Could a local business sponsor your grassroots team online?
We are testing an idea for a monthly online sponsorship marketplace: a grassroots team volunteers to be sponsored, a suitable local company is matched to that team, and the team receives funding in return for visible, digital-only sponsor placement.
This page is a research register, not a live marketplace
- No money changes hands. Nothing here is a purchase, a bid or a payment.
- No prices are set yet. We are asking real teams and companies what they would actually pay or accept, not publishing a rate card.
- Nothing you submit is binding. Registering interest does not commit your team or your company to anything.
- No sponsor is announced publicly. Every match, if one happens, is agreed privately first.
- We will follow up by email for a short interview before anything moves further.
The idea, in short
The working model we are testing: a team that receives sponsorship would keep the large majority of what a sponsor pays, with a smaller share retained to run the platform. A sponsor would get a digital shirt placement, a spot on the team's sponsorship page and a simple report of the attention it generated, never a guarantee of sales or leads. Everything in this paragraph is a hypothesis we are trying to prove or disprove, not a live offer.
Who can act for a team or company
An applicant must be able to prove authority to represent the team or club, or the company, they are registering. A coach, parent or volunteer account alone is not proof of commercial authority for a team, and a personal email address alone is not proof of authority for a company. We will ask about this directly during the follow-up interview before anything is agreed.
Sponsor categories we will not consider
These categories are excluded from the start. Registering interest as a company in one of these categories will still be recorded, but it will not lead to a match.
- Gambling and betting
- Alcohol, tobacco, vaping and adult services
- Political campaigning
- Weapons
- High-risk or predatory finance, unregulated investments and crypto promotion
- Misleading health, performance or supplement claims
- Businesses or creative that invite direct contact with children
- Any additional category prohibited by the team, club, territory or governing rules
Club approval is necessary but not sufficient: the platform retains an independent veto and removal right over any sponsor at any time.