FC Copenhagen director on wild growth journey: "I have never doubted my mandate"

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Conversation with Jacob Lauesen, CEO of F.C. Copenhagen

At the beginning of each year, we’ve built a tradition of sitting down with F.C. Copenhagen’s CEO, Jacob Lauesen. It’s not necessarily a status update, but rather a conversation where we zoom in on key developments and his highly ambitious approach.

In previous talks, he has shared thoughts on the women’s team before the project was even official, the responsibility of being part of Copenhagen, and the club’s impressive spectator growth.

This time, we reflect on his more than 1,200 days at the helm of FCK – a period marked by transformation, including a significant increase in internationalization. And it’s not just about translating from Danish to English; it’s a whole new approach to driving the club forward.

We met with Jacob Lauesen for a conversation at Parken in Copenhagen.

Photo series by Frederik Valentin for dontt.dk

Jacob, you’re approaching 1,200 days as the CEO of F.C. København. Before that, you were responsible for several commercial functions in the club, and you’ve experienced everything from pandemic-related shutdowns to record-breaking financial surpluses driven by commercial growth and Champions League success. That story has been well-documented.

But how do you personally feel your role has evolved since December 13, 2021, up until today?

“As you mentioned, we’ve gone through vastly different periods—from the lockdowns during the pandemic to a growth journey that exceeded our wildest expectations. When Allan Agerholm stepped in as Executive Chairman, I spent a lot of time discussing the development of Parken and FCK with both the board and ownership. We talked about our ambitions, but even more importantly, where the CEO’s mandate actually lay.

Looking back on that process, I have no doubt that it was crucial to our growth. I have always felt secure in my mandate from the board and ownership—for me, it was essential to have the right to take initiative as CEO.

To be more specific, we made a key structural change. Previously, the CFO, IT, and HR functions did not report to a CEO but directly to the board.

That created too many ‘dependencies’ when it came to executing a strategy, at least when I look at past CEOs in this club. It wasn’t about the individuals but the structure itself.

That is no longer the case, and it was a crucial part of our process. So my role has evolved gradually, but very much in line with the plan we set. That included a generational shift and assembling my own team.”

If you had to highlight one of the most important things you’ve learned as CEO of F.C. Copenhagen, what would it be?

“That’s a big question because I’ve certainly learned a lot. But I’ve spent a great deal of energy learning how to lead upwards. It’s a unique setup to have 14,000 owners (editor’s note: shareholders). There are probably shares being traded as we speak. But ultimately, it’s still a small group of people who can form a majority on how this company should be run.

Managing stakeholders has been a crucial part of the job and something I’ve spent a lot of time on as CEO. It’s an important task, but it also means there’s less time for other things – for example, daily interactions with employees. That has required some adjustment on my part. I haven’t always been the same ‘Laue’ as before, when I was closer to operations and more involved in the finer details.

At the same time, I encountered areas that, in my opinion, had been stagnant for far too long. That’s where the initiative I mentioned earlier really comes into play. It’s about presenting well-developed business and development cases to the board – not just ideas, but concrete plans that can take F.C. Copenhagen and Parken from A to B. Every time I’ve done that, I’ve been met with support, and I have very, very rarely – perhaps never – received a no from the board or ownership.”

One of the most significant developments has been your strengthened international commercial profile. Has this also been reflected in your recruitment of new employees?

“We have never been in a situation where we deliberately chose one candidate over another solely because of an international profile. However, it has naturally turned out that many of those we have hired possess that dimension.

What matters most to us is the ability to interpret data – you don’t need to be a data expert, but you also can’t be a data denier. A data-driven mindset is essential. Additionally, we must look far beyond Copenhagen if we want to match our international competitors.

So, the answer to your question is that this development has come naturally in line with our growth.”

How do you view F.C. Copenhagen’s position from an international perspective?

