Is “Sunderland Til I Die” A Smart Marketing Move? ⚫️🔴
I just finished this 8-episode documentary series on Netflix, and I loved it.
It shows real insights into how a professional football team works.
Everything from injured players gossiping with the physios, important CEO strategy sessions on transfer deadline day, and the under 10s throwing snowballs at the first team.
However, it’s not all fun for a pro footie team. Far from it.
“Why the fuck would I come and play for Sunderland?”
Said Martin Bain, CEO of Sunderland Football Club at a board meeting.
He was talking about what football players are probably thinking in their heads when asked if they are interested in signing for the ‘Red and White Army’ of Sunderland.
It’s a relatively big city on the North-East of England, filled with working-class people who have a special tendency to feel sorry for themselves.
A lot of them will have seen their jobs disappear after the shipyards closed in 1988 on Wearside.
Sunderland was once named the biggest shipbuilding town in the world, dating back to 1346.
The point is, most people on the documentary say that once the shipyards “were taken away from them”, the only thing they had left was Sunderland Football Club (the only major footie team in the city).
No wonder. A few weeks ago, the Stadium of Light (SAFC’s home ground) actually broke a record for the most attendance at a game of footie for a team in the third division with 46,039 (!) visitors at the game against Bradford on Boxing Day.
Quick side-note here: One of the most popular fans chants of Sunderland goes something like this:
“We are Sunderland. Sunderland AFC. We are BY FAR…
The greatest team the world has ever seen!
And we are Suuunderland… “
Talk about confidence…
So the question is: is it a good idea to show all of this?
There has been a number of clubs that attempted this move: Juventus on Netflix, Man City: All or Nothing on Amazon Prime, and even Liverpool had a go at this project (although it was mostly shit and uncomfortable to watch).
Ultimately, if you watch content about anyone whether that be Donald Trump, Jose Mourinho or Sunderland AFC, the more you learn about them the more you tend to understand them as you develop a connection.
You might even go as far as liking them.
The most important marketing aspect about Sunderland Till I Die is ATTENTION.
The more people see it, the more people talk about it, the better.
Regardless of whether it is good or bad.
I think one of the main reasons why Sunderland decided to undertake this project is to be able to attract better players and sponsors for the club.
Here is the thing: imagine you are a professional football player, aged 22 and you play for Aston Villa in Birmingham.
The problem is that you struggle to get in the starting line-up as the squad is heavy on left wingers.
It’s January and you might be able to move to a team where you could play more.
2 clubs are calling: Portsmouth and Sunderland.
The two locations are of an equal distance (sort of) from your hometown of Derby so that does not matter much.
Both teams are fighting for promotion from the third division.
Would you go for Portsmouth which you know nothing about, or would you go for Sunderland, which you saw on Netflix?
You know that the kitman is a funny guy, you know you don’t want to get into an argument with Darren Gibson and you like the humour of those two African guys from the academy.
In contrast, you have no clue who the CEO of Portsmouth is, neither the general atmosphere in the team.
It’s a simple choice if you ask me.
Which gets me to the conclusion: yes, I believe it is a very smart marketing move from Sunderland ( since the documentary didn’t suck — sorry Liverpool).
Case closed.
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