Old meets new in shiny renovated stadium. Botev Plovdiv embrace next frontier
March 20 – Bulgaria’s oldest football club Botev Plovdiv has signed a partnership agreement with one of the newest digital platforms targeting football, Fanzee.
Digital platforms
MLS dances to TikTok tune as US threatens to ban the Chinese-owned app
March 20 – While the US government has increased its pressure campaign against TikTok, threatening a US ban of the app if the company doesn’t split with its Chinese ownership, Major League Soccer has no issue with the social media platform being used to collect vast volumes of data.
Monaco agree auction partnership with collectibles specialist Catawiki
February 23 – AS Monaco and has agreed a collaboration with Catawiki, an online auction platform for buying and selling special items and collectibles.
Crystal Palace is first Premier League club to debut channel on WeAre8 social media app
February 8 – Crystal Palace are the first Premier League club to sign up to socially conscious social media app WeAre8 with an official presence.
OneFootball and DAZN test new ground with live football PPV distribution deal
February 3 – Sports streaming leaders DAZN and OneFootball have struck a distribution deal that will widen the reach of DAZN content in Germany and Austria via OneFootball’s network.
Digital transformation is now about taking ownership of fan engagement in house, says Ferre
January 31 – The digital focus within football marketing started as being all about web sites and building social media numbers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. But there has been a strategic shift and while the social media platforms are still important it is the new fan engagement platforms that are making the marketing difference.
Fulham secures cyber protection firm Acronis for 3-year partnership
January 31 – Cyber protection specialists Acronis has announced a three-year partnership with Premier League Fulham.
Premier League inks fantasy football deal with Sorare
January 30 – The Premier League has unveiled a four-year deal with fantasy football game Sorare that will see the league license official player cards.
DAZN boosts global streaming roll-out with Prime Video distribution deal
January 20 – Sports-streaming giant DAZN has agreed a deal with Prime Video to distribute its service in Amazon’s Prime Video Channels.
RealFevr prepares video NFT drop for Portuguese Allianz Cup
January 17 – Liga Portugal and RealFevr have extended their digital collectibles partnership to include a two-season deal for the Allianz Cup (Portuguese League Cup) starting this season.
Italian Super Cup to make ‘goal’ balls collectible for AC Milan and Inter fan token holders
January 18 – Fans looking to own the ultimate piece of memorabilia, the ball that was used to score a goal, will now have the opportunity to do so for tonight’s EA Sports Supercup between AC Milan and Inter Milan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
DAZN reveals $1.36bn loss but reports pick-up in subs and engagement as model evolves
January 12 – Sports-streaming giant DAZN has reported an operating loss of $1.36 billion in 2021, taking the company’s total losses over the past three reported financial years to $5 billion.
Sports apps dominating the data, information and gaming landscape
January 8 – Sports apps have become a staple for sports fans looking to stay abreast of live scores and the latest news around favourite teams, players, and leagues. Several applications are now available that service the demand, delivering news, stats, and occasionally betting chances on various sporting events.
LaLiga to debut with official content stream on OneFootball platform
January 10 – LaLiga and OneFootball have stuck a deal that will see the Spanish league launch its official profile on the streaming platform.
Saints enter sports tech dev business with ‘Future of Football’ challenge
January 4 – Premier League Southampton have entered the sports tech development scene with a challenge to developers and companies to come up with the next big idea in either the football development or fan engagement space.