The importance of esports in football

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Interest in esports is ever growing, Influencer Marketing Hub reports that in 2020 there are almost half a billion esports followers – and Newzoo predicts that the audience for esports will grow to 646 million by 2023.

Football organisations also have a presence within esports. FC Barcelona, Manchester City and Bundesliga are among the many clubs and leagues who run or participate in esports competitions.

The Entertainment Software Association found that in 2018 there were over 164 million adults in the United States who played video games. With the large amounts of people playing video games it makes sense for football organisations to become involved in this industry.

James Gallagher-Powell of CSM Sport & Entertainment at the ESI (esports Insider) Digital Summer conference said that esports can help football clubs to attract a younger audience.

“In terms of this younger audience, I’m sure that many of you have seen the stats before, probably from a brand sponsor perspective. So why do brands think about sponsoring an esports property over traditional sports property,” Gallagher-Powell said.

“The average age for a Premier League fan is 42 and rising, and no doubt is higher than 42 within developed fan markets like in the UK. This ageing fan base begs two questions to football clubs: How do the clubs ensure their longevity and remain relevant to the next generation of sports fans? And how do they ensure that their club remains attractive to potential sponsors?

“esports can provide the perfect channel for this. It’s a way that clubs can attract a younger audience to their core operations, i.e football, and it can help clubs to safeguard their future popularity and therefore their future profitability.”

EA Sports’ FIFA games have become incredibly popular over the years. FIFA 20 launched on September 27, 2019 and by October 10, 2019 over ten million people had played the game across various gaming consoles.

Although despite this popularity of football games, CSM Sport & Entertainment’s Account Director Debs Scott-Bowden at the ESI Digital Summer conference said that these games were only a small part of the esports world.

“But whilst FIFA and PES are good entry points for clubs to go into esports, for the wider esports communities, these titles are largely considered niche. So for clubs looking to reach a wider audience, football games aren’t necessarily the best route to achieve this.”

Bundesliga has its own Virtual Bundesliga Club Championship. The championship will start on November 10 and will be the third season of the competition. The Virtual Bundesliga Club Championship will feature clubs from both Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2.

The Chief Executive of DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga Digital Sports and DFL Executive Vice-President, Andreas Heyden told SportBusiness in November 2019 about the importance of the VBL.

“The growth of the Virtual Bundesliga since its inception shows how seriously we are taking the whole area of esports. We highly benefit from out club brands and players [being present] but also we have proven to have created ne of the highest degrees of authenticity of the Bundesliga in the virtual world of stadiums, clubs and players,” he said.

Bundesliga is taking its esports approach very seriously and has major plans for the Virtual Bundesliga and hopes it can grow.

“We want to grow the Virtual Bundesliga to become out third competition brand, alongside Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga in regards to media rights, participation of clubs and users in the open series.”

“There are not many leagues who are committed as we are to create an eFootball league, with the amount of focus we are giving and the investment we are providing.”

In Australia, Football Federation Australia has the E-League.

Matches are streamed live on twitch. The finals of the 2020 edition of the series unfortunately had to be postponed due to COVID-19. The finals were due to be held at an event in Melbourne on May 9.

At the end of 2017 when the E-League was announced then FFA Head of Commercial, Marketing and Digital, Luke Bould, spoke about the appeal of an esports league.

“FFA’s strategy is to build a competition that provides FIFA competitors with the ability to represent their favourite A-League clubs and create more fans for the A-League and Westfield W-League. This is also a great way to connect the League more globally and in particular, with an Asian audience who love football and FIFA, but may not yet know the A-League.”

During the A-League COVID-19 shutdown, a tournament was also organised which featured both gamers and A-League players.

It is great to see that FFA and the A-League does take esports seriously and is following the lead of other leagues such as the Bundesliga. The FFA should continue to do so and look into expanding its esports properties.

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The ball is no longer just being improved it is being connected

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The humble football is becoming one of the more technologically advanced objects on a football pitch.

Across the A-Leagues, Mitre’s new Ultimax Pro is focused on improving what happens when the ball is kicked, while LaLiga has taken the next step by turning the ball into a source of live match data.

The contrast shows how football technology is moving in two directions at once, improving the physical performance of equipment while increasingly connecting it to the digital systems surrounding the game.

Refining the Physical Object: Mitre’s Ultimax Pro

The Ultimax Pro, which will be used across the 2026/27 A-League Men and Ninja A-League Women seasons, incorporates Mitre’s HyperFlow, HyperFoam, HyperSeal and Delta Skin technologies.

Its debossed grooves are designed to reduce drag and improve stability in flight, while the cushioning, bonding and surface technologies are aimed at producing consistent rebound, durability and control. The ball carries FIFA Quality Pro certification, reflecting the testing standards required for professional match balls.

The technology is largely invisible to supporters. Its purpose is to make the ball behave more predictably for players, rather than fundamentally changing the football itself.

Connecting the Ball to the Digital Ecosystem: LaLiga’s Sensor-Driven Approach

LaLiga’s approach is different.

The Spanish competition has introduced a radio-frequency sensor developed by KINEXON into its PUMA match ball, with the technology being used across every LaLiga EA Sports fixture this season.

