Svensk Elitfotboll (Swedish Professional Football Leagues)

How putting fans first, rejecting VAR and foreign money made the Allsvenskan the most popular league in Sweden

On this show, we're celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Allsvenskan by speaking with Robert Johansson, chief communications officer for Svensk Elitfotboll (Swedish Professional Football Leagues), about how their strategy to put fans first made the Allsvenskan the most popular competition in Swedish football, after decades of being behind the Premier League and Champions League.

Driving this change was the NBL17 - a plan to make the Allsvenskan the best league in the Nordic region. To get there, it involved rejecting VAR, making clubs majority owned by fans working with club democracy, banning the multiclub model and putting the power in the hands of the fans and acknowledging the fans as a vital part of the game.

The results were record in-stadium attendances, a tripling of league revenues and 40% of Swedes now naming the Allsvenskan as their favourite league.

Listen to this show if you have an interest in fan engagement and creating challenger brands in football.