United launches Creators’ Academy

United launches Creators’ Academy

Manchester United has been working with creators for the past 18 months to help young people, particularly those from under-represented backgrounds, find pathways into work, boost employability, and gain valuable skills and experiences.

To date, the club has had over 50 creators through the door, which will now form part of an academy to help aspiring young people get a foot on the ladder in the sports business and media industries.

From the 2024/25 season, the club is building a curriculum for creators to learn from key personnel and adjoining departments at the club, on how media and creative fuels sports business. As well as attending football matches, training and club events to learn about the practical side of content, the creators will also have the chance to attend seminars and online lessons.

‘Creators’ is a broad term – something the academy has embraced, welcoming not just photographers and videographers, but also artists, illustrators, copywriters, and even graffiti artists, magicians and a drone pilot.

Ian Nolan, Chief Content Officer at Manchester United, explains why the club is embracing the creators’ economy: “We started this project wanting to give back to our community, and that’s why we’re hand-in-hand with our Foundation. But it’s also opened our eyes to new content and formats we wouldn’t have thought of. Last year, one of our creators used a 100-year-old film camera at the stadium – it was like drama from another world – everyone was fascinated.”

CREATIVE ‘PITCH DAY’ BATTLES

At the end of the curriculum, each cohort takes part in a ‘Pitch Battle’, at Old Trafford, and again, it’s all about innovation.

“This year our creators were invited to the stadium on kit launch day, given a new kit, and five hours to create a piece of creative content to bring the kit to life in a unique way. The results were incredible.”

Submissions can be seen here.

The club has also been using the Creators’ Academy to supercharge growth of the women’s game, inviting creators to their WSL matches at Old Trafford, and activating at Leigh Sports Village.

“We challenged our creators to reimagine pre-match content for fans, creating unique access areas including an influencer mixed zone and a pitchside space for creators, influencers and players to mix.
It was a petri-dish of experimentation, but the most unexpected outcome was that the creators became the bridge between fans and players on the day. Influencer challenges with fans caught the attention of players, and the players came over to get involved. Now we’re sharing those wins with the leagues to encourage innovation on matchdays.”

Back to the home-kit challenge, Nolan explains the importance of fostering the right environment for creativity: “It is important not to shackle creators with a detailed brief – leave them to it, and the creativity blooms. The winning submissions will be our first hall of famers, and invited to mentor the next cohort, which is where the academy will really take us back to grassroots.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

It’s all about giving back to our community. The Creators’ Academy will be partnering with the Manchester United Foundation to reach some of the most socially deprived areas of Manchester, within which higher education is out of reach for many young people, and experience in the workplace is hard to come by.

The academy will offer education, theory and practical experience, including work shadowing and learning how sports businesses work, valuable experience in what is a highly competitive market for work.

As well as experience, the academy will help with key employability skills like networking, CV workshops and the basics of entrepreneurship.

APPLICATIONS OPEN

Applications can still be made for the Creators’ Academy class of 2024/25.

Just email an example of your most creative work to cr**************@*******co.uk and add a note explaining why you’d like to join us!

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