He joined Eurodisney as spokesman in 1991, six months before the opening of what was then presented as Europe's "greatest project". He became the group's communications director. Encouraged by Disney's CEO Steve Burke, he entered Harvard at the end of 1996 to pursue an MBA. These two years spent on the Boston campus instigated his entrepreneurial spirit. Upon his return, he became Director of New Products at Club Med under the direction of Philippe Bourguignon, one of his Disney mentors. In 2000, he founded :fr:Groupe Sporever|Sporever with Patrick Chêne. Two months before the bursting of the internet bubble, he raised $10 million. The company became the European leader in digital sports information, being the first to broadcast live football matches on mobile phones. In 2005, the startup was listed on Alternext and generated 13.5 million euros revenues. In 2009, he became chairman and chief executive officer of :fr:Turf Éditions|Turf Éditions, a media group dedicated to horse racing, for which he undertakes the digital transformation. In 2016, he left his position to devote himself to the Olympique de Marseille.
Olympique de Marseille
Takeover of the club
During the 2016 summer, when the club was put up for sale by Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, Jacques-Henri Eyraud first considered investing personally in the club. Didier Quillot, the new Executive Director of the LFP, introduced him to Frank McCourt, who had previously expressed an interest in a club acquisition. The two men then decided to join forces. On October 17, 2016, the American businessman bought Olympique de Marseille and Jacques-Henri Eyraud took over the leadership of the club.
Strategy and results
Upon his arrival, he showed high ambition through a project called "OM Champion" which is based on four axes: sports performance, with the objective of regularly qualifying the club for the UEFA Champions League and making youth training a central point of the club's strategy; fan experience; the club's civic commitment; and finally, its economic sustainability. Rudi Garcia was appointed coach and Andoni Zubizarreta was appointed sports director. A budget of 200 million euros spent over two years was announced to build a competitive team. During the first transfer window, in winter 2017, 44 million euros were spent on 4 players, including 30 million euros only for Dimitri Payet who became the most expensive recruit in the club's history. At the same time, he restructured the club. The voluntary departure plan launched in June 2017 resulted in the end of OM TV in favor of investments in digital content. The OM Foundation was created to promote the club's social commitment. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Adidas, the club's equipment supplier since 1974, was replaced by Puma, with whom OM signed a five-year partnership. After several years of negotiations, in July 2018 he announced that he had reached an agreement with AREMA, a Bouygues subsidiary, to become the exclusive manager of the Stade Vélodrome. OM thus recovered all event activities and allowed itself to freely invest in the stadium. The creation of a museum near the stadium was also planned. He ranked 13th in Ligue 1 when he took over the club, and the team finished 5th in the first year and 4th at the end of the 2017/2018 season. The first European campaign ended in a UEFA Europa League final, which was lost against Atlético Madrid. This was the Club's 5th European final, and the first in 14 years. Attendance records were beaten at the Orange Vélodrome during the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively against RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg.
Institutional functions
Jacques-Henri Eyraud is a member of the board of directors and of the Bureau of the LFP. On 10 September 2019, Eyraud was appointed as one of the European Club Association Representatives on the Club Competitions Committee in UEFA.
Innovation in football
At the Sport Innovation Summit 2018, he described his vision of the football of the future in a strong impact speech. Looking ahead to 2030, he anticipates the creation of a closed European Super League where the best European teams compete. He also describes the revolution brought about by artificial intelligence in decision-making and depicts the characteristics of the augmented football player of tomorrow.
Recognition
In September 2018, a survey conducted by Capital ranked him 6th in the ranking of the French people's favorite business leaders. He is ahead of Jean-Michel Aulas, to whom he opposes several times, including publicly during the 2017–18 season.
Areas of interest
Jacques-Henri Eyraud was French junior champion of taekwondo in 1985 and a member of the French team from 1985 to 1987. Since 2007, he has been teaching at Sciences Po Paris, where he teaches the "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" course. Passionate about music, he quotes a verse from IAM in an interview and claims his taste for his musical idols such as Warren G, The Clash or Rammstein.