The sensor continuously transmits information about the ball’s position and the precise moment of contact. Around 12 antennas installed in each stadium capture the data and feed it into LaLiga’s wider technology infrastructure.

That gives the ball a role beyond simply being the object of play.

Knowing exactly when the ball is touched can help officials in a variety of situations. Offside, handballs, deflections and other decisions where a difference of milliseconds can affect the outcome could all benefit.

But the more interesting development may sit outside officiating.

LaLiga is using the connected ball to create xBALL, an official data layer that can feed broadcasts, digital products and future second-screen experiences. Data such as shot speed, ball spin and trajectory could all be incorporated into its media and digital products.

The ball is no longer just something that manufacturers compete to make faster, more durable or more responsive. It can also become a source of proprietary data that leagues can use to improve broadcasts, develop digital products and create new ways for supporters to understand the game.

The Ball as Part of Football’s Intelligence Layer

Mitre is refining the physical object. LaLiga is connecting that object to the digital ecosystem of the match.

Together, however, they point to the same direction of travel.

Football equipment is becoming increasingly intelligent.

The evolution is not necessarily about adding technology for its own sake. In the A-Leagues, the objective is consistency: predictable flight, touch and rebound. In LaLiga, the objective is precision and information: knowing exactly where the ball is and when it was touched.

The commercial opportunity comes from what can be built around those capabilities.

As stadiums become more connected, broadcasts become more data-rich and clubs and leagues collect increasingly detailed information about matches, the football itself can become another input into that infrastructure.

It also changes the relationship between equipment manufacturers and competitions.

A match ball used to be primarily a physical product supplied to a league. Connected technology creates the possibility of the ball becoming part of a broader technology stack involving officiating systems, broadcast platforms, analytics and fan-facing digital products.

The A-Leagues are starting with the physical performance of the ball. LaLiga is showing what can happen when that physical object becomes connected.

The next generation of football technology may not be something players wear or referees use.

It may be the ball itself.

‘Wunderbar’ – FC Bayern turns to enterprise AI with Wonderful partnership

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Image Credit: FC Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich is taking another step into the world of artificial intelligence after agreeing to a three-year global partnership with enterprise AI company Wonderful. The deal makes Wonderful the German club’s Official Enterprise AI Partner until 2029. The partnership will focus on putting AI into real-world use across Bayern’s operations, rather than limiting it to experiments or demonstrations.

AI to assists Matchday Fan Services

Wonderful’s first project will target one of the busiest and most varied areas of the club: matchday fan support. Specifically, initial implementation will be an AI agent designed to provide digital ticket support. Matchdays create a huge spike in demand for customer service for all manner of reasons: fans may struggle to access tickets, encounter account problems or need help with time-sensitive issues shortly before kick-off.

Bayern plans to use Wonderful’s technology to handle these requests faster than previously. Instead of each individual case entering a traditional support queue, the AI agent can process requests instantaneously, interacting with the club’s existing systems to hopefully resolve it. The aim is simple: get fans answers in moments, and into their seats!

The system will be integrated into Bayern’s existing technology environment – important as the AI will not operate as a separate chatbot disconnected from the club’s data and systems. It is being designed to work within the infrastructure Bayern already uses.

How Wonderful AI works

Wonderful describes its platform as an ‘enterprise AI system built to create, operate and improve AI agents.’ Those agents can perform tasks rather than simply generate text. They can work with company data, access connected systems and complete multi-step processes. The platform uses a system of reusable “skills”. Each skill can contain the instructions, tools, information and checks needed to complete a particular task. An agent can then use the appropriate skills depending on what a user needs.

For Bayern, that could mean an agent identifying that a fan has a ticket-access problem, retrieving the relevant information from the club’s systems and helping resolve the issue. Wonderful also connects its agents to existing enterprise systems. Its platform is designed to work with data platforms, customer relationship systems and other systems of record. This allows an agent to act on current information instead of relying solely on a static database.

More than a ticketing tool

Bayern and Wonderful have indicated further enterprise AI use cases will be introduced during the partnership. While customer support is an obvious starting point, AI agents could theoretically assist internal teams, automate administrative workflows or help employees find and process information.

Wonderful’s platform is designed to support customer-facing agents as well as internal and back-office workflows. It can operate across channels including chat, email and voice, giving the partnership room to expand beyond the first use case. The company also uses a deployment model built around teams working directly with organisations to put AI into production.

Bayern’s AI Strategy Enters a New Phase

The partnership signals a broader shift in how football clubs can use AI. Rather than focusing solely on analytics, Bayern is looking at AI as part of its everyday operations.

The first test will come through fan service. If the ticketing agent can reliably solve problems during the pressure of matchdays, the club will have a practical foundation for expanding AI into other areas. For the club, the biggest opportunity is therefore not one chatbot, but the creation of AI infrastructure that can support multiple parts of its organisation.

The three-year partnership gives the club and Wonderful time to develop that infrastructure. The first use case is focused and practical. The longer-term ambition is considerably broader. The next phase will be about proving that technology can make the experience better for fans while also making the organisation more efficient behind the scenes.

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