COMMERCIAL ASSESSMENT · July 2026

Cray Valley (PM) FC

A levelUP® digital commercial assessment quantifying the cost of inaction and identifying the potential to close the gap.

Find out the cost of inaction for your club

levelUP®Cray Valley (PM) FC

SECTION 00 — INTRO

INTRO

levelUP® offers commercial support to ambitious clubs. The following is an assessment of Cray Valley (PM) FC's commercial potential with a specific focus on digital sponsorship optimisation, assessed in the context of a club returning to the Isthmian South East Division in 2026/27, with a 20+ partner commercial ecosystem, and 107 years of Eltham/SE9 community heritage.

SECTION 01 — WHERE YOU CURRENTLY SIT

STATUS QUO

Estimated annual digital opportunity cost

£59k–£99k

This is the incremental annual commercial income Cray Valley (PM) FC are leaving on the table by not attaching a digital layer to an already well-developed partner ecosystem. The assessment highlights the gaps, identifies the potential, and recommends work streams to bridge them in collaboration with existing staff.

Cray Valley (PM) FC are one of the best-supported non-league clubs in south east London. The draw with Charlton Athletic in an FA Cup fixture generated significant local media coverage and demonstrated the club's above-their-pyramid profile. They hold 20+ active commercial partner relationships including Budweiser, McDonald's, Artic Building Services (stadium naming), Mayne (shirt), Noonans Mayfair, Bet Goodwin, Briix AI and Diamond Scaffolding to name a few. The commercial infrastructure is already there.

However, the digital packaging is almost entirely absent. With 6k+ Instagram followers, an active YouTube channel, an X account, and a media partner in Inspire Socials producing match day photography and post-match video content, Cray Valley have more digital assets than almost any club at Step 4, yet none of them are being sold commercially. Every partner receives a website logo and signage at the Artic Stadium but its not visibly clear if any receive a contracted social post, an audience demographic report, or a post-season reach summary showing what their investment delivered.

What exists vs. what is being sold

CURRENT DIGITAL ASSET AUDIT

The following table maps Cray Valley (PM) FC's existing digital assets against whether they are currently structured as commercial products. The gap between column 2 and column 3 is the opportunity.

Digital asset	Exists?	Sold commercially?	Current status & gap
Instagram (@crayvalleypm)	Yes: 6k+ followers / 4,307 posts	No	6k+ followers is strong for Isthmian League Step 4. Active matchday content, team news, player features, #WeAreSE9 bio. A few partners receive branding on match day content, but there is minimal other sponsored content visible on the channel.
X / Twitter (@CrayValleyPM)	Yes: 8,766 followers Offers active match day commentary	No	Match day content is the most engaged format with the Charlton FA Cup content performing well above the club's typical reach. Using the same format as IG, a few sponsors receive branding around match day posts, but little else is visible. if combined with Instagram, a multi-platform match day wrapper would be the most immediately sellable product.
YouTube (@crayvalleypmfcofficial)	Yes: 548 subs Active channel offering post-match reviews	No	Manager post-match interviews & highlights are the most popular content assets the club produces on the channel. They are professionally shot and consistently posted but with zero commercial integration. A presenting sponsor for a post-match content series is the most immediately actionable single product.
Website (crayvalleypmfc.com)	Yes	Logo listings only	An active channel with news, fixtures, shop, media, Badgers Hall hire page. Partner logos appear on the homepage but only some have click-tracking to their own sites. There is no other visible integration across the site. Display media is visible but used by Pitchero house ads rather than the club's sponsors.
Artic Stadium naming rights	Yes: headline naming partner	Physical signage only	The stadium is named after Artic Building Services and referenced in all written communications. Whether Artic receives contracted digital assets or social mentions ('today at the Artic Stadium') is not publicly visible. Adding these at renewal converts a signage deal into a media product.
Budweiser (club partner)	Yes: global FMCG partner	Physical only	Budweiser is a global FMCG brand with an active digital marketing strategy, listed as a club partner at an Isthmian League club. A matchday Instagram post ('Today's match at the Artic Stadium, in partnership with Budweiser') is free to produce and worth real money to a brand at this scale.
McDonald's (club sponsor)	Yes: local franchise sponsor	Physical only	Local McDonald's franchises sponsor grassroots football because they want community association in their catchment area. A monthly Instagram post ('Training fuel from McDonald's SE9') targeted at the local Eltham/SE9 audience is exactly the product they are buying but not receiving.
Inspire Socials content partner	Yes: 22-image match albums + post-match video interviews	Editorial only with no visible sponsorship or branding	This is the highest-volume content production asset the club has. Inspire Socials produce more content per month than many EFL clubs produce per week. Every album and video is a commercial inventory item without a price tag, which makes it the most urgent packaging opportunity.
FA Cup / cup run moments	Yes: 1-1 draw v Charlton Athletic	Not packaged commercially	The club demonstrated it can generate genuine sporting moments that attract attention well above its pyramid level. A 'Giant Killers' content series or a dedicated cup run sponsor could have been sellable in advance of this moment.

