The Value of a dotBrand to a Football Club

by Stuart Fuller

In the 2012 Money League report, published annually by Deloitte, the ten richest football clubs in the world generated approximately €2.975 billion in the previous twelve months. Top of the table for the eighth season in a row was Spanish giants Real Madrid, with an annual revenue of €480 million from football operations, which included matchday revenues, merchandise, prize money, and TV deals. Fast forward thirteen years and the impact of digitalization and growth in the online environment which is at the heart of everything we do is clear to see.

Deloitte’s 2025 study, published in February, showed that Real Madrid were still top of the tree, with revenues now exceeding €1 billion annually (€1,046 billion), growth of 188% since 2012. Their growth was fairly modest when compared with other clubs in the top 10 such as Arsenal (185%), Tottenham Hotspur (240%), Liverpool (252%), and Paris Saint-Germain (394%). Overall, the value of the top 10 clubs rose by €4.6 billion, or 155% in that thirteen-year period.

Growth of the Global Game

Growth has been fuelled by digital technologies and consumer trends. Football fans now expect immediate consumption of digital content, whether that is watching live matches, in-game highlights, or updates on social media. The biggest football clubs in the world have social media followers in the hundreds of millions, which in turn allows them to generate ever increasing revenues away from the actual “match” itself.

The rapid growth of the digital world has certainly been a catalyst in the popularity of football as the world’s most followed sport, bringing local clubs to global audiences, creating new fanbases and consumers of their products. But it has also brought risks in the form brand impersonation, counterfeiting of merchandise and ticketing, and the piracy of digital content, which not only damages revenues, but also harms the reputation of the clubs.

The Infringement Landscape

Whilst the authorities try to combat the nefarious activities that impact the football industry, clubs also undertake their own actions to mitigate the risk to fans through brand protection and anti-piracy programmes. At times, it is akin to a game of “Whack-a-mole,” finding the most egregious offenders and taking action to remove counterfeit items, illegitimate content, or unauthorised digital streams, only for them to appear somewhere else online in a matter of minutes. In one season alone, the English Premier League blocked over 600,000 illicit streams. Many of these infringements have deep and dark knock-on effects, often funding organised criminal activities.

The magnitude of rights and image infringement in football is not solely financial. It threatens broadcaster viability, undermines wage structures and grassroots investments, and risks the integrity of fan experience, the domino effect being it keeps money out of clubs and putting it into the hands of criminal syndicates. The scale of these losses highlights the critical need for effective enforcement and constant innovation in legal, technical, and commercial strategies to protect the value and future of the game.

Creating a trusted secure, stable, and unified digital strategy is key to protect revenues and reputations, allowing football clubs to stay one step ahead of the infringers and band abusers. It requires a fine balance between maintaining a presence, providing protection, and ensuring prosperity in the online world. The good news is that there will soon be an opportunity for these global footballing giants to develop such a digital ecosystem, if clubs are prepared to act.

The dotBrand Advantage

The 2026 ICANN new gTLD application round is a twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most organisations to apply for, and manage, their own slide of the Internet. The last opportunity arose in 2012, and there is no future date for a third application period. Back in 2012 organisations such as the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball in the US applied for dotBrand TLDs but there were no individual entities or sporting clubs who took the plunge. Now is the time for the organisations to take the opportunity to create their own dotBrand advantage.

A dotBrand Top-Level Domain (TLD) offers football clubs a powerful platform to unify their digital presence, strengthen security, and transform fan engagement. As more and more football clubs transcend regional borders to become international brands, spanning merchandise, lifestyle, and digital entertainment, the clarity, control, and authenticity of a dotBrand TLD can deliver a game-changing advantage. In the last Deloitte report, this has been borne out by the fact 14 of the current English Premier League clubs appear in the top 30 richest clubs in the world, underlining the global appeal, and revenue-generating opportunities that the digital world now offers.

Total Brand Control and Trust

A club that owns and operates its own dotBrand TLD gains exclusive use of an entire digital namespace. This unmistakably signals official content and allows every player (subject to image rights agreements), event, and initiative to have a meaningful, relevant, and memorable web address. For fans, sponsors, and partners, this assures that every interaction takes place in an environment where the club, and only the club, decides the rules and standards.

Clubs can create specific domain names at will, in many instances at no cost, even extending the use of their TLD to selected partners and affiliates, extending that trust even further into the football ecosystem, such as for authorised ticketing resellers or brand collaborations on merchandising.

The use of bespoke URL shorteners also delivers authenticity and trust to social media users, who know that when they follow a link on official social media channels, they are being taken to genuine content.

Enhanced Fan Experiences

With hundreds of second-level domains at their disposal, clubs can tailor content and streamline journeys, for example for direct matchday sales, for official kit and merchandise, or for premium club experiences. Multi-language microsites would allow clubs to address their diverse global fan base without fragmenting brand identity. Dedicated content spaces can foster deeper, more personal connections, increasing time spent on the club’s official platforms.

Being able to differentiate between legitimate, club-owned digital content and unauthorised use is also a key consideration, especially on social media. Communicating that only URLs that include the club’s name to the right of the dot enhance trust and signpost to authentic content.

Campaign-driven domains can provide custom content, measurement, and premium value to sponsors and other commercial partners. This flexibility supports collaborations across fashion, gaming, technology, and travel, industries where football clubs now play a leading role and a valuable source of income from new markets.

Security and Authenticity

A dotBrand TLD is a fundamental safeguard against cyber threats that football clubs face. Counterfeit merchandise, phishing, and fake ticketing plague global clubs with infringers seeing them as fair game, exploiting the loyalty of the brand. By tightly controlling subdomains and DNS, a dotBrand lets fans know that any club URL address is secure and genuine, greatly reducing fraud risks. This boosts confidence when making purchases or sharing personal data, and also reassures partners and sponsors.

Cases of attempted CEO fraud, or Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks have been reported in British football. Requests to make significant payments to agents or other clubs, purportedly from senior club officials via convincing emails as been reported in recent years with one such attempt to steal £100 million thwarted by the FBI and resulting in a lengthy custodial sentence for the fraudster. Using a dotBrand for email addresses would significantly reduce to risk of such instances happening, with those being targeted being able to spot that request to make such payments were originating from unauthorised sources.

Data and Compliance

Finally, a unified dotBrand environment streamlines consent management, data compliance, and the delivery of targeted offers and experiences, which is a key consideration for clubs operating in multiple jurisdictions with different privacy requirements. Data is the new oil, and using a dotBrand to safeguard fans, and commercial partners, valuable information is critical to build the intellectual property value of a club. In a world where sports organisations are looked at by the eager eyes of wealthy individuals and deep-pocketed financial institutions, the value of IP plays a critical part. A dotBrand TLD, used in a proactive way, not only protects, but significantly grows the value of the intangible assets of a club, which is why the ability to own, manage and report on data is so critical.

Summary

In conclusion, whilst the cost of a dotBrand TLD is not to be sneezed at, in a world of multi-million-pound transfer deals and commercial partnerships, it can provide significant return on investment over a short period. In the race to become, or remain, top of the Deloitte Money League, owning and operating a dotBrand TLD could be a game changer for a club, protecting fans from the dangers of the digital world, enhancing revenue generating opportunities and safeguarding the global reputation of the club, at least in terms of branding.

As football clubs become digital-first global brands, owning and operating a dotBrand TLD is the next evolution. It protects legacy, amplifies commercial value, and most importantly creates a trusted, unforgettable space where every fan interaction is truly “official” and part of the club’s unique football culture. But the opportunity to apply is limited, with the tick already ticking, meaning now is the time to act before it is too late.