By Amelia Fisher-Starzynski, London, UK, June 27, 2019: New research released today by Dugout, the world’s only football club-owned media company, reveals that global football fans feel even more connected to clubs and players through a growing amount of digital content (Dugout surpasses landmark).
39% of global football fans surveyed as part of the 2019 Branded Football Content Futures Report – a collaboration between Dugout and strategic foresight consultancy The Future Laboratory – did not attend a live match in 2018, with the growth of digital content enabling clubs to expand their international fan base and engage supporters through an online experience.
The research reaffirms that whilst leading clubs continue to sell-out the majority of matches, fans who cannot go to games are increasingly following football through online digital content that focuses more on compelling player and club stories shared across multiple platforms and devices.
The 2019 Branded Football Content Futures Report launched at Dugout’s 2nd International Commercial and Content Symposium in London today.
At the Symposium, Dugout also announced that, for the first time in its history, the platform surpassed 30 million monthly users and 127 million monthly video views – a landmark moment for the company and its community of clubs in line with the planned strategy for long-term, steady and sustainable global audience growth.
The Symposium brought together senior figures from some of the world’s leading clubs – including Dugout’s founding partners FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Paris Saint-Germain FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City FC, Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, FC Bayern Munich and Juventus FC – as well as brands, agencies and publishers, to discuss the report and look at ways to drive deeper fan engagement through a collaborative approach.
Dugout Executive Chairman, Elliot Richardson, said: “It was fantastic to welcome so many clubs and partners to our Commercial and Content Symposium in London today at such an exciting time for Dugout and the future of branded content (Dugout surpasses landmark).
“What the 2019 Branded Football Content Futures Report shows is that the modern fan is engaging with football content in new and exciting ways. Advances in technology and the rapidly evolving media and social media landscape have transformed the fan experience and the way brands engage their audiences through sport.
In future, brands that fail to embrace content as a key driver of engagement will fall behind.”
Further key points from the 2019 Branded Football Content Futures Report:
62% of football fans are likely to see or read football content from brands
49% of fans are open to receiving more football content from brands
55% of fans are in favour of branded football content because it provides greater access to players and other stories, for example, behind-the-scenes at clubs
More than half (56%) of senior marketers surveyed are likely to invest in branded content
This compares to just 41% for traditional sponsorship activations such as perimeter signage or kit sponsorship
70% of fans said they were more likely to watch football content if it can be viewed across any device
30% of fans trust clubs more than other public institutions, such as governments (3%)
69% of fans find footage from the past powerful
71% of fans are eager to learn the history of the club they follow
Four leading cross-sector experts also provided their thoughts in a series of in-depth interviews:
Chelsea FC Commercial Director, Chris Townsend OBE, said: “The activation of sponsorships is critical and brands have to work extremely hard to activate in their key territories.
Content represents an effective way of achieving as much engagement with fans as possible, enabling brands to get real value out of their sponsorships.”
FC Bayern Munich Director of Media, Digital and Communication, Stefan Mennerich, added: “As video and visual content becomes more important in our world, it becomes more important for sponsors.
The vast majority are now activating their sponsorships this way, tailoring content for different target groups.”
Dow Jones Head of Sport and News Corp Global Head of Rights, Simon Greenberg, added:
“Branded content is playing a much more important role than previously.
It drives much higher value across the media landscape, and in particular, the football landscape.”
M&C Saatchi Sports and Entertainment Global CEO, Steve Martin, added:
“Branded content is not going away, and it’s going to get bigger and bigger.
The opportunity is considerable in the sporting world, and in football specifically.”
About Dugout/Dugout surpasses landmark
Dugout is the first and only time the world’s biggest football clubs have joined forces to support a new business.
It is the only global media platform creating high-quality, original football content directly for fans and with publishers via its embed library, and own by some of the greatest clubs in the world – including Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Juventus.
Since launching, 89 clubs, National Football Federations and Leagues have all signed partnerships with Dugout.
Dugout offers exclusive football video content from its member clubs through a central library of more than 30,000 videos direct to fans on Dugout.com.
Each member club and player has a dedicated Dugout profile to upload content and interact with fans and Dugout users get a totally personalised experience based on the clubs and players they follow.
Similarly, Dugout works with media agencies, creative agencies and brands to deliver content-rich opportunities for activation campaigns, product launches, experiential marketing and events, as well as with many leading publishers from around the world, enabling them to use all of Dugout’s content through its embeddable media player platform.
Dugout has access to 1,000 video editors creating 1,500 videos and more than 150 minutes of content every day across three key content streams; Newsworthy, Stand Alone and Evergreen.
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