Football and Entrepreneurship: Some Insights from a Football-Mad Country Without a Single World Cup Trophy

Southeast Asia may be considered forgotten in the world of football as no country in this region can compete with any football countries in Europe or the neighboring countries such as South Korea, Japan, and Australia. Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand have never competed in the World Cup, but one should not ever doubt their continuing fervor for football. The question arises as to why these countries cannot translate their potential into actual achievement football-wise achievements and in terms of sport-based entrepreneurship. This paper uses the concept of sports entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship as a process to capture the essence of football entrepreneurship from the context of Indonesia, the largest and most populous country in Southeast Asia. The study identifies several ways to encourage creativity and innovation as part of value creation in football entrepreneurship in the country.