FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age

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FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
FOOTBALL’S DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age

                                                             © melis – shutterstock
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
CONTENTS

                     Foreword .............................................................................................................. 3

                     The Digital Forever ............................................................................................ 4

                     Digital Ecosystem ............................................................................................... 9

                     Crowdsourcing ................................................................................................ 14

                     Audience Development ................................................................................. 19

                     Match Data and Wearables .......................................................................... 24

                     Transfer Market .............................................................................................. 30

                     References ......................................................................................................... 37

                     Contacts ............................................................................................................. 39

2 Football’s Digital Transformation
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
FOREWORD

Dear Reader,

ARE YOU READY TO SURVIVE, GROW AND WIN IN THE DIGITAL AGE?
Football is special, that much is clear. It is indeed the beautiful game, and its appeal is
unrivalled and universal. Yet, in the space of only a few brief years, the extent to which
football fans now engage with football has changed significantly. The most notable aspect
of this evolution is the rapidly increasing use of social media. The digital transformation –
and the technology that fuels it – has enabled fans to interact with their club way beyond
the 90 minutes of the actual matches themselves. Indeed, digital ensures that the match
never ends. While the fans’ desire for their team to win remains undimmed, digital has now
taken centre stage and many fans expect their club to deliver an appealing and connected
experience which meets their increasing demand for year-round engagement with the teams
they support.

Deciding how to make the most of today’s digital opportunities can be complex, overwhelming
and distracting for football clubs. That is why most clubs are still taking a wait-and-see
approach. Refusing to embrace the opportunities the digital world has to offer is now no
longer an option. What is certain is that clubs will need a whole new business strategy for the
digital age – and not just a digital strategy to incorporate into their existing model.

The future is now. The underlying potential of recent digital developments has prompted us to
take a closer look at the future transformation of the football business in the digital age. Since
digital will continue to drive change at an unprecedented rate, this publication cannot claim
to provide a comprehensive overview of the digital revolution that is transforming football.
Instead, we aim to reflect on a number of distinct yet intertwined areas and highlight their
potential impact on the way football operations are run today.

We hope this will provide interesting insights into the opportunities and risks associated
with these imminent trends. Those who are aware and prepared will be in a better position to
survive, grow and win as the digital tide continues to roll in. We hope you enjoy reading our
review.

David Dellea                            Marcel Schmid                        Frank Zahn
PwC Sports Business Advisory            International Football Arena         Exozet
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
THE DIGITAL FOREVER
 Everything you thought you knew about success will be challenged.
Digital will impact every industry, every service, and every corner of an
    increasingly connected world. We are now in the digital forever.

                                                                                © Exozet

            THE WORLD IS IN BETA
            Digital is fundamentally changing every aspect of our lives, from
            the way we work to the way we play to the way we manage our
            finances and protect our health
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
THE REVOLUTION IS HERE                                                DIGITAL IS CHANGING OUR
                                                                                                    WORLD, FAST
                              The future is now. Digital has already
                              fundamentally changed the way we                                      Product development has been going
                              interact with the world around us, shrinking                          on since the invention of the wheel. But
                              the globe, vastly increasing the array of                             digital is speeding up the development and
                              products and services on offer and changing                           life cycle of many products. While it took
                              the way we access them.                                               centuries to develop a ship that propelled
                                                                                                    itself, it took just decades to shrink the
                              It is fair to say that we are not entering a                          personal computer to the size we see today
                              digital era. Rather we have run headlong, in                          and mere years to move from MP3 to online
                              some cases unsuspectingly, into the digital                           music streaming.
                              forever. In this new normal, everything we
                              ever thought we knew about success will be                       Time to market will continue to accelerate,
                              challenged, tested and in many cases forced                      and what is more, as the delineations
                              to change. To a large degree,                                                      between industries are
                              football is not an exception.                                                      blurred by the relentless
                                                                                   The future is now.            march of technology,
                                                                                                                 industries and fields which
                                                                                   Digital will continue
                                                                                                                 have so far escaped the
                                                                                   to drive change at an         digital tidal wave will be
                                                                                   unprecedented rate.           drawn in and reinvented.
                                                                                                                 As market barriers
                                                                                                                 continue to be torn down,
                                                                                               the time from disruption to normalisation is
                                                                                               now mere months or even week.

Figure 1: Growth in the number of online devices will significantly outpace that of other devices
and of the human population (Source: PwC analysis)

                              Numbers in billions
                                   World Population
                                   Mobile Phones
                                                                                                                     50.0

                                   Smartphones
                                   Online Devices (incl. sensors, etc.)

                                                                           15.0                                      7.6

                                           9.6
                                                                            7.2                                      11.0

                                           7.0
                                                                            8.0

                                           5.9                                                                       7.8
                                                                           5.36
                                           1.9

                                         2012                              2015                                     2020

                                                                                                                            The Digital Forever 5
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
CONSUMERS EXPECT, DECIDE                                                  connectivity and the quality of the digital
                              AND INTERACT DIFFERENTLY                                                  offering will form part of their decision-
                                                                                                        making process.
                              In 2013, digital natives began to outnumber
                              traditional consumers. By 2017, they                                      With this unprecedented ability to connect
                              will outnumber digital converts and will                                  comes a power to opine very publicly on a
                              dominate economic activity. This new breed                                company, product or service. Businesses
                              of customer has grown up with digital; they                               can no longer hope to hide their failures or
                              run their lives on smart, connected devices.                              faux pas. Indeed transparency is changing
                              These are the “always on” consumers                                       from being a means for a company to
                              who want to be able to access goods                                       differentiate itself to an essential tool for
                              and services anywhere, anytime and on                                     survival. Loyalty is now transient, and
                              anything. They expect the organisations                                   consumers will make choices based on the
                              that they interact with, work for or buy                                  experiences of their peers, which can now
                              from to provide them with seamless digital                                be accessed all too easily.

Figure 2: By 2017, digital natives will be the dominant force in economic activity (Source: PwC analysis)

                                                                                                                                    Digital natives
                                   Traditional consumer

                                                                                                Converts

                                   2000                     2005                     2010                   2015             2020               2025

                              DATA, DATA EVERYWHERE                                                     This explosion in data is a result of
                                                                                                        “datafication”, or the ability to codify
                In the 3rd century BC it was declared that                                              entirely new classes of information in
                the Library of Alexandria held within its                                               digital form. Social media has “datafied” our
                walls the “sum total of human knowledge”.                                               hobbies, interests, thoughts, emotions and
                             Today, one group of researchers                                            relationships. The widespread use of GPS
                             suggest that if we took all of the                                         technology in smart devices has datafied
Ninety percent of all        data in existence right now and                                            the location and movement habits of billions
                             stored it in on paper, we could                                            of people. Digital payments have datafied
the world’s data has         cover an area equivalent in size                                           our spending habits and wearable tech is
come into existence          to the United States at least 13                                           datafying our lifestyle, exercise and dieting
since 2011.                  times. What makes this truly                                               preferences.
                             astonishing is that, according to
                             The Foundation for Scientific and
                Industrial Research SINTEF, 90% of this data
                has come into existence since 2011.

