According to recent estimates, 3.5 billion football fans live around the globe. That means one in every two people in the world considers themselves a fan. It is easy to imagine what a tremendous commercial potential this global market represents. Companies are trying differently to obtain their commercial profit.

The end of 2019 coincided with the entry of the American giant Amazon into the English football market. In the summer of 2018, the US global corporation for the undisclosed amount acquired the rights to display the English Premier League. A year and a half after the purchase, viewing English matches became possible on Amazon Prime. For the average viewer, the broadcast of a football match did not differ in quality and content from the main competitors. However, exceptions can be found in the technical content of the service itself.

 

The service was able to incorporate its advertising directly into the broadcast. So at a match with Manchester City, Puma’s exclusive advertising was shown. It was this manufacturer of sports equipment in early 2019 that became the new technical sponsor of the team from Manchester. Such a contextual message reveals the future of advertising during sports broadcasts. We see a merger of sponsorship and commerce. Amazon can provide better data on ROI (return on investment) and who is watching this broadcast right now.

The development of streaming services is not only happening in old Europe. DAZN conquers the Americas market. By 2019, the streaming service manages the Dazn, Goal, Spox and Sporting News sites. They all work with well-known brands and distribute their content in major football tournaments. So with the Champions League show, DAZN has a wide variety of commercial categories: Nissan Goal of the Week, Santander Player of the Week, etc. The main goal of this cooperation is to work with the global audience. For example, a section sponsored by Nissan comes out immediately in 14 languages. Partnerships are not limited to commercial offers only. Together with Santander, DAZN presented a social video about a visually impaired football fan who enjoys the ball movement thanks to a special device.

The advertising industry has long included sports games in one of the fastest-growing markets. According to recent studies, on average, every FIFA 19 game owner devotes 6 hours a week to it. Given that 24 million copies of the game were sold, it’s easy to see how global this market is. The appearance of each team in the game adds to its recognition and popularity and leads to advertising contracts and financial investments.

Today, the company Electronic Arts have combined in the world of Fifa 30 leagues, 700 teams, and more than 100 stadiums. Clubs not represented in the game are well aware that their inclusion in FIFA will allow them to receive a steady income from dynamic advertising in the game. In turn, clubs will significantly increase their presence in the digital space and will receive additional commercial opportunities. Thanks to such a culturally significant channel as FIFA, a multimillion-dollar audience will have the opportunity to get acquainted with those football teams that few have heard of. Most of the world’s major football teams have long understood the importance of football games in their business and image. At the newly reconstructed Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid team is planning to design an entire gaming zone шт order to attract the younger generation

The creators of the game Football Manager went even further, SEGA for the first time managed to integrate a variety of commercial companies into the game. The London-based Bidstack startup helped game makers. It is based on the principle of bidding as at an auction. The winning company gets the opportunity to advertise its products on banners in the game. All banners are interactive, which means you can go to the company’s website. Representatives of different businesses (Volkswagen, Audi, 188bet) have already tried such a new format of relations with new customers.

This year, the trend for new communication between the fans and their favorite teams continued. Each football club is trying to build a dialogue with fans outside the stadium. Most global clubs realize that their fans are scattered around the world. Hence the desire to create a successful platform for interaction. In 2019, several major football clubs (Juventus, PSG, Atletico Madrid) immediately switched to the «Socios» blockchain platform. The new application allows users to participate in the club’s private life. So users can vote for a new club song, their favorite football uniform. All this became possible thanks to the use of the fan cryptocurrency “Token”.

In addition to broadcasts and the gaming industry, today’s sports are actively accomplished by betting companies. According to the director of the world’s largest bookmaker company PaddyPower, a similar increase in optimism happened when the industry stepped into the online space. It is worth recalling that for 25 years there was a decision of the Supreme Court, which completely banned betting companies. In 2018, this decision was amended and the betting market was reopened to world bookmakers. In the first six months since the ban was lifted, American players bet about $ 430 million (in William Hill alone). According to experts, in 2019 this figure will exceed one billion.

Nowadays global professional football has no borders. New technologies have significantly increased the availability of this product. Such growth won’t stop in the next few years.