This Tuesday, July 2, in Saint-Apollinaire, Olivier Delcourt formalized the transfer of the football club playing in the National to Pierre-Henri Deballon, originally from Dijon and an entrepreneur in the digital sector. “The challenge is above all to ensure the sustainability of the club,” explained the new president.
For “several million euros”, Pierre-Henri Deballon bought the DFCO from Olivier Delcourt. The CEO of Weezevent, a digital startup, thus became the president of Dijon Football Côte-d’Or, whose men’s team plays in the third division and the women’s team in the first division of their respective leagues.
This Tuesday, July 2, 2024, Olivier Delcourt and Pierre-Henri Deballon explained the reasons for this change of ownership of the professional sports public limited company DFCO. A sports club is a financial asset similar to that of a company, the shares of which can be sold.
The Gaston Gérard stadium is owned by the City of Dijon, which makes it available to the club through an occupancy agreement. On the other hand, the training site located in the Écoparc Dijon Bourgogne, in Saint-Apollinaire, is owned by the club but will be divided into two clearly identified parts: the performance center and the training center. It is planned that the latter will be sold to the Métropole de Dijon.
“I have always worked in the direction of the club,” says Olivier Delcourt.
“A page is turning,” confides Olivier Delcourt, president of the DFCO for twelve years, “years rich in emotion.” “I have always worked in the direction of the club, tried to put it at the highest level. We managed to structure it. Unfortunately, there was this Médiapro effect which has weighed down many clubs in France and all of French football even today.”
The football enthusiast thanks all those who supported him during this period: the club’s employees, the supporters – including the Téméraires and the Lingons Boys –, the partners, the mayor of Dijon François Rebsamen, the Department, the Region without forgetting his family.
In particular, Olivier Delcourt says he is “proud” of the training center, the education center and the career path of the women’s professional team.
A favorable timing
While looking to transfer the club from the beginning of 2023, Olivier Delcourt met Pierre-Henri Deballon, a Dijon native now living in Paris, president and founder of the online digital ticketing solution Weezevent.
Olivier Delcourt therefore chose “an independent entrepreneur” and “a Dijon family” passionate about the DFCO.
In the past, AVS Communication founded by Éric Deballon, now managed by Arthur Deballon, sent the young Pierre-Henri to install visual communication elements at the stadium.
“He is the right person to take over the club. (…) He has all the qualities,” believes Olivier Delcourt, “he has all the passion I had twelve years ago.”
The “right person” therefore, the “right timing” for the buyer, in economic terms, remained to wait for the right moment, rather at the end of the season than at the relegation to National. In the meantime, a financial audit was also able to be carried out.
“The challenge is above all to ensure the club’s sustainability,” explains Pierre-Henri Deballon.
“Today, I am not buying the club, the club belongs to Dijon, its supporters, the players, the staff and even the media,” Pierre-Henri Deballon declared straight away, “it is rather a burden that I am taking on because I feel indebted and responsible.” “The challenge is above all to ensure the sustainability of the club.”
Born in Dijon, Pierre-Henri Deballon began his higher education in the regional capital before finishing in Paris. He notably obtained a master’s degree in economics and sports management at Paris Dauphine University, being passionate about handball. He then created Weezevent, whose head office is in Dijon.
“I am lucky that Weezevent is well structured so I have the capacity to mobilize time, energy, and also money on this project because the club, today, is in a division that is complicated, between the professional level and the amateur level,” explains the entrepreneur.
Pierre-Henri Deballon gives himself three seasons to return to Ligue 2
“My first challenge is already that the club is viable,” announces Pierre-Henri Deballon, with “the objective of moving up.” In National, the club must do without the rights to broadcast matches while having significant costs linked to the infrastructures sized for the high level.
The new president therefore gives himself three more seasons to play in the National to “start a construction dynamic” and return to the higher division.
Hence the choice for two years of Baptiste Ridira, newly coach after having been goalkeeper of Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Hilaire FC, a club playing in National 2. “He is a builder, someone who has very strong values”, boasts the president.
