The best Community Builders aren't brands.
They're sporting clubs.
You’ll be hard pressed to find any marketing or branding article, guide or even thought piece, original or AI produced, that doesn’t mention community building as a key strategy in 2026. Buzz topic or not, it’s how brands win now. Whether you’ve got the budget of Nike trying to recapture the running world, or you’re in your bedroom dreaming big like Marty Supreme, it matters. I’m all for it. And I believe the best community builders on earth are sporting clubs.
What I miss about playing sport isn’t the Saturday night travel or playing in front of crowds. It’s the team camaraderie. The moments stretching during warm ups, talking shit during cool downs, with the teammates you’ve signed up for a season long battle with. It’s nearly impossible to replace. Being a fan is the closest we can get.
Sunday, I headed to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium alone but surrounded by 60,000 other people.
But I knew we believed in the same thing.
We wanted the same thing.
We cared for the same thing.
So not once during the hour ride on the 149 bus, did I think for a second I’d be lonely.
That’s what shared belief does.
90 minutes later, we’d either be devastated together or we would be strangers hugging out of pure joy.
While the rest of the football world calls it embarrassing for a club to celebrate finishing 17th, the reality is we dodged a bullet. The bullet with relegation engraved on it.
So yes, we were the happiest fans in world football on Sunday, all bar Arsenal.
We had the most to lose. A billion pound stadium, a self given big club title, already a banter club. Imagine just how bad it would have been.
This is why there isn’t another industry in the world that brings people together the way sport does.
As always, thanks for reading and Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur.
Hayden