Eleven Sports to provide greater coverage with WhatsApp service

Liam Watson
Portuguese sports broadcast platform Eleven Sports has developed a new WhatsApp service to provide fans with faster access to its coverage.

The launch has been made in time for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 matches which began on 18th of February. The broadcaster will send match updates and clips to all fans that subscribe to the service, which goes straight to their phone.

WhatsApp will also be the go-to place for Eleven Sports in Portugal with the Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 all covered.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for our fans to watch their favourite sporting moments across all of our platforms,” said Nuno Filipe Miranda, Eleven Sports’ Director of Marketing and Communications in Portugal,

“With more than 60% of the Portuguese population now on WhatsApp, it’s important that we’re there to bring our fans all the action, straight to their phones.”

It shows how important a service like this can have when engaging with fans of the sport. By using WhatsApp, fans can stay up to date with match content and highlights, news and team updates.

We haven’t seen something like this in Australia just yet, but could provide a real point of difference to keep supporters in the loop amongst the other sports they may follow.

We’ve seen Atletico Madrid use WhatsApp in a similar way, allowing fans to connect exclusively with the club and receive unique content including greetings from the team and special offers related to merchandise and ticketing.

A club in the A-League or even National Premier League could look at WhatsApp and consider the possibilities of what the service can go for their engagement with the wider community.

Particularly in a time where expansion sides Western United and MacArthur FC are coming in, it could boost their popularity when venturing into a new market and area.

Last year, Eleven Sports launched a partnership with smartphone app OneFootball, allowing matches to be made available to fans via the application. The network’s social media channels grew by 138 per cent in 2019, which came off the back of the acquisition of a plethora of rights, including the Spanish Super Cup.

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FMDB Pro aims to streamline football recruitment through data-driven insights

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Image Credit: FMDB Pro

Football recruitment platform FMDB Pro is positioning itself as a tool to help clubs, federations and recruiters make more informed decisions by bringing greater structure and context to the early informal stages of talent identification.

The platform has been developed by Sports Interactive, the same developers who make the Football Manager game.

Supporting, not replacing, traditional scouting

FMDB Pro is designed to support traditional recruiting departments by narrowing the pool of potential signings before traditional scouting processes commence.

Rather than replacing existing channels and scouts, FMDB Pro is intended to complement existing recruitment workflows by allowing clubs to filter players.

Using hundreds of data points, it will help clubs identify prospects that meet specific technical, physical and regulatory requirement.

Powered by Football Manager’s global database

The platform draws on Football Manager’s extensive global database, covering more than 310,000 players across over 200 nations and thousands of competitions.

Users can search by a wide range of criteria, including playing attributes, positional profiles, contract status, injury history, international eligibility and governing body endorsement requirements.

FMDB Pro Business Development Director Michael Fleming said modern recruitment departments often face the challenge of assessing thousands of players across multiple competitions before deciding where to invest valuable scouting resources.

Introducing FMDB Pro | The Starting Point for Smarter Recruitment
FMDB Pro draws on Football Manager’s extensive global database. Image Credit: FMDB Pro

Streamlining the recruitment process

The platform aims to reduce that workload by providing recruiting teams with a stronger information base on each player.

This enables more specific scouting and reducing the time spent evaluating unsuitable candidates.

In addition to player data, FMDB Pro incorporates benchmarking tools, market valuations and recruitment reports to help clubs compare players across leagues and identify prospects who best fit their recruitment strategy.

According to Sports Interactive, the objective is not to replace human decision-making, but to improve the efficiency of the recruitment process.

By giving clubs better information earlier in the talent identification cycle, the process can be streamlined and make human decision-making easier.

Growing role of technology in football

As clubs continue to embrace analytics and technology across football operations, platforms such as FMDB Pro reflect the growing role of data in modern recruitment, where combining traditional scouting with advanced analysis has become an increasingly important part of identifying and securing talent.

FMDB Pro has already partnered with a number of clubs across Europe, including Newcastle United, AS Monaco and Dinamo Zagreb.

Beyond Old Trafford: How Manchester United’s new stadium could reshape an entire district

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Image Credit: Manchester United

Manchester United’s proposed new 100,000-seat stadium is more than a replacement for Old Trafford.

It’s the centrepiece of one of the most ambitious urban regeneration projects ever planned by a football club.

Unveiled in March by architects Foster + Partners, the concept would see a new stadium built adjacent to Old Trafford, just 350 metres from the existing ground.

Supported by Trafford Council, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation the proposed development aims to transform the area surrounding the stadium into a thriving mixed-use precinct featuring housing, commercial space, public transport improvements and new public amenities.

While the stadium dominated headlines, the broader vision is about much more than just football.

Once complete, the new venue would become the largest club football stadium in the UK, increasing capacity from around 74,000 to 100,000 spectators.

 

More than just a stadium

However, the stadium is only one piece of a much larger plan.

Foster + Partners vision includes new homes, offices, hotels, retail and hospitality spaces, green public areas and improved pedestrian links.

They believe this “mixed-use” destination will attract visitors throughout the year and create a “vibrant destination” for tourists and visitors from across the world.

The proposal also places a strong emphasis on sustainability, with plans for a walkable precinct supported by public transport, rainwater harvesting and renewable energy technologies integrated into the stadium’s distinctive canopy design.

 

A major economic opportunity

The broader regeneration has been positioned as a major economic opportunity for Greater Manchester.

An independent study conducted by Oxford Economics found that the stadium and regeneration project could contribute approximately $15 billion to the UK economy.

In addition, the project would also support around 92,000 jobs while creating more than 17,000 new homes and attracting an additional 1.8 million visitors yearly.

Those figures remain projections rather than guaranteed outcomes, but they have become central to the club’s case for the redevelopment.

 

Connecting United to a Wider European Trend

A key component of the proposal is improving transport connections around Old Trafford

The British Prime Minister Andy Burnham described the project as significant opportunity for the region, with investment in rail, Metrolink and surrounding infrastructure viewed as essential to unlocking the wider regeneration potential.

The plan also includes greater pedestrian accessibility, to integrate the stadium district with surrounding communities.

Manchester United’s proposal reflects a broader trend across Europe football.

Stadium developments are increasingly viewed as catalysts for urban renewal and economic development, rather than standalone sporting venues.

Projects such as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Everton’s new waterfront home and Real Madrid’s redevelopment of the Bernabeu have demonstrated how modern stadiums can generate revenue through hospitality, entertainment and commercial activity beyond football.

 

Transforming Old Trafford

Despite support for the proposal, significant hurdles remain before construction can begin.

Funding arrangements, planning approvals and major infrastructure upgrades will all need to be finalised before construction can begin.

If delivered, the project would represent one of the largest football-led regeneration projects ever undertaken in the UK.

The project would transform not only where Manchester United plays, but how the wider Old Trafford district lives, works and grows.

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