The former player of the Spanish National Team, Joan Capdevila, joins the sports marketing agency Playgrande as a partner.
Capdevila, currently in charge of Institutional Relations at Espanyol, joins this company set up a few days ago together with Alberto Hernández, a marketing professional who founded this brand in 2019, with the aim of “finding opportunities where talent, sport and entertainment converge”.
The world champion with La Roja explained to this media that the idea of founding a project of these characteristics had been in his head for years. “It motivates me a lot to be active. Those of us who have been professional players, the sporting career ends very soon and you have to look for new motivations. With Alberto I found the perfect person with whom to share challenges and dreams in something we are passionate about: sport”.
Capdevila admits that this new professional adventure is “a constant masterclass, because every day I am learning things I didn’t know about this field. I have always been attracted to the business world and this project is very interesting”.
“Talent, sport and entertainment” are the three pillars of Playgrande, a project promoted by the ex-footballer together with Alberto Hernández
Both partners are facing the first phase of defining the company by initiating a round of consultations and meetings with companies and managers linked – directly or indirectly – to the sports field, presenting Playgrande to the market.
In their roadmap they already have “very advanced projects”. For example, they have just closed a deal with the streamer TheGrefg, president of the Kings League team Saiyans FC, in which Capdevila participated, for the transfer of the brand image of this club. What’s more, this agreement has allowed Playgrande to register as a promoter of the Campus Saiyans FC, in the Madrid and Barcelona headquarters, to promote children’s football.
The sports marketing agency is also finalising arrangements with major streaming platforms such as Netflix and HBO, to “create original content with them, taking advantage of the fact that Joan has a lot of experience in this format,” explains Hernández. They are also preparing a book on Capdevila’s professional evolution, the presentation of which is conceived as a launch for Playgrande.
This company has recently supported companies such as AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that has used Capdevila’s image, LaLiga, which hires the services of the footballer to generate content, and EA. Previously, with Hernández at the helm, the brand developed actions for Škoda and Audi, also related to sports marketing.
Role as an entrepreneur
Hernandez points out that “Joan has not come here to put on a face. He has rolled up his sleeves and has taken on the role of an entrepreneur. It is not a company that is set up where Joan puts money because he is a footballer. The important thing is the Playgrande brand”. “In everything we go hand in hand. We both make the decisions,” adds Capdevila.
One of the ex-footballer’s greatest strengths in this new phase, says Hernández, is his close contact with “great executives and renowned companies”. “He has a wide range of criteria and his incorporation can open many doors for us”, he points out.
In this launch phase of Playgrande, the renowned ex-footballer assures that “we are very excited and we hope to soon become a consolidated brand”.
Other ex-players in the sector
Capdevila’s is not the only case of an ex-footballer betting on this sector. For example, former Real Madrid defender Álvaro Arbeloa is a partner – with 11.2% of the shares – of MioGroup, the marketing consultancy firm presided over by his brother Yago.
On the other hand, former Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero is a founding partner of the Best 11 Group, which includes the sports representation agencies Best Of You and Area Sport Team and the influencer agency Digital Embassy, among others.
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