Europe's richest football clubs are missing out on nearly $900 million worth of combined revenue per year by failing to build supporter loyalty, according to a new report. The Fan Relationship Index shows that NFL and NBA supporters spend 10 times the amount of money on supporting their clubs than football fans. 

The CLV group, who commissioned the report, says that football clubs are failing to cash in on new digital revenue streams and connect with fans outside of matchdays. 

"Football teams in Europe right now only realistically understand about 5 percent of their global fan bases," Neil Joyce, Chief Executive Officer of CLV Group told CGTN. "The report shows that roughly 95 percent of fans are unknown to clubs. 
 

"If you can better understand the wants and needs of those fans you can then marry them up with digital propositions such as new loyalty programs underpinned by Web3 technologies, virtual streaming and also matchday experiences. Much of that today is about capacity and match fans. Digital propositions give you limitless capacity."

According to the report, football lovers in Brazil spend the most on supporting their team, shelling out an average of $206 a year. Fans in the UK and Spain are just behind.  
 

When you break that down by club, it's fans of Premier League champions Manchester City who spend the most at just over $250 each per year.  

But, while that seems like a hefty sum, fans of NFL and NBA teams are willing to part with much more money to support and engage with their teams - so what exactly are the clubs doing to tempt supporters to open their wallets? 

"They've optimized on the match, they found," Joyce explains. "So they charge a lot higher for tickets to go and watch an NBA game. There are also a lot more NBA games per season - there are 38 Premier League games but over 100 plus per season in the NBA."

But, with elite clubs already resistant to adding more games to a packed schedule, Joyce believes tapping into new markets and technologies is the secret to building new revenue streams. 

"NBA clubs have done a really great job of engaging with fans in global markets like China, where they've increased revenue through streaming propositions into that marketplace," he adds.  

"So the signs are there for what the Premier League teams and the European teams need to follow. It's just a case of really investing heavily and understanding, unlocking new opportunities around those global fans who they don't understand right now."