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
© melis – shutterstock
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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 nativesPWC 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 EcosystemPWC 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 11PWC 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 EcosystemPWC 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 13CROWDSOURCING
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 forwardPWC 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 15PWC 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 CrowdsourcingPWC 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 17PWC 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 CrowdsourcingAUDIENCE
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 matchEXOZET
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 DevelopmentEXOZET
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 21EXOZET
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 DevelopmentEXOZET
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 23MATCH 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 TransformationEXOZET
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 25You can also read
