This scale-up is working
together with the KNVB
and will help a million
Arab children
learn to play football better

Dotcomsport makes it easier for football clubs and federations to measure and improve player performance. In this interview, Johan Henkes, CEO of the sports tech scale-up, explains how the company wants to grow and how it is making use of the investment and network of the Dutch Sport Tech Fund. Henkes also talks about the prominent names the company has managed to attract, such as the football associations of Saudi Arabia, the USA, and the Netherlands.

Dotcomsport is part of International Sports Group, in which Dutch Sport Tech Fund invests. The scale-up is what is known as an Athlete Performance company. Through data and video analysis, clubs and federations are able to monitor and effectively improve player performance. This should lead to better coaches and players. Dotcomsport’s software is already used in 23 countries, by more than 500 sports organizations and clubs, as well as federations such as FC Utrecht, the KNVB, and the Irish Football Association. Last year, the company secured a significant deal with the government of Saudi Arabia, which will allow the sports performance of approximately one million Arab children to be measured in the coming years.

“We are the most complete club management platform for football clubs and the solution that is suitable for most clubs. There are several providers in our market, but they mainly focus on the biggest clubs in the world. However, there aren’t many clubs like PSG and FC Barcelona, but there are many amateur clubs, so from the start we have focused on the mid-market segment. That’s why our software is easy to use, even for those without a technical background. The more user-friendly software is, the more successful it is in the football market, because not everyone at amateur clubs has grown up with computers.”

“In terms of performance, you can see a number of developments. For example, over the past year and a half, the combination of data and video has become increasingly popular. The KNVB wanted to roll out this combination at Dutch amateur clubs, and now video and data are being picked up at grassroots level; by the clubs themselves. Recently, we acquired SportsAnalysis, which allows us to combine video footage and football data. This is how we are responding to this trend. Another trend is Gamification. With the help of wearables (portable measuring devices, such as Fitbits or sports watches), it is now possible to share Champions League-like performance data at the amateur level as well.”

“We have invested heavily in optimizing our marketing and are deliberately choosing technology in this process. From sales to onboarding, we automate processes, allowing us to get even more return from our online marketing. In the football market, a good network is indispensable. Over the past years, we have worked extremely hard to build a strong network and connect ourselves with prominent names. As a result, we are increasingly successful in bringing new federations and associations on board. From such a federation or association, we then approach all clubs in the relevant region. This way, we make smart use of the existing network. For example, from the federation of Aruba, it is easy to connect the 16 clubs in Aruba to us as well. This network effect is a global phenomenon and makes our model highly scalable.”

“We have around 510 teams affiliated with us, of which 350 are amateur clubs. These are clubs from all over the world. Think of partnerships in Australia, China, and India. We also count the associations of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Ireland, and the Netherlands among our clients. As for football clubs, you should think of Malmö FF, many clubs in the Eredivisie outside the top three, and almost all clubs from the first division and main class.”

“Football is the biggest sport in the world, so there are opportunities for collaborations everywhere. In many countries, resources are available and there is interest in technology, which offers many opportunities. In addition, we have a good network and track record, which gives us an advantage. We expect a significant growth spurt in our profits. This is because the football world suffered greatly from the pandemic, and we now expect a strong recovery period. We also hope to make another acquisition, which will help us achieve even more growth momentum.”

“Dutch Sport Tech Fund is of course one of the funding partners of ISG, of which Dotcomsport is a part. The fund primarily supports us with financial resources. In the future, we see great opportunities by collaborating with other portfolio companies or sharing each other’s networks. For example, consider Jogo, which also aims to improve player performance through data. There lies an opportunity for co-creation and/or to strengthen each other’s networks.”

“Our mission is to help improve player performance, and more and more clubs are choosing our technology to get started with this. We have an edge over the competition because we continue to benefit from a strong network effect, allowing us to quickly onboard new clubs and federations. Our strategy is built on three pillars: Learning (libraries of training materials), Systems (Dotcomsport, SportAnalysis), and Audit (quality assessment of youth academies). This is a unique combination of activities under one umbrella and offers (international) growth opportunities. In addition, we aim to make acquisitions to achieve even more growth. This growth should create economies of scale and give us even more clout. In the coming years, we hope to take a big step towards our goal of having 2,000 clubs connected, which would prepare us for an exit.”