Commercial Assessment · May 2026
A LEVELUP® commercial assessment Quantifying the cost of digital sponsorship inaction and identifying the potential to close the gap.
Section 01 — LEVELUP
We have worked across the sports industry for 30+ years, across clubs, rights holders, digital media owners and broadcasters, and have gained invaluable experience around the operations of commercial revenue growth in the process.
Our ambition is to offer this spectrum of knowledge and expertise to clubs who know they need to move, but might not have the resource or expertise to know where to start.
Our fractional consultancy allows clubs to start their own journey of growth, with senior-level expertise across the commercial ecosystem, working collaboratively with your existing resource base.
In summary, we aim to shape and grow the full commercial ecosystem of ambitious clubs by supporting the development of incremental and long-term revenue solutions.
“Senior-level experience, for less than the cost of an FTE.”
The LEVELUP promise
Section 02 — Scope
Included
Not included
Deferred — optional extensions
Additional topic assessments require an agreement of fee before work can progress, unless undertaken under a retained model.
SECTION 03 — WHERE YOU CURRENTLY SIT
Estimated annual opportunity cost
£80k–£170k
This is what Dulwich Hamlet FC are leaving on the table every season by not commercialising digital inventory. A risk few clubs can afford to continue. This assessment highlights the gaps, identifies the potential, and recommends work streams to bridge them in collaboration with existing staff.
Dulwich Hamlet FC is one of English football's most distinctive non-league clubs — not because of league position, but because of what the club represents. The Hamlet's values (inclusivity, community, anti-discrimination) and its partner ecosystem (Defected Records, Octopus Energy, Franco Manca, Meat Liquor, Brick Brewery) make it a uniquely attractive commercial platform for brands that want authentic association with a progressive South London identity. That identity is its primary commercial asset, and it is not yet being leveraged digitally at anywhere near its potential value.
Dulwich Hamlet's brand identity commands genuine premium value among a growing category of brands (ethical consumer, B-Corp, sustainability, creative industry, independent food and drink) who actively seek exactly this kind of association. Yet the club's current digital sponsorship offering is almost entirely absent: very little contracted social deliverables, limited audience data product, no content series, no structured media buying inventory. The brand is being sold at analogue prices in a digital market.
What exists vs. what is being sold
The following table maps Dulwich Hamlet's existing digital assets against whether they are currently structured as commercial products. The gap between column 2 and column 3 is the opportunity.
| Digital asset | Exists? | Sold commercially? | Current status & gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram (@dulwichhamletfc) | Yes: 27K followers | Not structured | Ad hoc partner mentions only. No contracted post frequency, no reach reporting, no audience data sold to sponsors. |
| Instagram (@dhfc_w Women's) | Yes: 6.5K followers | No | Not included in any sponsor package. Unmonetised entirely. |
| Facebook (11.8K likes) | Yes | No | Used for club communications only. No sponsor integration, no boosted post product. |
| YouTube / Dulwich Hamlet TV | Yes: Active channel | No | Match highlights and club content uploaded. No sponsor pre-roll, no branded series, no subscriber growth strategy. |
| Club website (dulwichhamletfc.co.uk) | Yes | Logo listing only | Partner logo on sponsors page. No 'presented by' content, no sponsored editorial, no newsletter product. |
| Player / squad social accounts | Yes: Players active on Instagram | No | No structured player content programme. Defected/Monki crossover is organic, not a priced product. |
| Matchday email / comms | Likely: Ticketing database | No | No evidence of a fan email newsletter used as a sponsor vehicle. Ticketing data not packaged. |
| Champion Hill match day content | Yes: In-ground, organic | No | No digital wrapper around matchday (no pre/post social, no branded story content, no email recap). |
| Women's team crossover content | Partial: Defected / Monki organic | No | The most valuable untapped content asset. Monki (DJ, Defected artist, DHFC Women's player) = unique cross-industry story not systematically activated. |
| Partner co-branded content | Defected only: informal | Not priced | The Defected partnership generates organic social reach from both sides. Not structured as a deliverable or replicated across other partners. |
The following benchmark focuses on non-league and Isthmian League tier clubs, plus clubs whose values-led identity makes them the most instructive comparators, regardless of league.
