By Paulo Loreto Lim

During the recent “Business of Football-Philippines,” an event organized by MMC Sportz, an international sports advertising and communications agency, and sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), which took place last week at the New World Makati Hotel, MMC Sportz CEO Eric Gottschalk encouraged sponsoring football in the country.

“Football needs media in order to drive commercial revenue for clubs,” he explained. “Now is also the perfect time to get involved in football since sponsorship and advertising opportunities are currently very affordable.”

Since the Philippines Football League (PFL) first launched last year, two clubs, FC Meralco Manila and Ilocos United FC, were unable to return for the second season. In addition, Global Cebu FC recently revealed financial challenges after they were unable to make their match against Kaya FC-Iloilo earlier this month.

“The club’s current financial status will not allow us to travel,” the club said in a statement.

Gottschalk also said more media coverage is necessary in developing the sport.

“Each team has a unique story which just needs to be told,” he explained. “Football also needs to create more idols and heroes to attract more media coverage overall.”

The CEO pointed out, it needs to be more than “just covering game scores.”

The event also noted, the PFL has allowed for football to be in the news throughout the year, an improvement from the occasional stories about the Philippine men’s national football team, the Azkals, playing home matches.

However, the event also noted retail sales associated with the sport make up around 1.5 percent of the entire market, while the general public still needs an education on the sport itself./PLL, WDJ