Four four tech

This week’s Ramble was a first for us…the first held in person! We got to chew the fat over lunch (metaphorically that is…the food was delicious and in no way fatty) which was a real treat, and we’d highly recommend the Rail House Café near Victoria Station in London, if you ever find yourself over that way.

Sparked by the news that EA Sports is the new headline sponsor of a rebranded LaLiga, our lunchtime ramblings centred around the growing role of technology businesses in football. Not in the sense of how technology is directly being used to improve the game (anyone who has agonised over VAR will know this a long and lengthy debate…one for another time perhaps). Rather, we were fascinated by the growing number of technology partners in the game and what it might mean for the evolution of how the game is consumed by fans.

Now…EA Sports doubling down on league deals (they also partner with the Premier League and Serie A) post the split from FIFA is no surprise, with 美国艺电公司 looking to cement its stakeholder relations and its place in football fans' hearts. What is interesting, is how – other than offering LALIGA money and a fair amount of kudos with fans – the partnership will also bring new graphics and advanced metrics?to support and enhance the viewing experience. Under the agreement, EA Sports will be leveraging their success in the video game space to boost the visual experience for existing fans but also attract younger audiences too.

Tech businesses are certainly not new to sports sponsorship. IBM for example has a been of technology partner of Wimbledon and The Masters for 30 and 27 years respectively. These tech companies have tended to partner more “blue chip” sports, where they can target a more corporate audience as well as leverage their digital expertise.

Football has tended to tread a different path in terms of its partners. From banks and insurance companies to beer brands and airlines – plus a recent rush on anything crypto – football sponsorship has rotated around certain well established categories, whose primary focus is leveraging the visibility and brand equity that different football properties provide. ?However, in the past month, we have seen the likes of Amazon AWS and Google Pixel announce significant new football sponsorships, joining the likes of Microsoft and Oracle who have long standing partnerships with LaLiga and The Premier League respectively. Also, increasingly, major rights holders are flirting with technology businesses centred like 苹果 and 亚马逊 Prime around their broadcast packages.

Yes, football is still reliant on money from F&B and finance but just about all of Europe’s top leagues and federations now partner with technology businesses, leveraging their expertise and resources to enhance the fan experience. The only exception seems to be Ligue 1 in France but even their headline partner, Uber Eats is a disruptive business shaped by technology!

So what does this influx of digital know-how mean for football? Their big bonus, as we’ve alluded to earlier, is they can offer more than just financial investment. These tech partners bring expertise in areas like data analysis, mobile technology, AI and scalable, cloud based solutions that can be used to data rich, personalised mobile experiences for fans around the world, that are in keeping with changing consumption habits – something Amazon AWS have been doing with the Bundesliga and ?LaLiga are looking to do through their new app.

Deals like streaming platforms, like Apple’s 10 year broadcast agreement with MLS, could bring about a rise in consolidated global rights packages, simplifying the viewing experience for fans and give the rights holder more control over production.

They could also have a big bearing on the growth of the women’s game where their ability to offer distribution channels, as well as reach, could significantly boost visibility and availability of matches at a time when, as we saw with the issues around the broadcast of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, broadcast deals are still proving difficult to do.

As the beautiful game continues to work out just what constitutes “beauty” for the fans of tomorrow, and how they need to package up their products to appeal to them, we expect to see more and more partnerships with the tech world. The key here is the term partnership, with value being provided both ways through genuine collaborations around content, production and digital delivery that will all amount to a better, more personalised experience for fans all around the world.?

The Sports TEC Ramble is based on the weekly musings of our consultants?Kevin Bain?&?David Wright?on the technology news and trends shaping the sports industry.