| Club / tier | Digital spon. % | Key digital asset | What Dulwich can learn |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC Wimbledon (League One) | 10–15% | Football Manager front of shirt deal offers structured content rights, game integration, social crossover, & EFL partnership collaboration. | Values-aligned digital partnerships can be structured as formal content products, not just logo placements. FM's content integration model is directly replicable for Defected or other key partners. |
| Salford City (League Two) | 25–35% | Fireball 360-degree deal: contracted social/digital content, broadcast, in-store; AIG partnership includes Palantir AI and digital fan engagement. | A non-league/lower league club can attract premium digital-native brands if the commercial proposition is packaged correctly and ownership brings credibility. |
| Hashtag United (Isthmian Premier) | 60–80% (est.) | Built entirely on YouTube/social-first model, content IS the product, matches are the content vehicle; a true influencer model driving value. | The most extreme version of what Dulwich could aspire to: digital audience as the primary commercial asset. Hashtag's model is content-first, not football-first. |
| FC United of Manchester (Northern Premier) | ~4-6% (current) | Values-led partner ecosystem (ethical brands, co-ops, community businesses) similar to DHFC profile but less digitally structured. | Community and values-led clubs can attract a premium category of brand partner, but only if the digital packaging exists to give those brands measurable reach. |
| Dulwich Hamlet (Isthmian Premier) | ~4-6% (current) | Defected Records organic crossover; Women's/Monki story untapped; very little contracted digital deliverables across any partner relationship. | Baseline. This document is the roadmap to identifying the potential, and closing the gap. |
SECTION 04 — ASSESSMENT
Asset gap identification
Having reviewed your sponsorship sales collateral and digital output & channels, we have identified a number of opportunities which are easy to deliver. The following are opportunities of digital inventory Dulwich Hamlet could package and sell to sponsors (with high perceived value based on our experience as rights holders & sponsors), moving beyond traditional logo placements into structured content products and media solutions.
Bespoke film, photography and editorial built around partner objectives and club stories.
Multi-episode digital series with dedicated partner branding and integrated messaging.
Branding across YouTube and other social content produced by the club offering embedded partner visibility in every post and episode.
Access to Dulwich's engaged digital audience through targeted media placements and campaigns.
Partnerships that align with club values (community, inclusivity, culture) not just exposure.
Website, social, and match day inventory sold as structured advertising packages.
Example packages
The following are opportunities of digital inventory Dulwich Hamlet could package and sell to sponsors (with high perceived value based on our experience as rights holders & sponsors), moving beyond traditional logo placements into structured content products and media solutions. We have also included some example packaging ideas below which are valued and applicable for existing sponsors & new prospects.
CUSTOM CONTENT
Multi-episode short-form video series filmed at Champion Hill and across the community with the sponsor presented naturally inside the content, & distributed across Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Price
£4k–£8k / series
Volume
3 series/yr
Annual
£12k–£24k
CUSTOM CONTENT
Cross-industry music × football × community series led by Monki (Defected artist, DHFC Women's player), distributed across DHFC and Defected's global channels with a co-branded merch drop.
Price
£6k–£12k / series
Volume
1 series/yr
Annual
£6k–£12k
CONTENT SERIES SPONSORSHIP
Pre-match, matchday and post-match digital wrapper across every home fixture including Story takeovers, behind-the-scenes content & post-match reels with sponsor branding and monthly reach reporting.
Price
£500–£900 / fixture
Volume
20 fixtures
Annual
£10k–£18k
SOCIAL PARTNER
Named 'Official Digital Partner' of DHFC Women's. To receive branded posts on @dhfc_w, presenting partner of women's matchday content, player spotlight series and quarterly audience insight report.
Price
£4k–£8k / yr
Volume
1 partner
Annual
£4k–£8k
SOCIAL PARTNER
Named 'Presented by [Brand]' across all DHTV YouTube content, sponsor segments in monthly highlights, three co-produced feature videos per season & quarterly YouTube analytics.