“It’s a local project,” claims the new president, “the aim of the game is to unite all the local energies: businesses, club volunteers, the media, spectators.” “Dijon has real strengths. (…) we have the infrastructure. (…) There’s everything to do well.”
“We can do a lot with little means,” assures the new president
“I’m not doing this project to make money; I think I’m going to lose money,” anticipates Pierre-Henri Deballon, “it’s a passion project, (…) it’s clearly not a short-term project, (…) it’s my way of returning the ball to Dijon for the help I received.”
The entrepreneur remembers that in 2006, when the AVS teams launched the Vélotour, the City of Dijon provided support to initiate the project. This was also the starting point for Weezevent since, in the midst of the development of connected solutions, ticketing was not then adapted.
“So I’m doing it just to please myself and, above all, to please people – it’s going to be very complicated because it can’t be decreed – football has the magic of being able to create incredible emotions,” enthuses the new president, who plans to attend the matches taking place at the Gaston Gérard stadium.
“On the sporting side, I won’t have an opinion. I’m not a footballer, I’m not going to intervene in the coach’s choices. (…) I’ll have very strong convictions about what we give off, about the values of the players (…) and about youth. (…) We can do a lot with little means,” he assures.
“Historical shareholders are not losing money”
“The purchase was made at nominal value” for “the same amount as the share capital that existed at the time”, explains Pierre-Henri Deballon regarding the financial aspects, “this allows the historical shareholders (…) not to lose money”. “The amount is several million euros, (…) it is money that I earned by selling shares in Weezevent.”
“Today, with a few exceptions, all football clubs are for sale,” analyses the entrepreneur, who points out “the complicated economic model”. “The reality of a football club is the operating cost. The whole issue is the ability to provide liquidity for the future.”
The acquisition of the training center by the Dijon Metropolis makes it possible to “secure” DFCO jobs
“The sale of the club had been in progress for several years; one of the strengths of this project is its infrastructure (…) and many investors withdrew because of this infrastructure because, at this level, it is an economic burden that is too great. (…) I presented the project to the communities. (…) One of the conditions that I set was the scenario that the community buys the training center. (…) The construction of the training center was financed half with funds from the club. Today, there is a current account of the club that is in deficit by 6 million euros, money that is owed to the club in the [société civile immobilière] who holds the center of [formation]. So, by buying the center of [formation]this allows us to repay this current account and bring liquidity to the club. It is a big effort by the community. (…) My goal is to return to better fortune in several years and to buy the training center back from the community at a higher price so that there is also a return for the community,” explains Pierre-Henri Deballon.
While waiting for an estimate from France Domaines, François Rebsamen estimates that the share that the Dijon Metropolis would have to finance to become the owner of the training center is around 12 million euros. The president of the community also imagines an extension of the activities of this sports facility envied by many teams.
“In the short term, this effort will help secure jobs,” insists the new president, who has become the employer of the club’s 160 employees (players, staff, administrative and technical personnel, etc.).
Pierre-Henri Deballon “asks more” from the Department and the Region for the DFCO Féminin
Furthermore, Pierre-Henri Deballon intends to “ask the Côte-d’Or Department and the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region to do more” to develop the professional women’s team that plays in the first division.
“It’s a model that is, economically, even more complicated,” notes the entrepreneur, “there are no TV rights, there are very few partners, there are very few spectators.” “It’s a beautiful message that goes in the direction of a sport for all.”
Activities will be organized around the matches
The entrepreneur expressed his desire to develop the event dimension around the matches to “have a full stadium and create emotions”.
“The idea is to ensure that when people come to the stadium, they don’t just come to watch a football match” with “entertainment one hour before the match and one hour after the match.”
Championship resumes on August 16
In the coming days, Pierre-Henri Deballon plans to meet with representatives of the Téméraires and the Lingons Boys to build ties with the supporters.
The players of the men’s professional team will return to the performance center this Wednesday, July 3. A series of friendly matches will begin on July 20, FC Metz will come to face DFCO at the Gaston Gérard stadium on August 9 or 10, and the first match of the National season will take place on August 16.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon
