Swiss entrepreneur Cyril de Bavier had a vision to change how football and other sports clubs are financed. UEFA had recently introduced restrictions on how top-tier teams could raise and spend money, and the financial struggles of smaller clubs were becoming more visible. Inspired by the success of Kickstarter and other self-funding platforms, he wanted to create a sports-specific platform—starting with football—to connect clubs with their passionate fan bases in a funding revolution.
I helped Cyril take his idea—Fans Nation—from concept to reality. We built a product designed to reconnect fans with their clubs in a way that was entertaining, engaging, and impactful. For some clubs, it unlocked revenue streams that meant survival for another season. The app went on to be downloaded over 70,000 times and facilitated more than 30 million fan interactions.
Drawing from the Kickstarter model, Cyril envisioned leveraging club assets to motivate fans to contribute—whether it was helping fund a new team coach, redecorating the club bar, building a fan plaza, or even buying the next star player. In return, fans could unlock rewards like signed memorabilia, public recognition, or dinner with a player of their choice.
Cyril wasn’t sure what this would be called or how it would function, but he knew it was something clubs wanted—his contacts at some of Europe’s biggest clubs had told him so. What he needed was a way to genuinely engage fans—especially when they already spent money on tickets and merch. That’s when he came to me and Scheybeler+company for help.
In early workshops, we hit on what we believed was the key: tapping into the competitive spirit of football fans. We focused on their desire to be the club’s number one supporter—more dedicated, more knowledgeable, more involved than their mates. By gamifying that relationship and tying in financial contributions, we created a new engagement model for clubs and fans alike.
Being the top fan of your club didn’t just earn bragging rights—it unlocked real rewards like VIP matchday experiences.
To keep fans connected throughout the week, not just on matchdays, we built engagement programmes that included quizzes, predictions, and games. These non-financial interactions were crucial in sustaining interest and ensuring fundraising campaigns were successful.
Mobile was the obvious delivery platform. Fans already used their phones to check scores, read news, and interact with their clubs. What was missing was the gamification layer—the contest to be the best fan.
We developed a feed-based interface (behind a sign-up wall), where fans could engage in general and club-specific challenges—like predicting the weekend’s starting lineup. Correct answers earned points and helped users climb their team’s leaderboard. At launch, our MVP included seven engagement modules, all designed to be expandable—including bespoke sponsored modules.
Where possible, module interaction happened directly within the feed. Most tasks updated inline, keeping fans in the flow. Only more complex actions—like timed quizzes with multiple answers—would pull users out of the feed. This made the experience fast and addictive.
Every engagement had a time limit—for instance, predictions had to close before kickoff. The feed automatically prioritised uncompleted tasks, followed by pending ones and then expired activities. Fundraising projects were surfaced the same way, keeping fans actively involved in their club’s future.
For the art direction, I drew on the visual patterns of sport—crowd choreographies, pitch markings, kit designs, and club emblems. The primary Fans Nation pattern was inspired by bold 1990s kit aesthetics.
The shield in the logo represented the clan mentality at the heart of fan loyalty and took cues from classic club crests. To remain club-neutral, the brand used an all-black base palette—rarely a club’s primary colour and unlikely to offend. Club-specific elements followed each team's colour palette.
Fans Nation launched in March 2015, with French Ligue 1 side Evian Thonon Gaillard FC among the first adopters. Alongside creating a new revenue model, it gave clubs a valuable platform to gain insights from fans and better shape the club’s direction.