Price
£5k–£10k / yr
Volume
1 partner
Annual
£5k–£10k
MEDIA & AUDIENCE BUYING
Annual fan demographic profile, quarterly fan surveys with sponsor questions, social audience overlap report and one sponsored email send per half-season with category exclusivity included.
Price
£3k–£6k / yr
Volume
2 partners
Annual
£6k–£12k
MEDIA & AUDIENCE BUYING
DHFC posts sponsor content to its channels with paid social budget behind it thereby boosted to a custom South London audience with guaranteed minimum impressions and a full post-campaign report.
Price
£1k–£1.5k / campaign
Volume
8 campaigns/yr
Annual
£8k–£12k
IDENTITY-ALIGNED PACKAGES
Named partner of a DHFC community initiative (Pride matchday, anti-discrimination day, free community day) with co-branded content, joint statement post and inclusion in the annual impact report.
Price
£5k–£10k / yr
Volume
2 initiatives/yr
Annual
£10k–£20k
IDENTITY-ALIGNED PACKAGES
Structured programme for 3–5 DHFC players to create authentic sponsored content on their personal accounts — Monki as flagship talent unlocks global reach via her music audience.
Price
£2k–£4.5k / yr
Volume
1 programme
Annual
£2k–£4.5k
DIGITAL BRANDING & ADVERTISING
Structured advertising package across website, social and match day inventory including homepage takeover slots, in-feed sponsored posts and match day digital perimeter branding with monthly impression reporting.
Price
£2k–£5k / partner
Volume
Unlimited
Annual
£20k–£50k
Total estimated annual digital revenue
£83k–£170k
Estimate only. Based on creating packages across the above six categories.
In summary
A fully activated digital commercial programme could generate £83k–£170k of additional annual revenue for Dulwich Hamlet, from zero new infrastructure investment, using only existing channels, existing audience, and existing partner relationships repackaged with structure and measurability.
Equating to roughly 10–20x the current digital sponsorship income (estimated).
SECTION 05 — WHAT TO DO NEXT
Approach Defected about a music x football culture content mash-up. Defected already plays a commercial role in the club and the relationship could be upgraded into a content product for the benefit of both parties, with Monki's presence on both sides of the partnership supporting its credibility. Defected benefits from a structured content tie-up. Dulwich Hamlet benefit from a paid production and cross-platform reach into Defected's 100k Instagram audience. A win-win for both parties.
Potential
£6k–£12k
A relatively simple addition to Dulwich's match day sponsorship offering. To deliver, this work stream only requires a social media scheduler, a basic brief template and post-match reporting. Easily added as a bolt-on for existing or new match day sponsors from the start of the new season.
Potential
£10k-£18k
The women's programme is very under-monetised asset at the club. A dedicated women's team digital partner could be an approach to one of the existing partner contacts, or the progressive & female-skewing demographic could equally be attractive to ethical consumer, women's wellness or independent fashion brands which are looking for authentic association to football but not finding it priced accessibly.
Potential
£4k–£8k
Modern sponsors aim for a balance of awareness & engagement in their contracts, understanding that branding is visible but hard to measure. Engagement in the form of content is a simple way to deliver a brand's story & connection to the club in a way in which Dulwich's fans can understand, and share. With measurement baked in to demonstrate ROI to sponsors.
Potential
£20k–£50k
SECTION 06 — SUPPORT
Phase 01
ASSET DEFINITION
FOC
We can help you to define your digital assets, their value, how they are packaged and the delivery processes which sit behind them to ensure client satisfaction.
Phase 02
ONGOING SUPPORT
RETAINER
We can be your digital experts to develop & innovate your product, create packages in line with sponsor needs, support negotiations & deliver your content offering.
Minimum 3 months consultancy. All costs and timelines are indicative — final scope agreed post-assessment.
Next steps
Why not book a follow-up to walk through the findings, prioritise workstreams and agree a approach? We look forward to discussing more.
Book a follow-up