Valencia CF has provided another example of how Spanish football clubs can build stronger relationships with supporters and commercial audiences beyond their traditional home market.
The club, together with main global partner TM Grupo Inmobiliario and with the collaboration of LALIGA, staged a watch party in Amsterdam on 2 October, bringing together more than 60 clients, partners and Valencia supporters in the Netherlands.
Rather than simply promoting the club remotely, the idea was to create a physical meeting point for people already connected — or potentially connected — with Valencia CF and its partners.
It is an approach that reflects an increasingly important opportunity for Spanish football: international supporters do not have to live close to the stadium to develop a meaningful relationship with a club.
For clubs based in Spain, that international audience can include foreign residents, regular visitors, tourists, property owners and football supporters who already have an affinity with the area.
Good communication can introduce them to the club, but creating experiences and a sense of belonging can turn casual interest into something much stronger.
The Amsterdam event was also commercially relevant. TM Grupo Inmobiliario used the occasion to connect with strategic audiences in one of its important European markets, while football provided the common interest around which those relationships could develop.
And this was not a one-off experiment.
In February, Valencia CF and TM organised a similar event in Utrecht, again attracting more than 60 supporters, clients and partners.
That repetition is important.
Building an international audience is rarely achieved through a single translated social-media post or occasional overseas campaign. It comes from consistently communicating with people in a way they understand, recognising them as part of the club’s wider community and finding opportunities to bring that relationship into the real world.
For Spanish clubs of every size, the opportunity does not necessarily have to mean staging events hundreds of kilometres away.
In many areas of Spain, the international audience is already on the doorstep.
The challenge is making sure the club is speaking to them.
Photo: Valencia CF