6 The Digital Forever
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
This presents forward-thinking businesses                         THE WAVES OF THE DIGITAL TIDE
                              with an incredible opportunity. Those who                         KEEP ROLLING IN
                              can harness this data to gain a better under-
                              standing of the issues facing consumers                           Looking to the future, we see three waves
                              today and use the insights they gain                              of opportunity for organisations to generate
                              from it to guide and inform their ongoing                         profitable growth:
                              development and strategy will be the leaders
                              of the digital world. Every second 31,000                         FIRST DIGITAL WAVE: DIGITAL COMMERCE
                              “likes” are registered on Facebook, or, to                        Improve e-commerce profitability with
                              put it another way, that is an opportunity for                    a better customer experience, more
                              business to understand how or what 31,000                         compelling propositions, more effective
                              people are responding to every second.                            distribution or smarter pricing.

                                                                                                SECOND DIGITAL WAVE: DIGITAL
                              OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH …?                                      CONSUMPTION
                              INNOVATION, AGILITY AND                                           Develop propositions that encourage your
                              FLEXIBILITY                                                       customers to share their consumption data.
                                                                                                That way you increase customer loyalty,
                              The keys to success in the digital world                          increase revenue and reduce operating
                              are not intuitively obvious to many                               costs even further.
                              businesses and their leaders. Flexibility and
                              a willingness to try and fail are not integral                    THIRD DIGITAL WAVE: DIGITAL IDENTITIES
                              features of the success stories behind many                       Act as a trusted fourth party on behalf of
                              established companies that are around                             customers to aggregate their digital data
                              today. But the sheer rate of change in the                        and to meet their needs through managing
                              digital world means these are the attributes                      relationships with companies offering
                              that are absolutely essential to stay relevant.                   products and services.

Figure 3: The digital waves offer opportunities for profitable growth (Source: PwC analysis)

                                 Increasing degrees of digital fitness are required to play and win
                                                                                                                                   The next
                                                                                                                                   digital wave?
                                 Increasing issues, threats and opportunities in the digital economy

                                                                                                                                   Buying brands
                                     Business model
                                            change

                                                      Consumption chain
                                                                                                               Third digital wave: and digital
                                                                                                               digital identity    identities emerge

                                                                                                                          Consumption data is
                                                                                                                          shared with the
                                                                                               Second digital wave:       customer to enable
                                                                                               digital consumption        outcomes
                                                      Demand chain
                                                      Customer service
                                                      Marketing                                E-commerce is
                                                                                               used to transact,
                                                      Sales          First digital wave:
                                                                                               to advertise, as a
                                                                     digital commerce
                                                                                               marketing platform
                               Operating model

                                                                                               and to provide
                                                                                                                          Ongoing operational
                                                      Supply chain (operations)                customer self-care
                                                                                                                          integration across the
                                                                                               services
                                                      Channel integration                                                 supply chain, including
                               change

                                                                                                                          suppliers and partners
                                                      E2E supply chain integration

                                                                                                                                                Time

                                                                                                                            The Digital Forever 7
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
FOOTBALL IS NOT ENTIRELY
                    IMMUNE TO THE SWAY OF DIGITAL
                    WAVES
                    Digital has impacted the football world and
                    will continue to do so. Ticketing is very
                    much a digital process. Merchandise sales
                    online are a feature of the industry today
                    and have been for some time. Social media
                    intensifies the connection between fan
                    and club and provides insights which clubs
                    can learn from. Digital has driven down the
                    cost of media creation to the point where
                    most football clubs now find they are able
                    to produce and distribute more content, and
                    of a higher quality, than was possible only a
                    short time ago.

                 But digital natives will not settle for the
                 status quo. They expect to be able to make
                              as many clicks from the side
                              lines as they see kicks on the
The key to success in         pitch. The reality is that change
the digital age will be       will keep on coming, and faster
                              than ever before. To succeed in
innovation, flexibility
                              engaging the new generation
and a willingness to          of fan, clubs will need to be
try, fail and move on.        flexible, agile, and not afraid to
                              try on new, digital, boots. Digital
                              presents football with a set of
                 powerful transformational opportunities
                 to engage a new generation of fans and
                 empower those already there.

                    Having said that, football clubs have one
                    very significant attribute which clearly
                    distinguishes them from other industries.
                    As long as their financial health is basically
                    secure, their oligopolistic control of the
                    beautiful game is unlikely to be disrupted
                    by any advances in technology. The
                    passion and love of the fans will not wither
                    away, provided performance on the pitch
                    is maintained. We do not see digital as a
                    disruption for the business of football clubs,
                    rather an enhancement with significant
                    potential to improve both fan engagement
                    and the bottom line.

8 The Digital Forever
FOOTBALL'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - Growth opportunities for football clubs in the digital age
DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM
A digitally integrated ecosystem is the answer to growing
expectations for personalised and hyper-targeted content.