BENCHMARK: WHERE CRAY VALLEY (PM) FC SITS VS. COMPARISON CLUBS

Comparisons drawn from Isthmian League peers, other non-league clubs with digital commercial ambitions, and one cross-sport comparison at a similar community level. At Step 4 the benchmark is what the best-in-class non-league clubs are doing commercially.

Club / tier	Digital spon. %	Key digital asset	What Cray Valley (PM) FC can learn
Dorking Wanderers FC (Nat. League South, Step 2)	25–40%	500M+ annual content views, global network subscription at £299/yr, OLBG principal partnership.	The extreme end of what non-league digital commercial can look like. Cray Valley is not Dorking, but Dorking started from a similar position. Content-first commercial models are achievable below the EFL, and the Charlton FA Cup draw is exactly the kind of moment that creates a Dorking-style audience inflection point.
AFC Wimbledon (League One)	10–15%	Fan-ownership model with values-led commercial relationships (Football Manager shirt deal with structured content rights).	Cray Valley's charity partnerships (Demelza, Freddie Farmer Foundation) give the club a values narrative that could underpin the same kind of brand association. A charity-linked presenting partner for community matchday content is a direct lift from the AFC Wimbledon playbook.
Hashtag United (Isthmian North, Step 4)	60–80% (est.)	Content-first, Instagram/YouTube primary, community grassroots identity amplified digitally.	The most extreme non-league digital commercial model. Cray Valley has better football creds and a more authentic community story. The lesson is not to become Hashtag United but to borrow the content-commercial integration model.
Cray Valley (PM) FC (Isthmian SE, Step 4)	~2–5% (est.)	20+ commercial partners (all physical). Instagram 6k+, YouTube active, Inspire Socials content production, FA Cup credibility.	Baseline. The assets are genuinely strong for Step 4. The commercial architecture to monetise them is absent. The primary opportunity is re-pricing the existing partner portfolio with a digital layer at renewal, not finding new partners.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY COST

The opportunity cost above is not primarily about finding new partners. It is about re-pricing the 20+ existing partner relationships with a digital layer at renewal. Every current partner receives a logo and match day signage only, with very few receiving anything more that branding on social posts. There are no contracted social mentions, audience demographic reports or post-season commercial summaries. 20x logo placements are priced as match day signage deals. But 20x logo placements with contracted monthly social posts and quarterly reach reports are priced as digital media partnerships which are typically 2–3x the value. The gap between the two is the most obvious opportunity.

*This figure encompasses three components: (a) the estimated value of digital deliverables that current partners are not receiving and therefore not paying for; (b) the revenue from entirely new digital-only products (Inspire Socials content presenting sponsor, Kevin Lisbie post-match video series, cup run content series); and (c) the re-pricing uplift achievable on the existing 20+ partner portfolio if structured digital products were built and sold. Incremental on an estimated current digital income base of under £5k.

SECTION 02 — BRIDGING THE GAP

DIGITAL OPTIMISATION

Now that the current situation is clear, our focus will shift to how we can support Cray Valley (PM) FC in optimising their digital sponsorship asset portfolio.

