Football’s journey from a local pastime to a global multibillion-dollar industry was gradual, but the sport’s digital transformation has been rapid.
Football’s success has been built on its continual evolution and adoption of new innovations.
With fundamental changes in consumption habits and fan behaviour, this blueprint will be essential for clubs, leagues, and federations to stay relevant and increase revenues in the new era of football.
Together with SportsPro, IMG have explored content creation and digital innovation in today’s football landscape, which will be vital for unlocking new engagement opportunities and diverse revenue streams.
For over 150 years, football’s unparalleled ability to entertain and inspire fans globally has driven its transformation into a commercial powerhouse.
The European football market alone is valued at $47 billion, driven by record revenues from matchday and commercial sources, resulting in a seven percent growth in the 2021/22 season.
Combined revenues from clubs in the top football leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, known as the ‘big five’, now exceed $27.64 billion, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
Emerging technologies and younger supporters are reshaping the notion of fandom, with fan bases becoming more global rather than local or national, and increasingly inclusive of female fans interested in women’s football.
Creating content and innovating digitally will be essential for discovering fresh ways to engage fans and generate varied streams of revenue, ensuring football continues its upward trajectory spanning over a century.
If football aims to resemble more of a media enterprise, then it must adhere to a fundamental principle of the broader industry: data reigns supreme.
Entities that can gather, analyse, and utilise fan data will have a competitive edge in attracting supporters and growing their revenue streams. This translates to a more refined content, improved decision-making, and targeted marketing campaigns.
While there are suggestions that Gen Z lacks interest in football and that significant changes are needed to broaden its appeal, research indicates that 72 percent of Gen Z watch football at least once a week, compared to 59 percent of millennials and 49 percent of Gen X.
Additionally, 26 percent of Gen Z enthusiasts intend to follow football with even greater interest in the next five years.
Gen Z remains interested in engaging with football, although they show less inclination towards attending matches in person or watching entire matches on television.
They are more adept with technology, show greater interest in video games, and are more inclined to follow individual players rather than a single club or even support multiple clubs compared to previous generations.
At its core, streaming is essentially a digital way to distribute linear content. Many primary broadcasters now provide catch-up or OTT platforms, while rights holders are using streaming services to boost licensing fees whether through heightened competition or by creating specialized packages and to reach a younger audience less likely to watch traditional television.
Platforms like FIFA+ can be used as leverage in negotiations with current broadcast partners. Other platforms, such as Tottenham Hotspur’s SPURSPLAY and Real Madrid’s RM Play, have become standalone products, offering a variety of content that complements or even replaces third-party broadcast deals.
AI will revolutionise nearly every facet of football, from recruitment and performance analysis to targeted marketing campaigns and content creation.
Intelligent technologies will become so ingrained in football that most consumers won’t even realise they are engaging with AI. Fans will benefit from higher quality, more relevant content, including automated video highlights, AI-powered cameras, and algorithmic content discovery as the most prevalent.
LaLiga is already employing GenAI to automatically translate player interviews into multiple languages using the player’s own voice, enhancing engagement with global audiences.
Similarly, Major League Soccer (MLS) is generating live spoken-word commentary for matches where deploying a real commentator isn’t feasible. GenAI could enable hyper-personalized content for individual users, allowing them to create highlight packages of a specific team or player through a simple text prompt.
Along with the technology landscape, the digital era of fandom has arrived and is here to stay, with the future already unfolding.