                                                                                       © Michael Krinke – iStock

     KEY MESSAGES
     • Fans’ expectations will shift from content range to contextual relevance,
       delivered as and when they desire
     • A digitally integrated ecosystem across business functions is required for
       a holistic view of each individual fan
     • Adoption of a data culture within a club’s organisation is key to maintaining
       a competitive edge in the age of highly demanding digital natives
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                       DEMAND FOR A HIGH-QUALITY FAN                     STANDALONE BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
                       EXPERIENCE IS SNOWBALLING                         FAIL TO PROJECT ONE TRULY
                                                                         UNIQUE BRAND TO THE FANS
                 A fan interacts with his favourite club
                 on multiple occasions, through different                The digital wave has already impacted
                 devices, applications and channels. He                  every function within the club, with each
                              buys tickets, watches live                 developing its own digital solutions to
                              matches, streams video clips,              optimise revenues and operations. Ticketing
The “digital native”          and consumes all the news and              departments have introduced their own
fan has much higher           views surrounding his club and             “white labelled” online platforms and are
expectations.                 its players. The sky is the limit,         trying to optimise sell out through queuing
                              with more and more content                 or secondary market systems. Some clubs,
                              being created, distributed and             particularly in the UK, may soon be tempted
                 “socialised”. As demand for immersion                   to adopt dynamic pricing mechanisms.
                 in a seamless experience facilitated by a               Merchandising is boosting operations,
                 fully integrated and experience-rich digital            rolling out an integrated digital supply
                 ecosystem grows, football clubs will be                 chain across physical points of sale and
                 pushed to the limit in terms of content and             online as well as boosting the ability to
                 technology management.                                  personalise products. Club websites and
                                                                         mobile applications are becoming ever
                                                                         more sophisticated in their distribution of
                       GROWING FAN INTERACTIONS LEAVE                    text, data, video and image content. All of
                       A HUGE UNTAPPED DATA TRAIL                        this, of course, needs to be shared across
                                                                         all mainstream social-media platforms
                       The growth and ubiquity of fan interaction        to ensure maximum reach and fan
                       and the related impact it is having on a          engagement.
                       club’s commercial strategy are complex
                       and ambiguous to gauge. However, there is           So far, each of these distinct functions has
                       one constant aspect to this which applies           generally worked apart from the others, as
                       regardless of the individual opportunities          each evolved to meet very specific business
                       being captured: fans leave a                                           requirements. As a result,
                       significant trail of data as they                                      one and the same fan is
                       pass by. Do clubs really track                  Do clubs have a engaging with one and the
                       and fully harness the potential           holistic view of each same club across multiple,
                       of this data?                                   individual fan? mostly disconnected
                                                                                              functions that are
                       Imagine a time when a club                                             generally not coordinated
                       knows exactly what each of its fans likes to        with one another. What is the way forward?
                       eat, where he wants to sit in the stadium,          How can a club make the transition to an
                       what video clips he enjoys watching or              integrated approach, enabling fans to truly
                       which of the club’s players’ jerseys he likes       experience the entire brand, rather than
                       to flaunt. That, in our opinion, is the future of   specific functions within that brand?
                       football and also what “digital native” fans
                       will expect: when clubs are in a position
                       to deliver a fully personalised experience
                       to their fans. Pulling this off, however, will
                       require more than just sourcing a good CRM
                       system. Clubs will need to drive change
                       throughout their business functions,
                       emulating their players on the pitch and
                       playing as a team.

10 Digital Ecosystem
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                             AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO                                              In the years ahead, we believe that as the
                             DATA ANALYSIS PROVIDES A                                               new generation of digital natives takes over,
                             HOLISTIC FAN VIEW WHICH WILL                                           a completely personalised user experience
                             PERSONALISE FAN ENGAGEMENT                                             will gradually become a natural expectation.
                                                                                                    “Hyper-targeting” will become the new
                             Football clubs have one unique attribute                               norm for fan engagement: fans will have
                             that places them in a league of their own.                             customised access to the official club
                             They have fans, and fans are not just                                  application with special content display on
                             consumers. The degree of loyalty implicit                              their favourite stars, merchandise wish-lists
                             in being a fan is a tremendous asset to a                              and an interest-based, categorised news
                             club, as it increases the number, frequency                            section. Looking beyond sports, Netflix –
                             and intensity of interactions. By leveraging                           the online provider of movies and shows –
                             this relationship, clubs have a unique                                 provides a good example: the company
                             opportunity to gather information on                                   adapts and tailors its Web pages to each
                             each and every fan. The potential depth                                of its customers according to household
                             and detail of the information they can                                 characteristics, demographics and interests.
                             gather is enormous. Top-flight clubs have                              For sports, too, we expect technology to
                             incorporated centralised data-analysis                                 converge across all club functions to a point
                             solutions consolidating data across their                              where the content on clubs’ platforms will
                             various platforms. They have already started                           be intelligently and seamlessly tailored for
                             generating a holistic view of their fan base.                          every fan. Digital will become the “brain”
                             Leveraging the wealth of profile information                           that enables clubs to cut across the
                             they gather, they are in a position to analyse                         growing oceans of content and commerce
                             and cluster their fans in such a multifaceted                          opportunities by bringing in a wave of
                             way as to offer increasingly targeted content                          “context”, thus creating content that truly
                             and increasingly relevant purchase offers                              resonates with fans.
                             and promotions. This significantly enhances
                             the user experience as it enables fans to get
                             what they want, when and where they want it.

Figure 4: Hyper-targeting will be the new norm, empowered by a digitally integrated ecosystem (Source: PwC analysis)

                                                                                                                          Lifetime value
                                              targeting
                                               Hyper-

                                                                                                Monetisation
                             Fan experience

                                              Personalised
                                                content

                                                              Engagement
                                              content
                                               Mass

                                                             Functional silos                         CRM               Digital ecosystem
                                                                                                 Digitalisation

                                                                                                                            Digital Ecosystem 11
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                       What benefits can clubs expect? Using data          CLUBS’ OPERATING MODELS
                       to tailor content and marketing messages            WILL EVOLVE AS DATA ANALYTICS
                       effectively will make it possible to nurture        ASSUMES A GREATER ROLE
                       long-term brand loyalty. However, insights
                       into fans’ preferences will also open doors         What should a football club do next to
                       for immediate revenue diversification by            embrace this future? Technology obviously
                       enabling cross-selling and                                              has a central role to play,
                       up-selling. The interest of                                             but technology alone will
                       club sponsors, suppliers and               The creation of data not decide the match.
                       broadcasters in knowing a fan’s culture within a club’s Football clubs will need
                       daily habits, food preferences                                          to get their markers and
                       and other preferences will                  operating model is whiteboards out and revisit
                       help clubs to derive greater                 a prerequisite for their operating model. We
                       value from their contracts,                   effective change. see four aspects as being
                       as well as enabling them to                                             particularly important:
                       enter into new partnerships.
                       Eventually, some future sponsorship-rights          •• First and foremost, clubs will need to
                       structures may no longer be based solely on            map out their future strategic priorities,
                       a territorial view, but will be linked instead to      using their expected business case to
                       individual fan-profile views. With more and            canvas support within the organisation for
                       more technology enabling personalisation               the financial resources they will need to
                       and digital content distribution, sponsors             drive their digital transformation forward.
                       may soon be able to reach the exact target             “Bringing different departments together
                       audiences they want to address, thus                   for an integrated approach is an internal
                       increasing relevance and decreasing clutter.           challenge”, says Stefan Mennerich,
                       Looking at top clubs, it is not surprising to          Director of Digital Media and Media
                       read that Arsenal’s multi-million sponsorship          Rights and IT at FC Bayern Munich. “We
                       deal with an airline was significantly                 make a point of seeking their feedback
                       influenced by the club’s commitment to                 and providing them with services they
                       build more detailed profiles of its fans.              need, while simultaneously advocating
                                                                              the case for integration.” The beauty of

