‘Something a little bit different’: Portsmouth chief’s tantalizing response to documentary talk and bid to crack US market

Andy Cullen has delivered an intriguing insight into Pompey’s bid to crack the US market and a possible future documentary project.

The Blues chief executive has confirmed plans for the club to diversify their content offering to supporters across the globe, in an effort to raise their profile worldwide.

Chairman Michael Eisner stated earlier this month Pompey would look to ‘copy to a degree’ the likes of Wrexham, who’ve had huge success with behind-the-scenes offerings.

Cullen played down replicating that formula, and indicated they will look to a fresh approach in which they can build the club’s standing to a wider audience.

The Pompey CEO pointed to the deal agreed between American network CBS and the EFL last year and the immersive entertainment venues showing EFL games, as indicative of the Stateside opportunities which now exist.

Cullen said: ‘Michael’s cognizant of what we want to do.

‘What we’re seeing is the EFL, particularly with the Championship and the likes of Wrexham and Birmingham, having a profile in the US.

‘There was a new TV deal concluded last year with CBS in America. The coverage with CBS has been game-changing to the US audience.

‘I think what we’re trying to do is grow the club in every possible way we can.

‘We’ve got a really, really strong community club with its roots in Portsmouth and we’ve got a really strong nationwide reach.

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‘Now what we want to try to do is get Pompey known to a wider audience and take advantage of the reach we could have in the US.

‘There’s a number of different ways clubs have been able to do that through a whole plethora of documentaries.

‘A lot of those have been particularly themed for a US market, rather than a domestic audience.

‘You can see the success Wrexham and a few others have had going into it, it’s just one strand of things we can do to build Pompey in America.

‘There are other ways of doing it. The other way the EFL has worked well is with Cosm with the interactive 3D experience in LA, Dallas and going into Atlanta soon as well.

‘They tended to branch more towards Wrexham but our game with Sheffield United was featured and worked well.

‘Maybe if we do something, and I’m not saying it will be or won’t be, but if we’re able to do something would it be exactly the same as Welcome to Wrexham or Sunderland Til I Die? Probably not.

‘It could be something different, because you want to deliver fresh content that networks will enjoy.

‘If it’s not for a network and we do it for our own channels, we’d be hopeful to create new audiences and new revenues from the US market.

‘Football is coming up to a really big time with the Fifa World Club Cup this summer and more importantly the World Cup and Women’s World Cup as well.

‘Whether we’ll see a documentary in the sense of a Welcome to Wrexham or a Sunderland Til I Die just yet, I wouldn’t focus on that one too much.

‘It’s more how we can deliver really great content.’

This season saw Pompey roll out their own matchday offering successfully with the launch of Pompey+, which also offers behind-the-scenes content.

Pompey chief: How do we create content which is different?

Cullen hinted at the club looking to other avenues, too, with there now a number of podcasts and YouTube channels all focussed purely on the Blues.

Any documentary-style offering looks to be further down the line, with Cullen staying tight-lipped on any details at this stage.

Cullen added: ‘It’s about looking at how we can deliver content.

‘Documentaries is one way, but we can also look at some bespoke channels for social media. ESPN have just started to work on an independent Instagram channel to promote many clubs in the US market.

‘So how do we do that? How do we create content which is different?

‘I think in terms of content we’re already there with the matchday show, we’re seeing numbers increase in terms of access to that.

‘Part of the frustration is we don’t necessarily know which games we can screen in the US.

‘It’s a very, very tight turnaround in terms of CBS/Paramount selecting a game - 48 or 72 hours’ notice - so we can’t necessarily market a game. So that’s something we’d like to have more latitude on, so we’re working with the EFL on whether that’s a possibility.

‘Then it’s about different social media channels we can get to work on immediately. Documentaries, in terms of bespoke documentaries and ideas, may take a little bit longer to do.

‘We want to make sure we have a product which is of interest to the networks, but equally to viewers as well.

‘It’s about looking for something a little bit different. That’s what we’re looking for and I can’t say much more than that!’

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