Three digital game-changers for football in the post-COVID-19 era

Fan engagement in the digital sphere 

In response to the COVID-19 disruption, football clubs engaged in a series of ground-breaking activities to establish radically new ways to engage digitally with their millions of fans worldwide. Take the example of the summer tours that elite football clubs have undertaken across Asia in recent years to enhance their visibility in a region where interest in football has grown remarkably over the past decade. The COVID-19 pandemic forced clubs such as Liverpool to cancel their tours last summer. AC Milan had to do the same with its planned tour in China. However, the Italian club quickly reacted to the cancellation, launching a digital summer tour that offered digital experiences to millions of Chinese fans, ranging from interacting with players to completing a virtual tour of the club’s premises and the city of Milan. The digital tour ended in September with more than 20 million impressions on digital platforms. 

Creating new ways to engage with fans in the digital space also gave clubs the opportunity to establish additional synergies among the different channels they used. Consider what Real Madrid did during La Liga’s enforced lockdown. The club created an “Ask the players” series on its Twitter account, offering fans the opportunity to submit questions that were then answered directly by two Real Madrid players in videos posted on the Real Madrid official YouTube account. This very successful initiative reached over 6 million followers. The club also created an Instachat that became very popular among its fanbase, especially during the repeats of the team’s legendary wins, which were broadcast on the Real Madrid TV channel. 

In this rapidly changing context, football clubs that had already started investing in digital capabilities before the coronavirus crisis and quickly accelerated their digital transformation efforts during the pandemic have seen their chance of being futureproofed increase dramatically. Future fans will engage with their favorite clubs in radically different ways from older generations. The coronavirus crisis has only accelerated the underlying transformation of fans’ engagement. The above-mentioned digital activities will certainly be offered again in the future, and new similar initiatives launched even though travel will resume in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. Expect this to become an ordinary way for fans around the world to engage with their favorite football teams in the future. 

The new audio frontier: Podcasting and live concerts 

The recent moves made by Spotify – the dominant player in the global music streaming industry – are illustrative of where the frontline of the streaming war will be in the foreseeable future. During the pandemic, the Swedish-based company completed the purchase of the podcasting company Megaphone for more than $230 million, the last of a series of acquisitions enabling it to become the leader in the production of original programming and advertisements in the podcasting environment. In its attempt to accelerate its quest to become the leader in all things audio, Spotify has also recently partnered with Songkick, a ticketing platform owned by Warner Music, to promote live streaming events directly from its app. 

Some football clubs have been very quick to respond to these changes in the streaming industry. For example, in the midst of the pandemic AC Milan launched its weekly podcast series and forged an exclusive partnership with Roc Nation – one of the world’s leading entertainment companies – to promote the club through these innovative channels. One of the first initiatives by the legendary Italian club was the creation of “From Milan with Love,” a livestreamed concert presented by Grammy-award winning producer DJ Khaled, which included the performance of stars such as Alicia Keys and Lola Ponce alongside the appearance of sports personalities like former AC Milan player Kaká. The event was streamed in May to support all the individuals who were on the frontline fighting the coronavirus. Its viewing audience ran into millions. 

Given this huge success, in November AC Milan and Roc Nation created another virtual live event, “From Milan with Love: Next Gen.” AC Milan’s Digital, Media & The Studios Director, Lamberto Siega, confirmed: “This second live concert event was again a huge success, with over 18 million people reached through all the content, 50% more engagement and an increase of 27% in impressions compared with the first concert. The partnership with Roc Nation allows AC Milan to combine the power of music with the fundamental values of sport that our club embodies. It is also important to emphasize that this event has given the opportunity to share with such a broad audience the commitment of both AC Milan and Roc Nation to inclusivity, equality, and cultural diversity.” 

Of course, all this new streamed content has been offered not only via the club’s website and proprietary apps, but also through entirely new channels. In December 2020, AC Milan launched its official channel on Twitch precisely to engage with its younger fanbase. Lamberto Siega emphasized: “Twitch gives us a unique opportunity to connect with the younger segment of our fans base. One in four Twitch viewers are less than 17 years old. We often forget that our next generation of supporters does not want to spend 90 minutes in front of a TV watching a football game. If they do, they want to have additional content via a second screen, be it a laptop, a tablet, or a mobile phone. Our channel on Twitch enables us to provide all this additional content that our younger fans will be able to access anytime and from anywhere.”