                                                                                                                             © TaMaNKunG – shutterstock

12 Digital Ecosystem
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                  technology is its scalability, which should        in parallel to the traditional functions
                  enable most clubs to find a solution that          creating a central home for all “fan
                  fits their goals and budget.                       engagement” initiatives. Regardless
                                                                     of the specific structure chosen, clear
                •• Second, clubs need to understand                  roles, responsibilities and collaboration
                   the scope of the fan data that is being           processes will need to be defined in order
                   generated, and ensure they can actually           to define a coherent strategy.
                   gain control over it, from a commercial
                   and legal point of view. The days when          Clubs that can incorporate all the above
                   a football club would merely focus on           aspects within the organisation structure in
                   “playing football” and have third-party         a positive manner will be in a position to use
                   agencies, suppliers or media companies          data intelligence as a means of improving
                   buy out and exploit any rights they wanted      their business functions. Analysing
                   to sell are nearing their end. While third-     correlations between weather data and
                   party agencies and suppliers may still be       ticket demand, for example, will provide
                   contracted to carry out operational tasks,      clubs with a precise idea of when it is
                   clubs will want to retain ownership of          worthwhile to lower or increase charges for
                   underlying data and potentially integrate       advertising and when it makes sense to offer
                   any platform relating to that data. The         promotions for tickets.
                   particular importance of this point
                   becomes apparent when one considers
                   that, as technology develops, new sources       DATA INTELLIGENCE HOLDS THE
                   of fan data may come into being which no        KEY TO THE FUTURE – STEP IN OR
                   one has yet thought of.                         GET SIDE-STEPPED
                •• Third, to analyse, interpret and develop        Everyone agrees that digital offers meaning-
                   effectively the right “intelligence” from       ful opportunities for the future, even though
                   the vast amounts of data                                            clubs will need to invest
                   available, a club will need                                         significant financial and
                   to integrate the right                    Those who do not human resources into
                   skills and talent into its                                          developing it. So what will
                                                                 adapt will fail
                   organisation. Data scientists                                       happen to clubs that do not
                   and consultants with the                  to realise the full take up this opportunity?
                   technical expertise and                    power of digital. First, these clubs may be
                   creative edge needed to                                             missing out on additional
                   generate usable insights will                                       revenue streams, as
                   be of paramount importance.                     competing clubs and other entertainment
                                                                   organisations will be capturing the extra
                •• Fourth, in order to progress from               value provided by having fans, sponsors
                   insights to execution, an appropriate           and other suppliers engaging with them
                   organisational structure will need to be        on the basis of personalised and hyper-
                   introduced within the club, and change will     targeted content. Second, these clubs
                   need to be supported at the senior level        may leave their fans facing a cluttered and
                   of the organisation. “Employing the right       confusing content environment, leaving
                   tools and expertise is one thing. What          their expectations of personalised content
                   is important is to listen actively to your      frustrated and diminishing the perceived
                   staff members”, says Professor Simon            quality of the user experience. Third, and
                   Chadwick of the Sports Business and             most importantly, clubs may progressively
                   Marketing faculty at Coventry University.       lose control of the way their brand values
                   Different models may be adopted – from          are communicated, hampering their ability
                   each traditional function having its own        to shape and nurture fan loyalty. Clubs may
                   analytics group, to a centralised model         be left with their hands tied, relying solely
                   that is either subordinate to a specific        on the hope that their sporting performance
                   function or operates independently,             and existing fan base will continue to grow.

                                                                                            Digital Ecosystem 13
CROWDSOURCING
Digital teamwork is the way to play and win in the digital age.

                                                                                      © salajean – shutterstock

       KEY MESSAGES
       • Crowdsourcing offers a powerful opportunity for clubs to derive more
         value from their biggest asset, the passionate, energetic fan
       • Listening to fans will open doors for business, financial and performance
         solutions which are effective in terms of cost and time
       • Direct involvement in problem solving for clubs will reinforce fan loyalty
         and take fan engagement a big step forward
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                FAN ENGAGEMENT EXTENDS                             Compelling, digital content coupled with
                BEYOND THE 90 MINUTES OF                           large communities of connected fans,
                THE MATCH                                          however, is a much more valuable resource
                                                                                      than clubs have so far
                The sheer scale of football                                           managed to make it with
                fans’ engagement with their                  Listening to fans their current social-media
                clubs has reached a new high in
                                                       will unlock untapped activities. If clubs take
                recent years. Passionate fans,                                        a step back, listen more
                armed with the developments                  opportunities for attentively to their social-
                in digital technology, consume                fan engagement. media audiences, and
                football and related content way                                      empower the people who
                beyond the 90 minutes of the                                          truly matter, their fans, they
                actual match. The newly formed demands             will further increase the value they derive
                of the digital native, coupled with relentless     from their fan bases. By listening, clubs
                expectations of winning, have pushed               will unlock their fans’ trust, respect and
                football clubs to the edge in their efforts to     appreciation. This will put them on the inside
                innovate to survive in the digital age.            track, where they will find many untapped
                                                                   opportunities for fostering fan engagement,
                                                                   opportunities that go way beyond the
                SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOW AN                             exposure they are currently getting from
                ESTABLISHED HUB FOR FAN                            Facebook, Twitter and other darlings of the
                ENGAGEMENT. WHAT COMES NEXT?                       Internet.

                Fans no longer simply watch live matches.
                They routinely use digital channels, both           CROWDSOURCING IS A POWERFUL
                mobile and social, to consume and share             PROBLEM-SOLVING TOOL, NOW
                content, information and analysis, and to           SLOWLY GAINING MOMENTUM
                interact with sports leagues, clubs and
                players. The use of the social space in             One opportunity that clubs can tap
                sports to communicate with fans directly            into is crowdsourcing. In simple terms,
                and enhance the relationship between them           crowdsourcing enables organisations to
                and their club is now hardly new. These             broadcast a task to a crowd and ask them
                days, every football club has embraced              to contribute ideas to solve the problem.
                social media and its power to reach out to          The topic is seldom out of the news and is
                a large number of fans. On that score, their        the subject of widespread discussion. With
                generated digital content constantly gets           good reason: if used wisely, crowdsourcing
                better, more “likeable”, “shareable” and            can be a very powerful tool, especially for
                “tweetable”. In fact, it is some of the most        football clubs, since they already have the
                compelling, influential and talked about            key ingredient needed to make the model
                content in popular culture. Undoubtedly,            work – the devoted crowd that their fan base
                social media is a powerful tool, as it helps        represents.
                clubs to control the message and bring fans
                closer to the club by offering them the ability
                to become actively involved and engaged
                with the beautiful game.

