What the Football Business Awards Tell Us About the Future of Sport

By Elliot Simmonds, Commercial Director

The Football Business Awards are usually associated with the commercial side of the game. Sponsorships, marketing campaigns, stadium experiences and partnerships tend to dominate the headlines. But spending time at this year’s awards showed something slightly different. Increasingly, football is recognising organisations that understand supporters properly, invest in communities and use evidence to shape decisions.

Looking through the 2026 winners, there was a clear theme running through many of the awards. Clubs and organisations were being recognised not just for generating attention, but for creating experiences and initiatives that connect with people in a meaningful way.

Liverpool FC Foundation won Best Football Community Scheme for Premier League and Championship Clubs, while Crystal Palace FC’s “Palace for All” picked up the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award. Stockport County FC won for its “Kits by County” initiative, and The FA’s “Enough is Enough” campaign received the Transformational Impact Award.

Even categories traditionally viewed as commercial reflected that wider shift. Fan engagement, supporter experience and community connection sat at the heart of many shortlisted projects.

That was particularly noticeable in the Women’s Football Business Award category.

WSL Football won the award, with London City Lionesses and She’s A Baller also recognised. M·E·L Research attended as finalists for our work evaluating the Fan Choice: Alcohol in the Bowl pilot alongside WSL Football.

The project itself says quite a lot about where women’s football is currently positioned. The women’s game has become a space where football feels more willing to test ideas, listen to supporters and build evidence before making longer-term decisions.

The Fan Choice pilot allows supporters at selected matches to drink alcohol in their seats during games. On paper, that might sound like a fairly operational or logistical change. In reality, it opens up wider conversations about supporter culture, matchday atmosphere, safety, inclusivity and what fans actually want from attending live football.

What stood out throughout the evaluation was the importance of not making assumptions on behalf of supporters.

Across the season, M·E·L Research has been carrying out an independent evaluation using fan surveys, focus groups, matchday observations and interviews with club staff, stewards and officials. The work has taken place across more than 100 fixtures in the Barclays WSL and WSL2, including matches at stadiums such as the Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Anfield, Old Trafford and St James’ Park.

The findings so far have been interesting partly because they challenge some of the stereotypes that often surround conversations about alcohol and football crowds.

Mid-season survey results from 4,720 supporters showed fans rated their sense of safety at matches at 9.4 out of 10, while 70% supported having the option to drink alcohol in their seats.

Just as useful as the numbers, though, has been the wider engagement with supporters. Focus groups and consultations with fan groups have added context that simple statistics cannot always provide. Different clubs, stadiums and supporter bases all bring slightly different experiences and expectations.

That is something football is becoming much better at recognising. There is no single “football fan”, and there is rarely a one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to policy or supporter experience.

In many ways, that wider shift was reflected throughout the Football Business Awards. Supporter voice now sits much closer to the centre of decision-making than it once did. Clubs are thinking more carefully about inclusivity, accessibility, community impact and the overall matchday experience because supporters increasingly expect that.

For organisations working in research and evaluation, that creates an important role.

Sport talks a lot about social value, but demonstrating it properly requires evidence. Whether it is a community programme, an inclusion campaign or a change to stadium operations, clubs and governing bodies increasingly need to understand what impact initiatives are actually having and how different groups experience them.

That is where independent research becomes valuable. Good evaluation helps organisations move beyond assumptions and anecdotal feedback. It gives them confidence in what is working, highlights where challenges remain and ensures supporter perspectives are properly represented.

The Football Business Awards this year felt like a reflection of that broader direction of travel. The industry is still commercially ambitious, of course, but there is a growing recognition that football organisations are also community institutions, cultural spaces and public-facing brands that shape people’s experiences in very real ways.

For M·E·L Research, being shortlisted was a welcome recognition of the work our team has been doing with WSL Football throughout the season. More than that, though, it reflected the increasing importance of social research within sport itself.

Football is asking more sophisticated questions than it used to. Understanding supporter experience, community impact and social value is increasingly a part of the conversation, not separate from it.

Need support with your own social research?

Whether you’re a public body, charity, or organisation looking to understand your audience, evaluate impact, or inform future strategies, we’re here to help.

Get in touch with the M·E·L Research team today via our ‘Get in touch’ form below to see how our expert researchers can support your goals. Alternatively, you can email the team at info@melresearch.co.uk.