Stratigo turns 1
On October 1, 2025, Stratigo Sports Business was announced. Behind the idea was a conviction that Swedish elite sport needed strategic and operational support in digital strategy & development, commercial growth, data-driven marketing and analytics, data & AI. The autumn would be spent building the company, and we expected it to take until summer 2026 before the business really took off.
After the very first meetings, we noticed that we were discussing issues many wanted to develop but didn't know how to tackle. Before we had even finished what we called the start-up phase, we were delivering live projects for organizations in hockey, football, handball and golf. One year on, we have come further than we dared to hope when the journey began.
"I have personally spent countless hours, weeks and probably months trying to form a picture of what we want to build going forward. Since Stratigo came in, we have, in a very short time, received concrete decision material packaged in a way that is easy to take in. I should have brought in this help much earlier." - Johan Hampf, CEO, PGA of Sweden
A focus on delivery
The year has been spent building the company and our ways of working, but above all delivering for our clients.
Much of the year has gone into current-state analyses, digital strategies and procurement processes. But we have also been fully involved in the operational side: implementing systems that were underused, building automated customer journeys, connecting systems that used to be silos of their own, and sitting next to employees to teach them how to work in the tools, because the knowledge needs to stay in the organization once we're done.
"I had great confidence in Stratigo early on and quickly saw that they knew what they were doing. That led me to give them fairly free rein to take on the areas where they saw the greatest need. I believe a successful partnership is built on mutual and complete trust in order to achieve maximum impact." - Robin Hals, Club Director, VSK Fotboll
On the client's side
A prerequisite for our role is that we sit entirely on the client's side. When we sit down with a club, a league or a federation, the conversation is only about how we can create as much value as possible based on their specific circumstances. We are free to push for what we believe in.
That doesn't mean we ignore the politics. Elite sport is a hybrid business with many stakeholders and sometimes conflicting expectations, and we have worked in this environment long enough to understand how decisions are actually made, who needs to be involved and what it takes for change to happen. That understanding is one of our greatest strengths; the difference now is that we get to use it entirely on the client's behalf.
"Stratigo understands how the clubs are organized and how they operate, but also what the needs are on the part of both the clubs and the league. You learn a great deal during a process like this. What strikes you is that there are so many variables to take in, so many things you need to weigh up, not just costs. What do we need from the product, the service or the platform? What should it be able to deliver, and where? The complexity and the big picture are challenging." - Peter Gentzel, CEO, Svensk Elithandboll
A few words about our clients
What we most want to highlight after this year is not ourselves, but the organizations and people we have had the privilege of working with.
In our view, it takes a determined and reflective leader to look at their own organization and recognize that it can't make the shift on its own. We understand that can feel uncomfortable, but we would argue it is the very opposite of weakness. The organizations we work with are self-aware. They dare to talk about what they haven't had time for, or what they have postponed year after year, because the time or the expertise hasn't been there internally. Several of them gave us a broad mandate early on, and we won't forget that trust.
"We have a strong organization, incredible commitment across the club and a fan base that follows us wherever we play. We have run a great many initiatives and are proud of what we have achieved. We were looking for someone who could help us see the whole picture from the outside, ask the right questions and point to development areas in a structured way. That's exactly what Stratigo has done." - Jakob Westerlund, Commercial Director, Brynäs IF
We have learned an enormous amount from everyone we have met this year, and we hope we have contributed to their development as much as they have contributed to ours. One lesson we take with us is that change happens faster than many think, if the work starts at the right end. We never start with the technology, but with the business: what the organization needs to achieve and what it takes to get there.
Challenging with humility
We challenge the status quo, that's the whole point of Stratigo, but we try to do it with humility. We know from experience how complex day-to-day life in an elite sports organization is, with many stakeholders, lean teams and a level of media pressure few other industries experience. We ask the questions there rarely has been time for, and then we stay and do the work together with the organization until the shift has become a natural part of how it develops. We don't hand over a report and wish you good luck.
"As a club, we have been in the driver's seat the whole way. Stratigo has run the process for us, produced the material, asked the questions and made a clear recommendation, but the decisions have been ours. That means we can stand behind them internally." - Robert Hedlund, Head of Communications, Luleå Hockey
The same goes for how we work within Stratigo. We have different strengths and often look at the same question from different angles, and many of our best solutions have emerged from conversations where we have bounced perspectives back and forth until we landed on something we both believe in. What we share is the ambition, the drive and the will to perform at the highest level in every step, in our clients' best interest.
Every week we ask ourselves the same question: could we do something differently to make it better? If the answer is yes, we change. That is also why, this autumn, we invited master's students from the Stockholm School of Economics to test our ideas for new business models in elite sport. We wanted to be challenged, and ideally to hear where we were wrong.
Here's to another year
What we feel most strongly today is joy and gratitude. Joy that Stratigo has delivered value, and gratitude for all the open conversations and the trust we have been given. We know the need is there, and that clubs, leagues and federations want to develop. We will keep delivering value for those we work with.
Thank you to our clients for your trust and collaboration this year.
Thank you to all the other organizations we have had the privilege of meeting.
Thank you also to all the vendors who have met us with openness.
Now, here's to another year.
Kaveh Sarvari and Johan Sonesson
Leading organisations in and around Swedish sport
Mjällby AIF
About Stratigo Sports Business
Stratigo Sports Business helps sports organizations with Digital strategy & development, Commercial growth, Data-driven marketing and Analytics, data & AI. Curious about what's possible to develop in your organization?
For more information, contact