                                                                                                Crowdsourcing 15
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                    SEEKING IDEAS FROM FANS AND                      THE POWER OF THREE
                    THEN PUTTING TRUST IN THEM
                    HAS SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL                        This section examines three primary
                    TO ENHANCE CLUB-FAN                              areas – business operations, finance and
                                                                     team performance – where there is scope
                    RELATIONSHIPS
                                                                     for football clubs to use crowdsourcing and
                 Crowdsourcing presents a strategic                  other digital tools to harness the passion
                 opportunity for clubs to reinforce the              and problem-solving power of their fans:
                             fan experience in a manner
                             which will benefit the overall          BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Crowdsourcing has            organisation, and possibly              Channelling fans’ passion and energy
                             also the bottom line. It truly          through a structured crowdsourcing
the power to take            engages fans and raises the fan         platform provides clubs with an efficient
fan loyalty a big step       experience to a more intense            means in terms of cost and time of involving
forward.                     level than can be achieved              their fans worldwide in generating new
                             through simple social-media             ideas and finding better ways of carrying
                             exposure. It empowers fans              out certain operations. Effectively, the clubs
                 to add new value to the relationship with           benefit from their fans’ insights, skills and
                 their club by helping produce relevant              opinions. Crowdsourcing will enable clubs
                 content and contribute insights from                to strengthen trust and loyalty among
                 various different locations. The passion,           fans, by allowing them to use the club’s
                 excitement and trust demonstrated by a              proprietary digital imprint, thus fostering
                 club’s fans is virtually unlimited. By involving    their fans’ sense of ownership. The greater
                 them through crowdsourcing, clubs show              the clubs are able to overcome existing
                 them that they value their feedback and             inter-generational issues and to understand
                 opinion, thus building an even more durable         and adapt to the new dynamics and rules of
                 relationship. At the same time, clubs will          the digital age, particularly in their dealing
                 benefit from solutions that are operationally       with digital natives, the better they will be
                 feasible, economically viable, and, most            at responding to changing circumstances
                 important of all, desired by their fans.            in a timely fashion. Of course, what is
                                                                     hot for digital natives in one country may
                    Examples of the remarkable benefits              not necessarily appeal to fans in another
                    companies can achieve when they use              country. Taking a cue from the younger,
                    crowdsourcing are becoming increasingly          tech-savvy audience, who grew up with the
                    frequent. However, in order to build lasting     Internet and social sites where information
                    value from their relationship with their fans,   is freely available, is both a prerequisite for
                    and use that to increase fan engagement,         getting an effective crowdsourcing initiative
                    football clubs first have to recognise the       launched and a good way of increasing the
                    mind-set on which effective crowdsourcing        engagement of this particular demographic.
                    depends and accept its implications. Are
                    football clubs ready to trust their supporters   We have seen football clubs who evaluated
                    and embrace new tools? Even more                 what their fans really want by asking people
                    importantly, are they prepared to embrace        for modern, authentic fan-merchandising
                    an entirely new relationship with their fans     ideas. Focusing on identified types of
                    and grant them privileged access to behind-      demand allows clubs to concentrate their
                    the-scenes activities?                           marketing efforts on areas where they
                                                                     will be most effective, thus driving sales
                                                                     and meeting their supporters’ needs.
                                                                     “The aim of our crowdsourcing campaign
                                                                     was to analyse our brand value and
                                                                     drive the repositioning of the club”, says
                                                                     Thomas Röttgermann, managing director
                                                                     at Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg.

16 Crowdsourcing
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                Whereas top-flight football clubs can              traditional funding models like bond issuance,
                use their resources and global scale to            crowdfunding allowed the club to achieve its
                exploit the latest digital developments,           goal at a much faster pace.
                crowdsourcing also provides mid-tier and
                lower-tier clubs with an opportunity to keep       The latest commercial activities of the
                pace with digital trends and offer a wide          German lower-tier side Rot-Weiss Essen
                portfolio of fan-generated insights and            provide another example where the power
                digital offerings.                                 of the crowd has been successfully used
                                                                   to raise funding. Instead of relying on the
                Just as the online gaming and betting              financial backing of one main sponsor, the
                operator Betfair has provided third-party          club approached its local community, asking
                software developers with access to its live        local businesses and individuals to join forces
                data, so that they can build interfaces and        and become the club’s main sponsor. “The
                products (including Web pages, mobile              novelty of putting a large number of our
                applications and widgets), clubs also have         local businesses and fans on the shirt and
                the option of using a similar approach to          granting them the privileges of our main
                developing their digital offerings by granting     sponsor has paid off for us in many ways,”
                fans access to certain data and privileges.        says Rot-Weiss Essen’s Managing Director
                Imagine an approach which involves fans            Dr. Michael Welling. “We were able to reduce
                developing applications that are both in           our financial dependence on one main
                tune with their interests and beneficial to        sponsor, increase commercial revenues
                the club’s business operations. This would         and, most importantly, cement ties with our
                effectively place the onus for creativity on       fans and the local community.” While digital
                the shoulders of the fans themselves.              channels played a limited role in this particular
                                                                   case, it does illustrate how clubs which do
                FINANCE                                            decide to explore these new paradigms and
                Numerous successes have already been               harness the potential of a large group of fans
                achieved through crowdfunding. This form           can mobilise significant sources of funding
                of financing is still in its infancy and it will   and create high levels of fan engagement.
                continue to grow. Whilst crowdfunding has
                proven a very effective means of raising           TEAM PERFORMANCE
                initial financing for start-up companies, an       Football is a sport of passion and intuition.
                increasing number of businesses have now           It cannot be reduced to a soulless set of
                begun to use it as a means of experimenting        calculations. That being said, football is
                with new projects and business models.             also becoming more intelligent. Just as
                While Kickstarter has become synonymous            Michael Lewis’s Moneyball has inspired
                with crowdfunding, more crowdfunding               millions, much thought has been devoted
                providers are now appearing on the scene,          to analysing how the insights gained from
                extending the reach of this new type of            baseball might apply to football. Top clubs
                financing and serving different audiences,         are working with data companies like Opta
                needs and causes.                                  and Prozone to analyse matches and
                                                                   players’ performances. They employ data
                Crowdfunding has already proven its ability        analysts to help build a winning team. This
                to open up avenues of opportunity for              results in a growing number of data-driven
                football clubs and we expect more crowd-           decisions and in some instances even an
                funding operations for football clubs to           attempt for a “datafication” of the game.
                follow. The German lower tier-football club        “Successful teams turn player performance
                VfL Osnabrück, for example, has success-           data into action and gain a competitive
                fully reached out to its fans through a            advantage,” says John Coulson, head of
                crowdfunding campaign to obtain funding            professional football services at sports data
                for the certified cash reserves required to        company Opta. “Any professional football
                meet the licensing criteria of the German          club that denies the power of data is placing
                Football Association. Compared to                  itself at a disadvantage.”

