In his family, football combines passion and profession. His father had played for several teams in Aragón and even wore the shirt of the Maña team. And Javier, one of the sons, had played as a goalkeeper for numerous teams: Villareal, Zaragoza, Celtic, Getafe, Hércules and Málaga. Therefore, for a business to emerge from such a powerful feeling, from such a strong vocation, it was only a matter of time. A time that, precisely, the founder and ideologist of a business that was first called Soloporteros anticipated.
“This company was born in 2001, in a sales channel that was e-commerce. 20 years ago, there were no companies focused on digital business. Javier Sánchez Broto, my brother, was the founder of the company. We had an e-commerce where we sold products digitally at a time when there were hardly any web pages and a physical store located in a 30 m2 garage in Zaragoza, like Google,” explains Carlos Sánchez Broto.
At a time when electronic commerce was practically non-existent, there were many who considered them crazy and few who trusted that they would go far. First, for selling only material for goalkeepers and, second, for focusing on the digital channel. Over time, the Sánchez Broto brothers have ended up proving that the distrustful were wrong. More than twenty years later, their business is called Fútbol Emotion, since they expanded their offer to the entire sports ecosystem.
They have gone from having three employees – who were friends – to having 500 workers; from having a small store of just 30 m2 to having a warehouse of 7,000 m2 and offices of 1,500 m2 in Zaragoza. In addition, they have more than 3 million followers on their social media channels (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube…).
“It is a company that has grown a lot, which is practically doubling sales every two years. The truth is that it is dizzying to see the company’s numbers,” celebrates Carlos Sánchez Broto. “We do many events, both in store and with professional soccer players. We have also managed to be the number one retail company in Spain with the most engagement on social networks,” he adds.
This clear commitment to digital has been recognized by Banco Santander, which has named the SME company of the Year in the province of Zaragoza in the 2022 edition of the SME Awards that it organizes together with the Chamber of Commerce. Becoming the “best of partners”, the entity has been with Fútbol Emotion from the beginning of its journey, not only in financial matters, but also in the history and needs that the company may have had.
“The relationship with Banco Santander is great. They helped us from the beginning, when we were Soloporteros, and they continue to be with us. We hope to be with the entity for many years building a legendary company, and that it will help us win more awards,” thanks Carlos Sánchez Broto.
This support from Banco Santander is part of the entity’s commitment to a group, small and medium-sized businesses, which make up 99% of the Spanish business fabric and are the main job creator. For years, Santander has been promoting all types of measures, ranging from specific financing and advisory programs to promoting internationalization through digitalization, to support the day-to-day life of the 4 million SMEs it has as clients. betting on this group as the support of our economy.
Carlos Sánchez Broto says that one of the things they like most is thinking about the future. “We are ambitious, we are entrepreneurs. We have a super detailed business plan to grow with Fútbol Emotion and expand the business internationally to other markets, such as Mexico. Who would have thought that a company that was born in Zaragoza, in a 30 m2 room, could now be a leader in the Spanish market and, why not, with healthy and humble ambition, perhaps a world leader in the future? , he gets excited. Something that, if achieved, will be done with the help of Banco Santander.
Learn about Banco Santander’s initiatives to support SMEs and companies.
