Innovation till I die

With football due to be played behind closed doors for the next few months, could this be an opportunity for the clubs to innovate?

Football Leagues like the Bundesliga have restarted recently to the delight of sports fans. However, it is quite a strange sight watching teams fight it out in empty and quiet stadiums. Every goal celebration is celebrated in a quiet corner, everyone an arm's length apart. Even your Sunday league game has a better atmosphere about it. The Bundesliga have used fake crowd noises in the TV broadcast, which makes the games much somewhat more exciting for the fans that tune in, but the players don't actually hear anything. Some clubs have tried to address this issue with cardboard fans or sex dolls, but the reality is that for the players, it is almost like a training scrimmage where the silence is only punctuated by the shouting between players, coaches, and officials.

While there can be advantages to playing in an empty stadium (no crowd abuse, easier communication), the biggest disadvantage is the loss of home advantage. Anyone who has played competitive sports will tell you how much the home crowd can really help lift you, and that home crowd can be like the extra player for you. So losing that advantage could be huge.

Certainly there is no way to properly replicate or even come close to the atmosphere at some stadiums (especially such as those in the Süper Lig), but there can still be opportunities to try to close the gap a little. So here are some quick thoughts about how there could be an opportunity for football clubs (or even clubs in other sports) to innovate.

More fan engagement

They could have a Football DJ in the stadium playing fake crowd noises. If they can do it for the TV viewers, surely they can do it in the stadium. Talk shows and sitcoms have used canned laughter to manipulate audience reaction so perhaps it can have a similar psychological effect, which could motivate the players. If it proves somewhat successful, imagine the opportunities when the fans are allowed back in. The NBA has done this very well and could be a model to follow. When you have a DJ who is able to excite the crowd, it certainly makes watching games a lot more exciting and engaging. Just cheering your team on shouting "Defence! Defence! Defence!" can make the game a bit more exciting. I'm not sure how that will translate for football games but it would be certainly improve the atmosphere at some games where there is a lot of sideways passing. I'm sure a DJ would have helped Manchester United during the Louis van Gaal period a few years back. Perhaps those games would not have been such a snooze fest.

There could be an opportunity to bring in guest DJs especially for the games that may not have the same atmosphere as the Local Derbies, El Classicos or Der Klassikers. Imagine Paul Oakenfold (a big Chelsea fan) spinning for Chelsea vs Millwall in an FA Cup game. You would not normally be at full capacity for such a game but with a guest DJ like Oakenfold in the house, it certainly would.

A more immersive experience

With people being so familiar (of late) with video conferencing and live streaming platforms, there could be an opportunity for a crossover into the sports realm. Instead of a one-way live stream, there could be a way for the fans' collective sounds broadcast in the stadium. This could address some of the quieter games and could also be a huge opportunity for more fan engagement especially for fans not physically in the stadium, city, country, continent, etc. Obviously there would have to be some form of moderation involved to filter out the negative input.

To take the above slightly further, they could develop something using VR and/or AR. Imagine watching a game in a premium seat at the stadium with your fellow fans all around you cheering on your team. You could be sitting in Singapore cheering on your team alongside your mates in Los Angeles, Casablanca, and Mumbai. You avoid the rush in and out of the stadium, the long lines to get your beer and hotdogs, and you never have to worry about missing anything while you go to the toilet (maybe just missing a step or the toilet bowl).

Additional features like turning on a flare or putting up personalized banners could work too. Don't fancy the opposition fans? Just turn them into a bunch of bouncing watermelons!

With so many data companies such as Opta and TransferMarkt able to provide valuable real time data, such as team/individual statistics, values, influencers in a game (the Manchester United app does this quite well), heatmaps and more, the match day experience can be even more engaging. Disagreement with your mates over whether your star player had a good game? Your pub discussions can now be backed by real time data!

There can be so much more! The opportunities are endless, and the time to test them out is now!

Of course there will be some so-called football purists who will claim that it goes against "football as we know it" but like it or not, football has been changing...A LOT. The rules have changed even recently - players’ lifestyles and diets have changed; the various roles of backroom staff have evolved and become more important than we know; on pitch technology has been used more frequently (goal line technology and VAR); fan engagement has changed with the rise of social media; and even the very ball that is kicked has been ever-changing (I still don’t like the jabulani).

So why stop now? After all, in the corporate world, it's innovate or die, and football shouldn't be an exception.

What other ideas do you think can be implemented in the modern football game?

#Innovation #Football #Soccer #COVID19 #FIFA #Technology