                                                                                                Crowdsourcing 17
PWC SPORTS BUSINESS ADVISORY

                   Whilst all the number crunching has failed to      expand the way they interact with fans by
                   find relevant variables for simulating future      engaging with them on the most hallowed
                   player performance and match outcomes,             ground of all, the pitch itself. This California-
                   investment in numerical analysis to find a         based baseball franchise has launched a
                   new, optimised route to winning in football        crowdsourcing programme to help make
                   continues. Football clubs undoubtedly              draft pick decisions. The competition
                   have many good reasons to be extremely             has embarked on a new trajectory which
                   secretive about where they get data from           complements the established draft methods,
                   and how they use it. What can be said is that      scouting and analytics used by the Kings.
                   there have been many cases where fans              In return for granting access to these
                   themselves have helped clubs to transform          processes, the NBA club received analytical
                   raw, scattered data into genuinely useful          advice at no charge.
                   insights.
                                                                      The huge success of fantasy games
                   Football fans have, for example, helped            demonstrates that there are fans who are
                   to improve the scouting process clubs              not only passionate about sport but also
                   use to find new talent. The Transfermarkt          possess significant analytical skills. To
                   Internet platform is an excellent example          make this work for them, football clubs need
                   of how such improvements can be made.              to identify the right partners for them in the
                   Transfermarkt users all share a common             digital ecosystem, both within and outside
                   interest in football, and the platform             the football industry. Modern technology
                   encourages them to interact with each              offers clubs interesting new ways of under-
                   other, contribute ideas, solve problems and        standing risks and making informed
                   create content. “Due to the many insights          decisions rather than relying solely on gut
                   it receives from its community of users, the       instinct.
                   platform has become an undeniably useful
                   information source for the football family,”
                   says Dr. Gregor Reiter, Managing Director of       TEAM STRENGTH EXTENDS BEYOND
                   the German Football Agents’ Association.           THE BENCH – STAND UP AND TAKE
                   The same principle applies to Sports               NOTICE
                   Interactive’s Football Manager database:
                   it is fuelled by player data contributed           In the digital age, there is no pause button
                   by a crowd of over 1,300 dedicated fans            and no unaffected customer group. Using
                   of the video game covering national                crowdsourcing to tap into the intangibles
                   leagues in almost a quarter of all FIFA’s          of fan loyalties may enable clubs to identify
                   member associations. According to Sports           their most useful partners in their quest to
                   Interactive, their “scouts” provide objective      play and win in this digital age.
                   and detailed insights and the range of
                   matches covered globally is exceptional.
                   The evidence suggests that professional
                   clubs have started to use Football Manager
                   to test the viability of potential new signings.

                   Although these examples show how
                   clubs leverage information gathered by
                   fans around the globe, the initiatives and
                   platforms they are using are in fact made
                   available by player agents rather than
                   the clubs themselves. A look at the latest
                   activities of the NBA club Sacramento Kings
                   does, however, suggest that football clubs
                   may see the benefits of this approach and

18 Crowdsourcing
AUDIENCE
            DEVELOPMENT
 Football clubs will have to diversify their content portfolio and extend their
audience engagement activities to novel channels in order to communicate
      their club brand, engage existing fans and gain new audiences.

                                                                                            © Exozet

             KEY MESSAGES
             • Clubs and players will use social media even more intensively to target
               fans that their current social-media strategies are not reaching
             • Direct monetisation via social media will become possible, yet social
               media will still mainly focus on brand-building and audience development
               for clubs, players and sponsors
             • The new digitised match day will enable clubs to offer more information to
               fans, and leverage content related to the match
EXOZET

                    FROM FOOTBALL CLUB TO MEDIA                      example for this is the unrivalled social
                    HUB. WHAT COMES NEXT?                            media success generated by the FIFA World
                                                                     Cup 2014. The casual fan is as valuable a
                    In recent years, the importance and value of     target for sponsors or supporters as the
                    brands in sports has become evident. Today,      passionate fan who visits the stadium to see
                    the largest football clubs have a distinct       a match.
                    brand identity and – more importantly
                    from an operational point of view – a brand      One of the distinct assets football clubs have
                    strategy that shapes their public image and      to offer is the match itself. While video rights
                    engagement.                                      are already extensively marketed, the extent
                                                                     to which the in-stadium experience is used to
                    Clubs like Bayern Munich or Real Madrid          engage fans remains relatively undeveloped.
                    are great examples. Beyond delivering an         Driven by technical innovation, in-stadium
                    outstanding performance on the pitch, these      fan engagement will become much more
                    clubs are perfecting their ability to leverage   important and innovative than it is today.
                    content to build a clear and consistent
                    brand identity across all touch points. Also,
                    clubs are distributing this content via newly    DIGITALISATION CHANGES CONTENT
                    created channels, such as video footage          AND AUDIENCE-DEVELOPMENT
                    of matches or training sessions, that are        STRATEGIES FOR FOOTBALL CLUBS
                    distributed via the clubs’ own online video
                    platform. The advantages of this strategy       Clubs already use social media to connect
                    are clear. First, they enable clubs to keep     with their fans. As more time is spent surfing
                    fans in their ecosystem, thereby increasing     the Web on mobile devices, social becomes
                    the clubs’ media reach, which in turn is of     the predominant entry page for users. This
                    interest to sponsors. Second, clubs can         trend is most pronounced among the new
                    monetise this content by marketing it directly  generation of digital natives. The key global
                    to their fans.                                  platforms are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
                                                                                       and Instagram. The local
                That being said, a football club                                       ones include Tencent and
                is more than a media enterprise                 As social media VK from China and Russia
                or an entertainment provider.                   asserts itself as respectively.
                What distinguishes consumers
                              of football-related       consumers’ first port Today, we know that when
                              content and                of call, clubs need to fans use social media to
Football clubs are            merchandise from            adapt their strategy. follow their team, they
                              other consumers                                          typically spend more time
more than a media
                              is their status as                                       engaging with their team
hub – because of              fans. Fandom, even in its mildest     than they otherwise would. Social media
their fans.                   forms, also entails an emotional      is popular among supporters, because it
                              connection and an interaction         provides real-time communication and news,
                              with other fans. Sharing the          and also offers two-way communication.
                experience becomes absolutely central.
                Social media is an ideal tool for addressing        Generally, the core attributes of social media
                and engaging fans on an emotional level,            will continue to provide an efficient channel
                but it is not currently being used to its full      for clubs to engage with their fans. The
                potential. As the use of mobile devices             specifics will change, however: social-media
                becomes ever more widespread, social                usage will be adapted to address a more
                media will play an increasingly important           segmented fan base, thus enabling it to open
                and powerful role in gaining and maintaining        up new and remote markets.
                users’ attention. Social media is also an ideal
                tool to stay in touch with casual fans who          In order for these goals to be accomplished
                may “like” a club on Facebook, but are not          by making the best possible use of social
                keen to download the club’s mobile app or           media and direct communication, we believe
                register on the club’s website. An interesting      four factors will be pivotal.