“One thing is the international followers, but the most thought-provoking aspect is that Facebook is the only social media platform where F.C. Copenhagen has more Danish than international fans. On all other platforms, international fans dominate. This creates an interesting paradox in our ‘We are Copenhagen’ strategy, which is deeply rooted in the local community. On one hand, it’s about bringing the city even closer to the club. But at the same time, that very approach – with strong local roots, a unique fan culture, innovative business models, and a focus on young players – has made us significantly more interesting internationally.

Right now, we are working on further strengthening the strategy, and I’ve had discussions with about 20 international clubs. What’s remarkable is that several of them – clubs that may be smaller than us, but which we traditionally have looked up to – have started to take F.C. Copenhagen as a role model. Especially other capital city clubs in Europe see us as a guiding light in their own strategic development.”

“Coming from a capital city and cherishing it – like our collaboration with ‘Hus Forbi’ – is not just about local anchoring, but also about internationalizing Copenhagen. It’s precisely that Copenhagen identity that makes us interesting globally. If you look at our reach, we are a regional giant in Scandinavia, but both our merchandise and ticket sales show massive interest far beyond Denmark’s borders. For a single derby, we had ticket buyers from 48 different countries. That’s why ‘your question’ plays a significant role in our efforts to strengthen the strategy.

We’ve analyzed all the ‘Top 50 clubs’ in Europe – clubs that are globally recognized brands. While most of them rely on their historical position, we are still writing ours. Most of them have a trophy with a ‘UEFA’ logo on it – something we still have yet to achieve. We are the youngest in that group, coming from a small league, which on paper is a disadvantage. But our strength lies in being more agile – and in coming from the world’s coolest city.”

A good example of your development is the partnership with Adidas, where you are now among their top prioritized clubs. How did the collaboration come about?

“The biggest difference between being a major national partner with Adidas and being a global partner, as we are now, is the design process. When we create a jersey from scratch, we are now working at a completely different level – which we already proved with the green jersey, which marked the beginning of the new agreement with Adidas.

But an equally crucial difference is the distribution. In the past, we had to finish the jerseys in Denmark, which made international expansion almost impossible – or at least economically unrealistic if the jerseys had to be shipped back and forth across continents.

Now, as a global partner, our jerseys are produced and distributed directly through Adidas. This opens up entirely new opportunities for us. Right now, our products are sold in 25 stores worldwide, but the real success is not just measured by where we get placement – but whether the products actually sell. We need to be able to deliver key figures on par with clubs like Celtic, Ajax, PSV, and Benfica.

The ultimate test is demand in the stores, and right now, the numbers speak for themselves: Our jerseys are completely sold out everywhere. I can’t disclose the exact sales figures, but they are on par with the lower-end or mid-tier clubs in the Bundesliga.”

You are, of course, working towards the opposite, but could this growth continue if you miss the championship or Champions League for several years in a row?

“I can’t comment on financial figures that haven’t been publicly released, but if you look at our publicly announced expectations, we’re commercially at the same level. The main difference lies in the TV money. All other figures are on track, despite comparing a season with the championship and Champions League to a season with 3rd place and the Conference League. I might have expected this to take the edge off this year, but it turns out we’ve been able to maintain the level. How many years we can keep it up is hard to say, but there is of course a limit.

If you look at the 10 years before I came to the club, there were 7 championships and 3 participations in the Champions League, yet the development was still on the decline. So, there is a connection, but I don’t think it’s as significant as many believe.

It’s also remarkable that our women’s team sells more jerseys in the 2nd division than Brøndby and F.C. Nordsjælland do in the Women’s League – and probably more than some Superliga clubs.

The toolkit here is much more sophisticated than before. It extends far beyond just winning championships or handing out free tickets.”

How do you look forward to the rest of this season?

“We’re still in three competitions. We’ve already had over 30,000 in Parken, and that will happen many more times leading up to the summer, where we hopefully stand with the championship. The women’s team is on the verge of a potential promotion, and we’ve just introduced a 5th main partner in Andel.

It’s a very ambitious partnership where they will help us move the entire place in a greener direction. We need to become a more sustainable company in a smart way.”

And we will continuously follow along on dontt.dk

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