My experience as Revenue Analyst at Olympique de Marseille
In this article, Quentin CHUZET (ESSEC Business School, Global Bachelor in Business Administration (GBBA), 2019-2023) shares his professional experience as Revenue Analyst at Olympique de Marseille.
About the company
Olympique de Marseille is a French football club founded in 1899. It is one of the most emblematic clubs in French and European football history, with an emblematic international reputation. Through decades of performance and media exposure, it has become an emblem of French sport, inscribing itself as a culture and tradition for millions of supporters around the world.
Logo of the Olympique de Marseille
Source: Olympique de Marseille.
Its takeover by the Mc Court Group in 2016 initiated a radical change in management and in the harmonization of processes, to continue to broaden its scope and enable grows bigger. Therefore, the club generates more than 200m € for the seasons 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 with 270m € of revenues expected for the season 2023-2024 It bases its growth on the sporting aspect but also on innovative sport business strategies. With a stadium capacity surpassing any of other Ligue 1 club (67.000 seats) and a meticulous ticketing strategy, the club is part of the Top 10 of the most attractive stadiums in Europe and continues to capitalize on its national and European reach.
OM Revenues vs other clubs.
Source: Deloitte Football Benchmark.
My apprenticeship
Joining Olympique de Marseille allowed me to discover and evolve within the soccer ecosystem, but also to take a practical approach to issues relating to football clubs revenues optimization and maximization.
The diversity of revenue sources at a club like Olympique de Marseille opens the door to a wide range of missions and tasks. As I was directly involved in all strategic aspects of revenue management : I was notably involved in defining the pricing of Ticketing & Hospitality (VIP) revenue streams, drawing up business plans for club projects, managing budgets and revenue targets set at the start of the season, analyzing financial opportunities represented by the entry of sponsors or investors, etc.
I therefore occupied a strategic role, acting as a pivot between the sales and finance teams, defining budgets alongside management control and that could be reachable for the commercial team, and while supporting the sales teams in achieving the latter by analyzing revenue opportunities and proposing strategic recommendations.
1/4 French Cup, season 2022-2023 : OM-Annecy. Historical record of attendance for a ¼ in the club’s and competition’s history.
Source: Olympique de Marseille.
My missions
Strategic recommendations and pricing
The main task assigned to a Revenue Analyst at Olympique de Marseille is to play an active role in defining pricing for the general public and VIPs at each match. To do this, I had to identify the exogenous variables of each match and quantify their impact in order to measure inbound demand as a function of a certain price level. Using historical data from similar matches and cross-referencing it with the maximization opportunities available at any given moment, I was responsible for drawing up the pricing and sales strategy (choosing best commercialization timing, best offer to address etc.) calculating forecast revenue trends and presenting my recommendations to management on several occasions. Thanks to our strategy the club reached the total of 1.550.000 attenders for a unique season and broke other records as the highest attendance ever known for one game (65.984 attendees vs PSG), the highest average attendance for one season (62.065 attendees), the highest number of sold-out games (23 over the season) and the highest attendance ever known for a French Cup game (63.929 attendees). Finally, the strategies leaded by the Revenue Management department leaded to a 4.8M € maximization of the total club revenues.
Participation in club project profitability studies
More generally, as a Revenue Analyst, I was involved in every aspect of the club’s revenue development.
Conducting pricing analysis and manage commercial strategy was part of the Ticketing & Hospitality revenue stream. However, my missions also involved providing my vision on certain high-stakes projects involving additional revenue generation. From the arrival of potential sponsors and investors to the launch of the new “Peuple Bleu&Blanc” loyalty program, I was responsible for measuring the profitability of these projects by calculating the potential income they could generate, while defining and steering a strategy for maximizing it.
Intermediary role between sales and finance teams
The role was multi-functional in terms of strategy, finance, and sales. We had to define ambitious, realistic budgets alongside management control, while supporting the sales teams in achieving them. To do this, we analyzed revenue opportunities and proposed appropriate strategic recommendations for the Ticketing, Hospitality, Retail, Membership and other revenue streams.
Development of steering tools and reporting dashboards
As the analysis are based almost entirely on the measurement of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), the development of management tools represented a major challenge. So, it was up to me to play an active part, working with the IT (Information Technology) and back-office teams.
Required skills and knowledge
In my role at Olympique de Marseille, it is crucial to understand the financial and commercial issues facing the club and its teams. It’s also important to develop a strategic way of thinking in which everything can be optimized.
As a Revenue Analyst, every recommendation needs to be backed up by data, and every opportunity must be quantified to support each recommendations. That’s why you need to have an excellent mind for analyzing and interpreting data.
Furthermore, the numerous presentations and reports to management require solid written and oral communication skills (PowerPoint presentations, e-mail reports, etc.), as well as adaptability to the person you’re talking to, in order to make the right points and get your recommendations accepted.
In addition, mastery of Excel and the budgeting/revenue forecasting process is key to this position. As each decision has a significant impact on the season’s revenues, numerous budget forecasts are required, particularly around Best/Mid/Worst scenarios. It is also necessary to master the Power BI tool (Business Intelligence by Microsoft) to be able to develop and interpretate every KPI.
Finally, it is essential to be humble and questioning in order to identify areas for improvement in each strategy, and to meet management’s requirements on an ongoing basis and know how to identify the best practices of these recommendations.
OM revenues details for the 2022/2023 season.
Source : Deloitte Report
Financial concepts related to my apprenticeship
Budget Management
Budget management is a key concept in this position, influencing the decisions of sales teams and having a major impact on every strategy implemented. Budget management represents a guideline for costs and revenues, and in particular the preparation of a forecast budget which serves as a basis for input management.Revenue Management
Revenue Management is a key concept which consists of defining variables considered to have an impact on maximizing revenues in periods of growth and limiting losses in periods of decline. For a club such as Olympique de Marseille, this means capitalizing on positive trends (good sporting dynamics, special matches, etc.) and protecting revenues when the sportive situation is non-favorable : succession of bad games, bad weather on matchday, non-attractive game due to opponent.Business Plans and Financial modeling
Studying the profitability of projects and simulating the impact of commercial strategies involves drawing up business plans and financial models in order to calculate forecast revenues. To do this, we need to establish different scenarios adapted to different contexts and KPIS and then take into account the action and development plans for these projects, as well as the business models used.Why should I be interested in this post?
If you’re interested in the field of Finance and Strategy, particularly within a soccer club, then this article will give you a clearer picture of the tasks and skills required, as well as the importance of Revenue Management within a sporting institution. Through this empowering experience, I was able to develop both the hard skills that will serve me well in my future career in Finance, and the soft skills that will enable me to perform in a demanding, high-pressure environment.
If you have any questions about the position or the sector, please don’t hesitate to contact me on my personal Linkedin page, I’ll be delighted to answer them.
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Useful resources
Deloitte reporting : Football Money League 2024 edition
Official French Football League website : All DNCG report until 2021-2022 season
About the author
The article was written in March 2024 by Quentin CHUZET (ESSEC Business School, Global Bachelor in Business Administration (GBBA), 2019-2023).