Sunderland's major off-field plans explained - and what you need to know about the man overseeing them

While all eyes are understandably on the club's lengthy search for a new head coach, Sunderland's appointment of a new Chief Business Officer on Thursday is an important development in their planned summer reboot.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus confirmed in a statement that David Bruce would be promoted from his current role from June 1st, essentially stepping up to take on Steve Davison's responsibilities as Chief Operating Officer. Bruce will be in charge of the club's off-pitch operation, and so can be seen essentially as Kristjaan Speakman's equivalent on the business side operation. Both report to the board and execute the vision and strategy passed down to them, but are the most senior club staff in their respective departments.

Bruce is a boyhood Sunderland fan and was born on Wearside, who studied at Northumbria University and on the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports MBA programme. He then worked for 11 years at the MLS, with his various roles including a spell as Chief Marketing Officer.

It is this experience that encouraged Sunderland to hire him earlier this season, initially as Chief Brand and Commercial Officer. Sunderland's latest set of accounts, released last week and covering the club's first campaign in the Championship, made clear that they see commercial revenues as a huge area for potential growth. The club are trying to become sustainable in a division where heavy financial losses are commonplace, with Sunderland producing one of the best sets of results for the 2022/23 campaign despite an operating loss of around £9 million. Parachute payments distort the competitive balance of the competition and those who don't receive them have to find a different way to compete. On the pitch, Sunderland's goal is to develop young players in-house who can either become pillars of the team and develop into top Championship players, or yield a major profit that can be reinvested in higher wages and bigger fees (in theory, on a steadily higher calibre of player). The notes from the boardroom accompanying the accounts also showed that a key part of their strategy is to maximise the support received from one of the country's largest and most fiercely loyal fanbases: "We continue to strive to secure promotion to the PL and as a Club that aims to be financially sustainable, this will be built on continued investment in the club to improve overall commercial performance. In future seasons, we are aiming to increase the contribution from commercial activities to allow greater investment in on-field playing success."

By Sunderland's own admission, it is an area where they have been a long way short of where they could and ought to have been. Sunderland's ownership inherited an off-pitch operation that was in significant need of investment, but the initial strategy was to focus primarily on the football operation and building the squad and backroom environment that could haul the club out of League One. For a prolonged period, supporters have been left exasperated by the retail and ticketing operations, lamenting the lack of stock and the fact that they have felt actually unable to spend their money on the club as they would wish to do. The announcement of hummel's return as the club's long-term kit partner, and the arrival of Fanatics to run the club's retail operation, are two early indicators of what is to come under Bruce as the club try to move to what they say is a 'fan-centric' approach. The idea is that fans feel more connected to their club and in turn, the club benefits from the added revenue. In theory, everyone wins.

The initial wave of change is already in motion, with a new store (run by Fanatics) to be introduced and new ticketing points to be installed at the Stadium of Light. There are longer-term plans being put in place to build and overhaul the hospitality offering at the club, while the planning for seven-figures worth of essential maintenance on the Stadium of Light this summer was overseen by Davison ahead of his departure.

How successful Bruce can be remains to be seen and like his counterparts in the footballing department, much will depend on the continued investment and support from boardroom level. While Davison was the subject of much criticism externally for his perceived role in those retail and ticketing issues, as well as for the Black Cats Bar debacle in January, he was a popular member of staff internally and well respected by many who felt the issues would have been far more significant were it not for his presence. Many felt he did good work in very difficult circumstances as the club moved out of the Covid period and tried to rebuild from the League One years. He also oversaw a number of key infrastructure projects, including bringing summer concerts back to the Stadium of Light and forging close links with the city as the land around the ground is developed to what will hopefully be mutual benefit. The accounts confirmed that a planned solar farm, another of Davison’s key projects that could increase revenue in time, is continuing to gather pace.

They are foundations which Bruce is not tasked with building on, as Sunderland look to maximise their off-field revenues as expectation of a promotion push rises. The initial signs have been promising, with the new kits some of the most eagerly anticipated in recent memory. Getting the club back to where it should be off the pitch is every big a task as rebuilding on the pitch, and after a fractious period its one that fans will be following closely. January’s derby came and everything that came with it was arguably the lowest moment of the current ownership’s tenure so far, leaving many supporters questioning how well they were understood and appreciated at boardroom level. It also served as something of the tip of an iceberg, with long-standing frustrations at how disconnected the off-field offering had left them feeling from the club brought firmly to the fore. Bruce is tasked with rebuilding that relationship and bringing the feel good factor back off the pitch but as with the football side, that has to start from the very top. Supporters will hope the recent flurry of announcements is the start of a badly-needed reboot, and an indicator that the new Chief Business Officer will benefit from a level of resource in excess of his predecessors.