Asset gap identification

DIGITAL INVENTORY WHICH SPONSORS WANT

The following defines digital commercial products available to Cray Valley (PM) from their existing assets. No new technology or infrastructure is required for this core suite, and all packages below derive from these verticals.

CONTENT PRESENTING PARTNER

Named presenting sponsor of all post-match video interviews & highlights produced by Inspire Socials.

MATCHDAY DIGITAL PARTNER

Official presenting partner of all match day social content. Monthly branded content piece and a quarterly reach report showing impressions generated.

PARTNER DIGITAL EXTENSION

Add contracted digital deliverables to the existing sponsor portfolio before start of 26/27 season or at renewal.

CUSTOM CONTENT

Bespoke content series or sponsorship of existing content series. YouTube and Instagram distribution.

VALUES-LED COMMUNITY PARTNER

Embedded within a loyal Eltham community, values-led community partnerships are strong ways to bolster local business support.

CONTENT SERIES SPONSORSHIP

Pre-sold presenting sponsor for a content series covering the cup run. Pre-selling the journey guarantees income regardless of how far the team goes.

PHOTO PRESENTING PARTNER

Volume

1 partner

Annual

£4k–£6k

ESTIMATED ANNUAL DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY COST

£59k – £99k

Conservative to optimistic. Incremental on an estimated current digital income base of under £5k.

In summary

A fully activated digital commercial programme could generate £59k–£99k of additional annual revenue for Cray Valley (PM) FC, from zero new infrastructure investment, using only existing channels, existing audience, and the existing 20+ partner portfolio repackaged with structure and measurability.

CONCLUSION

OUR FINDINGS

The above is an assessment of intel which we have found in the public domain, and could obviously vary from the sponsor agreements in place currently or any renewal conversations.

Cray Valley (PM) FC have assembled something genuinely unusual for an Isthmian League club: a 20+ partner commercial ecosystem covering stadium naming, kit supply, principal shirt sponsorship and a broad trade and services portfolio. The Charlton FA Cup draw, a relatively strong social following, an active YouTube channel and Inspire Socials producing match day photography and post-match video are stronger digital foundations than almost any club at Step 4 has. The gap is structural. The majority of partner relationships are physical, with very few receiving contracted social posts, reach reports, or post-season commercial summaries. Every Inspire Socials-produced album and Kevin Lisbie video is commercial inventory currently priced at zero. In our view, the cost of inaction is not the absence of new partners but the under-pricing of the ones already on the roster. Re-pricing the existing portfolio with a digital layer, plus a handful of new content sponsor products, is the fastest path to £59k–£99k of incremental annual income for the 26/27 season.

SECTION 03 — levelUP

OUR UNIQUE PROPOSITION

Why work with us? We have worked across the sports industry for 30+ years, across clubs, rights holders, digital media owners and broadcasters, and have gained invaluable experience around the operations of commercial revenue growth in the process.

Our ambition is to offer this spectrum of knowledge and expertise to clubs who know they need to move, but might not have the resource or expertise to know where to start.

Our fractional consultancy allows clubs to start their own journey of growth, with senior-level expertise across the commercial ecosystem, working collaboratively with your existing resource base.

In summary, we aim to shape and grow the full commercial ecosystem of ambitious clubs by supporting the development of incremental and long-term revenue solutions.

“Senior-level experience, for less than the cost of an FTE.”

The levelUP promise

SECTION 04 — NEXT STEPS

OTHER AREAS WE CAN SUPPORT ON

OPTIONAL EXTENSIONS

VENUE OPTIMISATION

.Conference & Events
.Facility Optimisation

MARCOMMS, RETAIL & DATA OPTIMISATION

.Ticketing & Membership
.Marketing (all marcomms channels)
.Matchday revenue
.Hospitality
.Retail
.Fan data optimisation

Assessment of these subject topics would be required before a detailed analysis could be provided.

NEXT STEPS

READY TO levelUP®?

This assessment is the starting point. The next step is a follow-up conversation to align on priorities and scope a working engagement.

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