20 Audience Development
EXOZET

         AN OVERARCHING STRATEGY IS                         these requirements together on social media
         THE DRIVER                                         is to work around events in which content is
         Now more than ever social media needs              produced by fans within a particular frame
         to be part of an integrated brand strategy         (e.g., asking fans to post videos explaining
         that creates a seamless fan experience             why they love their club in one sentence),
         across a club’s various media channels. As         using polls among fans, prize draws, or
         social becomes the Internet’s new point of         specifically looking for content that offers
         entry, news and articles from the website or       more editorial control.
         from third parties will be integrated into the
         club’s social-media stream and presented           Digital and more specifically social media
         in a manner appropriate to the respective          will become a common entry route into
         platform. Integration of social media into         fandom. This in turn means that there will be
         a club’s own digital environment makes             more fans for whom communication about
         the club’s online presence more visible            the match is more important than watching
         and captivating. Club-owned social-media           the match itself – and social-media
         hubs will become increasingly interesting          communication should exploit this.
         for a specific segment of loyal fans, as they
         will be able to provide all the social-media       TRACKING AND MONETISATION ARE
         information related to the club and bind fans      TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
         to the club’s own digital ecosystem.               Gauging exactly how much revenue social-
                                                            media activity generates is about as difficult
         Fan communities will become more                   as measuring the effect of branding
         segmented, thus making social media                advertising campaigns. Within the next few
         platforms a valuable tool for addressing           years, more precise tracking systems that go
         specific fan groups (e.g., remote fans from        beyond such classic social-media metrics
         specific locations). Also, communication via       as “likes” and reach will be developed,
         mainstream social media will enable a club         just as they are now being developed to
         to boost its ability to unlock the potential of    measure the effectiveness of online brand-
         target groups (e.g., fans over 40, casual fans)    marketing campaigns. This data will be
         that are only poorly addressed by clubs’           leveraged to address fans more efficiently
         current offerings.                                 by offering them relevant content, products
                                                            and services. In a second step, social-media
         THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CONTENT                    metrics will also be integrated into the – yet
         AND COMMUNICATION WILL BECOME                      to be built – digital ecosystems of clubs,
         IRRELEVANT                                         ensuring a holistic marketing view for the
         The value of social media lies in the dialogue     benefit of both fan and club.
         it promotes, and a loyal followership on
         Facebook, Twitter and Instagram needs                Direct monetisation in the context of social
         to be built on authentic, relevant and               media is already a reality, as demonstrated
         entertaining content and                                                by new features such as
         communication.                                                          Facebook multiproduct
                                                       Social media will ads or Google, making
         User-generated content is                  remain an important it possible to market
         highly favoured among fans,                                             merchandise and products
                                                      tool for improving
         and interactive content that                                            to fans in the social-media
         asks fans to contribute and                  the offerings clubs context. Nevertheless, in
         then prominently displays                  provide to their fans. the short term we expect
         their input is especially sought                                        large clubs to continue
         after as suggested by recent                                            treating social media as
         data on the amount of time individual users          a tool for increasing the quality of their
         spend on different parts of a Web page or            offering rather than for direct monetisation.
         mobile app. Content is also more successful
         if it is of high quality (i.e., relevant and
         visually appealing) as well as platform-
         appropriate. One option for bringing both

                                                                                 Audience Development 21
EXOZET

                  NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPONSORS                  new features to support this, such as Twitter
                  OPEN UP                                         Amplify, an advertising format that allows
                  If a club or a player has built a loyal         for real-time video content, including pre-roll
                  followership on social media, this reach        advertising to be distributed via Twitter.
                  offers an interesting audience for sponsors
                  and advertisers. Native advertising in          For sponsors, social media has become an
                  social media often shows conversion rates       attractive way of talking to fans directly.
                  that far exceed the success achieved by         One notable example is Sony’s engagement
                  conventional banner advertising. Shaquille      during the FIFA World Cup 2014. With 6.5
                  O’Neal promoting Oreo cookies on Twitter,       million likes on its Facebook channel, the
                  “wanna hang wit me? heres ur chance for us      interactive community page football.sony.
                  2 chill n dunk some” is a great example of      net, and on a related YouTube channel, Sony
                  successful social-media native advertising.     undoubtedly gained significant visibility and
                  The main objective of these advertisements      engagement during the World Cup.
                  is to remain entertaining and authentic,
                  thus allowing O’Neal to build up a Twitter      LEVERAGING THE MATCH DAY FOR
                  following of 8.1 million fans (October 2014).   AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
                  Adding a viral component to advertising         The overall match day experience and
                  encourages people to share content, further     in-venue atmosphere are among the most
                  compounding reach and impact.                   valuable assets football clubs have at their
                                                                  disposal. The match day is a critical subject
                  Eighty percent of fans use social media to      of social-media communication, but, once
                  communicate with their club, players and        fans have reached the venue, little is then
                  fellow fans and many do so while watching       done to connect them with each other
                  sports on TV. This interaction will become      digitally, or indeed with fans following the
                  more important in supporting traditional        match elsewhere. Curiously, today’s in-
                  TV campaigns, by communicating sponsor          stadium experience is very similar to that on
                  brands on social media, while the TV ad or      offer 20 years ago: almost no video replays
                  the match is on. Social-media platforms use     of match scenes on large stadium screens,

