A real-world consulting project bridges education and industry as The FBA Candidates bring global insight to the South Korean football league.
What is a Student Business Project (SBP) from The Football Business Academy? The SBP’s can be seen as junior consulting missions in which groups of Candidates work on a topic that is of strategic interest to one of The FBA 90+ International Partners. On one hand, it allows The FBA to confirm that the Candidates are ready to step into the football industry fully, whereas on the other hand, it’s a very valuable tool for their Partners to develop their needs as well, as they get to pick the brains and ideas of their Candidates. From start to finish, there are several touch points between each group and their Partner, resulting in a very exciting exchange that is also conducive from a networking and professional perspective.
“The team brought diverse backgrounds and clear methods. They used structured strategy tools and change management thinking to keep the work realistic and action oriented.” – Kyuha Lee, HRD, K League
This a valuable experience with an industry key stakeholder, thereby building the Candidates curriculum in preparation for the job market. These are true partner projects that the club or federation needs for their business. It is unique to each Edition and to each group of Candidates. The FBA does not utilize the same projects Edition after Edition. This ensures that the Candidates can get a true hands-on experience of what a project in the industry may look like. Some past projects include, Process Documentation with The Irish FA, Building Youth Fan Engagement and Local Identity for Independiente del Valle, Revenue Strategy for Girona FC, Unlocking Innovative Commercial Content and Marketing Growth for Wolverhampton Wolves FC, and Integrating Commercial and Fan Strategy with The K League.
“A project like this was essential because it provided the opportunity to apply the theoretical and strategic frameworks from the Master’s program to a real organization in the football industry.” – Frederik Bredsdorff, 15th Ed Alumnus
From the most recent 15th Edition, Alumnus Frederik and his group of The FBA Candidates were able to work with The K League from South Korea. We sat down with Kyuha Lee who works in the HR Department and Frederik, to find out what their thoughts and perspectives were regarding this project titled “Integrated Commercial and Fan Strategy”. According to Lee, the K League is looking to create a league-wide integrated marketing model to connect sponsorship, centralize ticketing and merchandising, and build a CRM with a single fan ID into one operating system. That way every touch point of the fan is turned into a unified experience.
From Theory to Practice with the K League: An Alumni Perspective
Completing a final project or thesis for a Masters program is standard, however many times this is done independently, and the topic is decided by the Candidate. What makes The FBA’s final SBP unique, is that Candidates instead have the opportunity to work directly with a Football Club or Federation, a project is presented to them and they do so within a group, making the experience feel more like what would happen in the real world.
For Frederik, he found that working with such an established league offered genuine professional context while translating the education component into actionable insight, bridging the gap between education and industry practice and collaborating with The K League and Kyuha was extremely rewarding for him. “Kyuha was very professional, clear in her communication, and genuinely interested in our findings. The collaboration felt dynamic, with room for creativity and mutual learning. It also gave valuable insight into how Asian football leagues approach growth, fan culture, and digital strategy differently from European leagues.”
Frederik was most surprised by how open and engaged the K League was. Despite them being on the other side of the world, they were genuinely interested in the teams’ ideas and understanding how international perspectives could develop their fan engagement. Additionally, he realized “how quickly the fan culture in Korea is evolving and how tech-savvy their audience already is. The level of digital engagement, from OTT platforms to fandom communities, was more advanced than I expected. It also surprised me how open K League was to exploring global best practices to modernise its fan engagement,” something he may not have learned had he not been given this type of project.
As the project is completed in the 4th Module of the program in Lisbon, Portugal, groups can come together in person. Frederik’s group worked in a structured and collaborative way. Receiving the prompt before meeting in Lisbon, they met online and decided early on to divide responsibilities based on their strengths, some focused on research and benchmarking, others on data analysis, and others on the final presentation and visuals. He says, “Although we didn’t establish an official leader, everyone took initiative when needed, and we maintained clear communication throughout. As the project evolved, we aligned weekly to refine our findings and ensure consistency in our work.”
Being prepared to complete a project like this can seem daunting, however Frederik told us he felt very equipped. Thanks to the theoretical knowledge gained and practical experiences that led up to this, the classes were very relevant to the project he and his group were given. Having hands-on experience from the internship and understanding how a football organization operates, it made it easier to understand and deliver the SBP. Additionally, The FBA staff was excellent in guiding him and his team through how to structure the research, manage expectations and deliver a professional presentation.
After completing a project like this, you may wonder, is it useful? Are you prepared for the Football Industry? Frederik, like many of The FBA Alumni, feel that yes it is, “the SBP provided a taste of the type of consulting and analytical work that is increasingly common in football today”. He was able to develop his ability to work across cultures, manage group dynamics, and deliver under deadlines skills that are essential in the football industry. Most importantly, it helped him understand how to translate complex data and market research into clear, strategic recommendations for a professional client.
Unlocking New Value with The FBA: The K League’s Perspective
Kyuha’s main responsibilities at The K League include education and training for employees within the first and second leagues as well as managing academic industry collaborations like the one with The FBA. She said, “The K League decided to collaborate with The FBA because we truly wanted a fresh outside perspective and a product we could use right away”.
The collaboration between Kyuha and The FBA candidates was very smooth. She let us know that the candidates came prepared, on time and asked clear, focused questions. They leaned into understanding the fans in Korea, by creating simple ideas that would reach Korean fans and took the time to understand Kakao talk, a popular messaging app. By looking at this project in the eyes of Korean fans, she believes the fans would buy and follow through the concepts created.
“Even with limited data and systems still being built, the team understood our context very quickly and they got into concrete details. They sketched ticketing flows and a merchandise shop structure, CRM builds and used content language aligned with FIFA. A basic dashboard and a simple Club communication plan at that level of detail was impressive,” says Kyuha.
Now, she believes that The K league can take advantage of some of these strategies and believes they would work The FBA again in the future. Some of those key ideas include growing the CRM and keeping KPI’s simple, along with having buy-in plans for bigger corporations. The project itself will impact the long-term strategies by guiding the league on how they build the platform and choose partners. They will set governance by running pilots that can be scaled across the first and second leagues, essentially giving them a roadmap.
Final Advice for Future Game Changers
Kyuha left some advice for future Candidates as they prepare for an SPB with a partner like the K League. “Come with an open mind and learn how football is structured within the federation or club you are working with. But keep it simple and practical and align with the scope early. For this project, showing a pilot KPI, scaled with one clear process diagram… that really helped everyone move together.”
Alumni final advice? “Treat the SBP as a real job rather than just an academic assignment. Be proactive, communicate well with your teammates, and take ownership of your part of the work. The experience is only as valuable as the effort you put into it. The SBP is an incredible opportunity to prove your ability to work with real football stakeholders and the lessons you learn from it will be directly applicable once you enter the industry.”
If you want real world experience and the best opportunity to enter the Football Industry, then a Professional Master Degree from The Football Business Academy is your next move. Take your shot today and Apply Now. Applications are open for the March and September 2026 Editions.
