for four years.
During his time at MMS, Adam commenced an IP Law Masters (specialising in Sports and Media Law) at the University of London, from which he graduated with a Merit award in early 2016. Adam moved to London to work with IMG in 2013, where his work focused on each of the licensing and events sides of the business. As part of the licensing work, Adam was the sole lawyer dealing with the unique IMG/UEFA relationship in respect of all merchandise licensing agreements for UEFA Euro 2016.
Adam joined Perform Group from IMG in 2015, and played a major role in Perform launching their new OTT product, DAZN, in each of Japan and Germany in the summer of 2016.
Ekin brings eight years of sports marketing and management experience to Dugout, and has been responsible for leading its growth and development in the Eastern Europe and MENA regions since joining the company in mid-2017.
Ekin started his professional career with 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship, managing sponsorships at Local Organization Committee. Later he completed Sports Management master’s degree at the University of San Francisco. He returned from the US to Istanbul, Turkey, to found his own sports marketing agency, where he developed, brokered and activated sponsorship deals such as Beko & FC Barcelona, Turkish Telecom & Cristiano Ronaldo and Lassa Tyres & FC Barcelona, among others.
Simon has 18 years in sales management and business leadership for UK and international media owners, having starting his career at ITV before moving into the digital sphere with Yahoo.
For the past 10 years he’s been based in Singapore, developing digital propositions for South East Asian markets. Simon has been involved in founding and driving digital businesses and has overseen the growth of those companies in rapidly transforming and developing markets. These experiences have been vital in successfully navigating the nuances of doing business in each country within the region for News Corp and now for Dugout.
James Green joined Dugout in October 2016 as a key member of the content team, before moving into a hybrid role working alongside the clubs, content, commercial and social teams.
James has over 15 years experience working in the sports media industry including working alongside Budweiser for a revolutionary online activation for the 2010 World Cup.
James also has over 10 years on-camera experience working on ITV and Sky Sports, as well as producing and presenting a 37-episode series for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
With a Sports Development degree and an NCTJ in news and sport journalism, James’ eye for storytelling and quality content allow him to thrive in the modern sports media environment of Dugout.
Matthew joined Dugout in November 2016 as a member of the content team, helping to grow and develop Dugout during its launch phase.
He has since become Dugout’s Content Manager, running the content team’s day-to-day operations and working alongside Dugout’s clubs to implement content strategies and activate branded and commercial content deals.
Matthew has over five years’ experience in the world of sport and business, previously working alongside Chelsea FC’s shirt sponsor Yokohama Tyres on their social media strategy and helping to launch Aston Villa’s kit sponsorship deal with Under Armour.
A former Daily Mail reporter, Tim spent seven years in newspaper journalism after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class journalism degree in 2010. He began his career as a trainee reporter on the Tottenham Journal, before moving to the Hampstead and Highgate Express where he rose to become the newspaper’s senior reporter and political correspondent.
As a Daily Mail reporter, he covered global news stories such as the 2015 Paris terror attacks and spent a period as the newspaper’s show business correspondent. Before joining Dugout, Tim worked as one of the Mail’s night news editors alongside his reporting duties.
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Dugout Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales. Registered Number: 10192522 Registered Office: One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