                                                                                                                    © Leonardo Patrizi – iStock

22 Audience Development
EXOZET

                   no commentary is available, social-media        HOW DO CLUBS BENEFIT FROM THIS?
                   activity is not specifically directed towards   An enhanced stadium experience through
                   fans in the stadium and connection to fans      digital will lead to increased ticket sales,
                   outside the stadium is rarely orchestrated.     attracting fans who would not usually attend
                   Twitter is used as a match-day reporting tool   the match. Also, a more aligned social-media
                   and – rarely – integrated in the LEDs in the    experience will mean that more visitors will
                   bands on the pitch.                             be happy to promote and “socialise” the
                                                                   match experience, broadcasting it to their
                  Driven by the introduction of stadium WiFi,      wider network of friends. The introduction
                  and in its wake, the advent of stadium apps      of WiFi and in-stadium apps will also offer
                  that only work when connected to the venue       the possibility of marketing premium
                  WiFi, the in-venue experience will become        content directly to visitors, as well as enable
                              both more digital and more           monetisation through targeted advertising.
                              social. One of today’s successful
Crafting a 21st century examples is Bayer Leverkusen’s
match-day experience Fan App, which uses social media              THE SYNERGY BETWEEN SOCIAL
                              to connect and engage with           MEDIA AND GAME EXPERIENCE IS
is football’s most            fans, and offers features such       IMPORTANT
promising challenge.          as live video streaming, match
                              statistics, live information about   Fandom is all about emotions – emotions
                              the match and surveys whose          that fans want to communicate to their
                  results are communicated directly to those       clubs, heroes, and fellow supporters. Social
                  in the stadium. In time, applications that       media has already established itself as the
                  connect fans within or outside the club will     best way of fulfilling this desire for affiliation.
                  be increasingly available, along the example     With the increasing cultural importance of
                  of choreography apps Fanpictor, which is         social media, and the emergence of new
                  gaining increasing traction in the market. Yet   platforms and features, clubs will benefit
                  the introduction of these apps and services      from digital in new and interesting ways.
                  doesn’t come without challenges. Indeed,         Helping fans to exchange their experiences
                  fan groups who have been organising these        in the stadium – either via social media,
                  activities may feel disintermediated and         or with the help of digital gadgets – is one
                  disempowered, demanding from clubs               of the most promising avenues for clubs’
                  particular attention in the way they promote     marketing strategies to explore today.
                  the introduction of these services.

                   Technological innovation will also change
                   the viewing experience itself. Wearable
                   augmented-reality devices, Google Glass
                   being the most prominent, provide the
                   possibility of using second-screen or
                   stadium apps embedded into the match.
                   Moreover, these devices may also bring
                   the in-stadium experience to fans located
                   elsewhere, or even let viewers see the match
                   through the point of view of a player. Albeit
                   technically still challenging, holographic
                   projection techniques may also well develop
                   to the point of providing a captivating
                   virtual in-stadium experience, lifting the
                   opportunities for public viewing to a whole
                   new level.

                                                                                         Audience Development 23
MATCH DATA AND
               WEARABLES
Wearable technologies and match data will offer new business models,
create more fan engagement and expand digital marketing strategies
             that football clubs and players will exploit.

                                                                                                   © alexey_boldin – depositphotos

                     KEY MESSAGES
                     • Digital self-measurement and data analytics will become an integral part
                       of our everyday life
                     • Video and augmented reality wearables will significantly change the match
                       experience
                     • Wearable technologies and data analytics will become highly sophisticated
                       and will offer advanced products, services and applications
                     • New business models and marketing strategies will be derived from
                       connected and integrated data analytics and wearable ecosystems

24 Football’s Digital Transformation
EXOZET

         THE DIGITAL MATCH DATA AND                        to optimise training loads and to track
         WEARABLE ECOSYSTEM IS                             players’ activity in order to avoid fatigue
         DIVERSIFIED                                       problems during the league season. Florian
                                                           Gschwandtner, the CEO of Runtastic,
         MATCH DATA IS AN ESTABLISHED AND                  draws particular attention to the fatigue
         MATURE BUSINESS                                   issue: “More and more football clubs
         For many years now the practice of                are investigating ways of tracking their
         gathering and analysing match-related             players’ daily activities, sleep cycles,
         data during professional football matches         nutrition habits, etc., in order to monitor
         has been widespread. A wide range of              their physical and psychological states
         match data is available today and there           and optimise their overall condition.”
         are numerous applications and services            Sports regulatory restrictions still prohibit
         which use it, such as sports data feeds,          the use of player performance measurement
         statistics and insights for TV broadcasts,        technologies during official matches in
         websites, apps, newspapers, etc. This data        football, even though they have been widely
         has an important part to play in the match        adopted in other sports, such as rugby.
         experience itself, as action on the pitch
         enhances the overall match experience.            CONSUMER WEARABLES PROVIDE DIGITAL
         The provision and processing of match data        MEASUREMENT FOR A QUANTIFIED SELF
         is now a mature and profitable business           While the digitalisation and analysis of
         with a wide range of uses and applications.       match statistics and the measurement of
         Within this market, established match-data        players’ performances is an established
         service providers ensure the continuous           business, it is only recently that self-
         improvement of match analytics and                measurement and data analytics have
         availability through a variety of distribution    been widely available in the consumer
         channels.                                         market. Today, an ever-growing number of
                                                           wristbands, smart watches, smart shoes
         DIGITAL PLAYER PERFORMANCE                        and wearable smart textiles is tempting
         MEASUREMENT TOOLS BENEFIT FROM                    consumers to measure every aspect of their
         SOPHISTICATED SENSORS                             everyday life. Following the announcement
         In addition to match data, which allows           of the Apple Watch, this relatively young
         player data to be tracked and analysed in         market is expected to gain substantial
         multiple ways, nearly all professional football   momentum, opening up the consumer
         clubs also use advanced biometrical,              wearables ecosystem to all kinds of new
         kinetics and position measurement                 applications and services. We expect the so-
         technologies to track and enhance their           called “quantified self” to become an integral
         players’ performance. Player performance          part of our everyday life.
         measurements are based on sophisticated,
         highly integrated sensor technologies,
         usually based on a combination of different
         wearable devices which make up a complete
         technical ecosystem. The main purpose
         of player performance measurement is to
         collect data as a basis for empirically based
         decisions on performance improvement,

                                                                           Match Data and Wearables 25
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