Latest news from MK Consulting
07 / 2026
5 Years of MK Consulting GmbH
A retrospective, lessons learned, and the road ahead
From Club Management to my Own Business
I had thought long and hard about going independent. I finally took the step when my roles at Austria Wien, at the ÖFB and in the Bundesliga came to an end. Moving from a salaried leadership position into full self-responsibility was the biggest adjustment: no fixed monthly income, project-based invoicing, full entrepreneurial risk — but in return, speed, flexibility and the freedom to run the company entirely according to my own vision.
The real capital I brought with me was less a business plan than a network built over more than two decades. The partnership between Austria Wien and Borussia Dortmund, which I helped initiate, the collaboration with the Bundesliga and the ÖFB, the work on the committees of the European Club Association and countless international contacts from investor searches — all of this still forms the foundation today. In a relationship-driven business like the sports industry, trust is the hardest currency, and trust is built only over years.
From the start I used this basis to build MK Consulting not as a pure one-person consultancy but as a platform with several pillars. The focus was initially on sports consulting in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) — but I soon realised that I want to, and will, operate well beyond it. It was important to me not to be confined to football. Today my advisory portfolio includes clubs and organisations in football, American football, volleyball and basketball. The core areas: investor acquisition and M&A, financing models for clubs, international club cooperations, structural and change projects, and ESG in sport, which I bundle among other things in the “ESG4sports” initiative together with Jörg Wagner.
In practice this means very different mandates. Sometimes it is about finding the right investor for a club and structuring the transaction cleanly; sometimes about a viable financing model beyond the classic bank loan; sometimes about reorganising the structure, responsibilities and processes of a club that has grown faster on the pitch than off it. The topic of investors in sport in particular — controversial only a few years ago — is gaining importance across all sports, in football as much as in American football and basketball. I deliberately see my role as that of the independent adviser with an outside perspective, one who is also willing to ask uncomfortable questions.
Shareholdings as a Second Pillar
From day one it was clear that building capital shareholdings would become a central element. It began in 2022 with my entry into the American football franchise of the Vienna Vikings in the European League of Football — as adviser and co-owner. That the debut season ended straight away with the title was a perfect start and early proof that looking beyond football pays off.
In the first quarter of 2023 came two foundations that I still run operationally as managing director today. Unique Soccer Cooperations – USC GmbH brings ambitious clubs together internationally in partnerships on equal terms — with a focus on value creation through transfers, the financing of transfers and infrastructure, as well as innovative topics such as building women’s football departments and ESG, but also acting as an organiser of football camps and football schools. Together with my partners Rafael Doran (Germany), René Furrer (Switzerland) and Walter Brizuela (South America), we have built a network that stretches from South America across the USA, the Nordic and Baltic states, to Asia and North Africa.
In parallel, “Die Karrierebegleiter – DKB GmbH” was created — an offering that is especially close to my heart: supporting young athletes and coaches — and deliberately their families too — through decisive phases of their careers. We clearly set ourselves apart from the classic player agent. The focus is not on the next transfer but on long-term, trust-based support in the background. This has also allowed us to advise smaller clubs in amateur football. Added to this were projects with ESPORTIDO AG in Munich and FANINVEST in Austria.
The KENSTON Group and an International Perspective
A particularly formative chapter is the collaboration with the KENSTON GROUP, for which I serve as Director Corporate Involvements and as managing director of several subsidiaries. It has noticeably widened my reach — as far as the GCC region and the German pension business. The dynamism with which new opportunities arise there is valuable both for MK Consulting and for me personally. That genuine friendships and real mutual esteem with the group’s owners have grown from this over the years rounds off the picture. At international congresses in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and as far as India, I have been able to deepen this network further.
Unique Job Cooperations: International Skilled Professionals
One area that was not foreseeable at the time of founding is my involvement around “Unique Job Cooperations”. This is about the international recruitment and integration of skilled professionals — particularly in nursing and care, but increasingly also in engineering and finance. With our own locations in India, our own language school, preparation for the recognition examination and a genuine full-service approach, we ensure that professionals not only arrive but also stay. Sport has shown me how much international networks open doors — a principle that carries far beyond sport.
Teaching and Lectures
A common thread across all five years is teaching and speaking. Since 2021 I have been a lecturer at the International Football Institute (IFI). The courses — in both the winter and summer semesters — cover organisation in sport and football, international association management and international marketing in football. Added to this is the “Organisation & Personnel” module as part of the Campus of the Austrian Football Bundesliga.
Most recently, in June 2026, I was able to lecture in the “SFL Sports Director” programme of the Swiss Football League, and over the years at several universities and private academies in Austria and abroad. The exchange with students and practitioners is not a one-way street for me: I pass on experience and take away new perspectives myself. The consistently positive feedback encourages me to continue this path.
What I Have Learned — and What I Would Improve
Five years bring not only successes but also lessons. The following points stand out for me:
1) Focus. Anyone with many opportunities has to choose. Not every interesting opportunity is the right one — prioritisation is the real leadership task. In hindsight, I would select earlier and more consistently in some cases.
2) Scalability. Much depends on individuals and personal relationships. That is a strength, but also a limit. Structures and processes that depend less on individual people are the real lever for sustainable growth.
3) Patience with international projects. Work in India, in the GCC region or in South America in particular requires time, cultural understanding and reliability. Some things take longer than hoped — but pay off once trust has been established.
4) Reliability as a competitive advantage. In an environment where a lot is said and less is kept, keeping one’s word is not a soft factor but a hard business one. Clear words, promises kept and the willingness to deliver uncomfortable messages have opened more doors for me than any sales rhetoric. I will hold to this principle.
And yes, there was the unexpected: from a sports consulting company, a network has grown that today ranges from skilled-labour recruitment to the pension business. This breadth was not the original plan — it is the result of consistent action and open doors. At the same time it demands discipline, so that diversity does not turn into dissipation. Balancing openness to the new with clear focus is perhaps the most important task of the coming years.
Looking Ahead: Drive and AI
As valuable as the retrospective is, my gaze is directed forward, with undiminished drive. I want to deepen the existing pillars further, bring the international projects reliably to success, and strengthen the shareholdings structurally.
One topic in particular will be in focus over the coming months: integrating artificial intelligence into our work processes — across all areas. From research and analysis, through the preparation of reports, presentations and contracts, to the structuring of complex matters, I see considerable potential to work faster, more precisely and more soundly.
In concrete terms: structured market and club analyses that used to take days, done in hours; reports and presentations kept consistent in our own corporate design; a first, reliable review of contracts and cooperation agreements; and faster access to our own knowledge built up over years. For a company like MK Consulting — deliberately lean and active in several fields at once — this is a genuine lever. What remains decisive is the critical handling of it: AI replaces neither experience nor judgement — but it amplifies both. Those who use it wisely gain time for what matters: decisions, relationships and execution.
That is exactly the point. Five years of MK Consulting stand for a simple principle that has proven itself and will continue to shape the years ahead: "Wandeln durch Handeln" — Change for Strength!
