Key Points
- Ken Sakata started posting satirical content about football during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- He began making 'merchandise' for the Queensland Football Club, which does not exist.
- The 'club' continues to grow in popularity, with each release of merchandise selling out.
During the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing lockdowns, many people took the opportunity to try out a hobby, learn a new skill, or launch a business.
Ken Sakata started a fake football club.
After launching on April Fools Day in 2022, support for the Queensland Football Club - which does not exist - has snowballed, with each of its six merchandise releases selling out.
"I intended to launch on April Fools Day because it is a ridiculous business, but it wasn't an April Fools Day prank ... but is a funny business to run," Mr Sakata said.
"It's looking more and more like a real business now; it's become like a full-time job in addition to the full-time job I already have."
What is the Queensland Football Club?
Mr Sakata works as a doctor in elective surgery, but during the coronavirus pandemic he was redeployed to the COVID-19 frontline, working in hotel quarantine, vaccination counselling and vaccination administration.
In an effort to combat the stress of his everyday work, he began making satirical posts and jokes on social media about leaving his life behind to start a career as a professional footballer.
The Queensland Football Club merchandise is popular, but the team does not exist. Source: Instagram / Queensland Football Club
After receiving a cease and desist letter from the AFL over intellectual property rights, he pivoted his merchandise to the 'Queensland Football Club' (QFC).
While the brand began as a joke, the response has been bigger than its founder ever could have imagined.
Mr Sakata has released six lines of merchandise for QFC so far, with the next due on Friday.
Each time, the number of items released has roughly doubled, and each time, they have sold out.
Mr Sakata told SBS News he has even begun taking steps back from his work as a doctor in order to have more time to dedicate to running his unusual business.
"It's not because it's financially advantageous for me to do that, but logistically it was impossible for me to do both jobs at this rate," he said.
"It's not about money, it's about making sure both endeavours work ... so I've cut down a bit on my medical work so that I could get on top of running QFC as a one-person business."
While he has made some profits from the Queensland Football Club merchandise, he says it is "not about the money", and anything he makes either goes toward the next set of merchandise or donations to charities.
He is also focused on local production and using quality materials, with cotton jerseys and fleece jumpers made in Melbourne.
Ken Sakata started selling merchandise for a fake football club in April 2022. While the merchandise and brand started as a joke, he takes production and design seriously. Source: Instagram / Queensland.fc
The polyester items - such as footy shorts and jerseys - are made overseas, but as the brand grows, he hopes all items can be manufactured locally.
What is next for the fake football club?
When it comes to larger merchandise releases and goals for the brand, the future of QFC is not yet clear.
"Up until fairly recently my following was incredibly small but devoted, we were selling out even with 800 followers on Instagram and it was small, a little funny joke really," Mr Sakata said.
"Now the little funny joke is kind of a medium-sized joke ... I did not predict the success that we've had so far, so it's hard to predict where we're going to be."
Thanks to social media - particularly TikTok - the 'club' has even gained a following overseas.
"It's been a bit tough to understand (why they like it overseas), but amongst Australians, it's very in line with our sense of humour," Mr Sakata said.
"And I think the concept of the brand that doesn't exist making the most legitimate homegrown clothing ... is something people can get behind."
