From partnerships with clubs big and small to their role representing some of the game’s top stars, Roc Nation is aiming to build brands in new ways all over the world.Seven years ago, Michael Yormark sat down in a room with Roc Nation’s major stakeholders. Jay-Z was there, of course. So, too were fellow Roc Nation founders Juan Perez and Desiree Perez. That group entered that room with one big question: what next? They left with an answer: soccer.Now, on the eve of a World Cup in America, Roc Nation Sports International is doing things even Yormark may not have imagined. The organization has its hands in nearly every part of the modern soccer business. It is an agency, but also a consultant. It works with players, but also partners with some of the biggest brands in the game. It helps clubs grow off the field while expanding their reach beyond it, turning stadiums from sports venues into concert venues and back again. That is the modern game, after all. You cannot just be one thing anymore.That is a mindset at Roc Nation, Yormark says, and that mindset helped dictate the organization’s two latest swings. One comes via a partnership with one of the biggest clubs in the sport, Chelsea FC. The other? That comes alongside a club somewhat off the beaten path, Polish side KS Cracovia. In theory, there are very few common threads between the two clubs. Chelsea are a billion-dollar business regularly competing at the highest levels. KS Cracovia are a local Polish club that has not won its own league since 1948.So what’s the big picture here? Why is a company based in America partnering with clubs in Poland, London, and just about everywhere in between? Why is Roc Nation making these moves at this particular moment? Opportunity, Yormark says. The opportunity is there for anyone willing to seize it.”I think the common thread between all these clubs is that club owners are now looking at their football clubs beyond just being football clubs,” Yormark tells GOAL. “They understand these clubs are brands. They’re lifestyle brands, so how do you monetize that beyond the traditional football audience? That, to me, is the secret sauce. Wrexham is doing it. Como is doing it. We hope to do it in Poland. “Look at what PSG has done. Even on a much grander scale, they were one of the first clubs that said, ‘We’re not just a football brand; we’re a lifestyle brand that’s connected to the culture, so we think we can be bigger than a football club’. That, to me, is the trend. PSG has a store in London in the heart of the Premier League. These clubs are looking at themselves as brands, and they’re going beyond traditional football. How do we create a unique experience for the casual sports fan, and how do we globalize our brands at the same time?”It’s a challenge, Yormark can admit, but one that’s become even more exciting as this summer approaches. The World Cup is set to change everything, and not just in America. In Roc Nation’s eyes, the sport is about to change forever, and that change will be felt everywhere a ball is kicked.
