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Gavin Dein, the man behind the Sports Loyalty Card, is poised to conquer Europe. He says he owes it all to his love of the game and fan-centric approach. Sarah Balmond reports
If you were thinking of setting up a major sports loyalty scheme, you could do a lot worse than spend your childhood at a top football club. So it should come as no surprise to discover that the co- founder of one of Europe's largest sports loyalty companies grew up in the corridors of power at Highbury, home to Arsenal FC.
Cynics might say Gavin Dein, son of Arsenal vice-chairman David, has always had an unfair advantage. After all, life can be a bit simpler when your dad knows his way around European football. But the rise of Reward and its Sports Loyalty Card (SLC) can be traced not to just his background, growing up as both a fan "in the stadium and boardroom", but also his time at top US business school Babson College.
After graduating, Dein worked at Arsenal as fan relationship and sponsorship manager, analysing the club's fan database. He explains: "Identifying the fans and having a unique insight into this football world in part gave me the business concept.
"I wanted to do something...