Innovations In The 2015/16 Football Season
Nine months is a long time in football but perhaps even longer in the digital world.
A season of incredible drama was capped by Leicester City’s unlikely Premier League title charge, in a year that also saw a number of developments off the field.
As we bid a final farewell to the 2015/16 club season and look ahead to a summer packed with international action, LiveWire Sport pick out some of the new ways in which teams, broadcasters and brands have been able to innovate, experiment and engage with fans.
LEICESTER CITY (NEARLY) BREAK TWITTER
Leicester City. Champions of England. pic.twitter.com/WRwfysTn2N
— Leicester City (@LCFC) May 2, 2016
When Chelsea held Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-2 draw to hand Leicester City their first ever top-tier title, two Tweets posted at 9.55pm – the most retweeted ever to come from both @lcfc and @premierleague – were part of an 86% increase in normal Twitter activity.
Congratulations Leicester City!
The dream has become a reality… pic.twitter.com/8UTbpbzpYL
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 2, 2016
That triggered a peak of 187K Tweets per minute (TPM), the most-Tweeted moment of the 2015/16 season.
Wow.
Leicester winning the league triggered an 86% increase in normal Twitter activity in the UK…#havingaparty pic.twitter.com/vGTmtqwq2E
— Twitter UK (@TwitterUK) May 2, 2016
With a rising tide of reaction across the season, Premier League has been an early adopter of Twitter Moments – the curation feature which debuted in the UK in December 2015 and the US two months prior to that – to showcase the global conversation around the competition.
On that fateful Monday night it came into its own to capture the clamour around this year’s champions: charting their journey from 5,000/1 to number 1.
Has there ever been a sporting story to match Leicester’s journey?https://t.co/LoRfBo0Dxv
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 2, 2016
As attention now shifts to the international summer, we saw the @England account use their initial Euro 2016 squad announcement as the moment to post their own very first Moment.
⚡️ Take a closer look at the faces that make up the #ThreeLions squad with our Moment: https://t.co/9St9u7HUFN pic.twitter.com/nmJjII9TXU
— England (@England) May 16, 2016
Note – when it comes to raising Twitter’s roof, the 2014 World Cup still reigns supreme. The highest ever spike in Twitter activity came at the conclusion of Germany’s victory over Argentina in the final, registering 619K TPM, with five separate moments during the tournament recording over 497K TPM according to Twitter Data.
The social volume levels at this summer’s Euros might well depend on how far Roy Hodgson’s men progress, but keep an eye on June’s Copa Centenario, too, featuring many of the stars of Brazil 2014 and the three most followed football nations on Twitter: Mexico (4.72m followers), Brazil (3.56m) and Columbia (3.28m). The fourth? That’ll be England, with 2.43m followers and counting…
FACEBOOK GOES LIVE
BBC’s Match of the Day became the first page outside the US to get its hands on the Facebook Live tool in October – with a (fully-clothed) Gary Lineker introducing the show’s running order to the tune of 1.3m views.
Liverpool were the first Premier League club to try out Facebook’s 360° video capability in January this year – attracting 8m views for a rousing rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone from the Kop.
Others followed suit: a carnival atmosphere outside the King Power Stadium provided Premier League with the perfect opportunity to make use of the function, while Sky Sports captured in 360° the moment captain Wes Morgan lifted the trophy.
Facebook claims increased engagement of 10x comments for live video, and in one of its regular tweaks has been prioritising live content in the News Feed. With that the case, and the ability to live stream direct through the API with third party devices, expect to see more and more sports broadcasting and exclusive content migrate to Facebook in the coming months.
SOUTHAMPTON MAKE IT PERSONAL
Not shy to be a trailblazer – they were also the first Premier League side to launch on Snapchat way back in December 2013 – Southampton began using Twitter’s DM function to reach fans with goal alerts and important match updates in April, the first UK club to do so.
Find out more about #SaintsFC‘s new real-time score alerts, that will land straight in your Direct Messages: https://t.co/Z1nIaQQ8QB
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 6, 2016
With 1 billion users on WhatsApp, 900m active every month on Facebook’s Messenger and 600 million people using China’s WeChat, the move can be viewed as part of an increasing shift to messenger apps and ‘dark social’, where a reported 70% of referrals now come from and fan conversations are not so easily tracked.
Man City became the first Premier League club to join WhatsApp in March, though only for a lucky first 5,000.
adidas have previously explored engaging fans via DM when they invited a select few to a private Twitter conversation with Karim Benzema. Around the Copa Centenario and Euro 2016 this summer, the brand will continue to target dark social and the ‘micro-communities’ that naturally form there, with dedicated ‘squads’ of fans on WhatsApp around the world receiving early news updates and exclusive invites through the platform.
In light of the announcement of Messenger chat bots at Facebook’s F8 conference, it’s an approach that may point to the future for both clubs and sports marketers as they strive to stay personal and at the heart of fan experiences: “to be there when the opportunity is right, at the right time and the right place”.
ESPORTS FINDS ITS WAY TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE
West Ham made an unusual play in the transfer market this season by snapping up Sean ‘Dragonn’ Allen – runner up in the 2016 FIFA interactive World Cup – as its first official eSports player.
West Ham United are happy to announce the signing of e-sports star Sean ‘Dragonn’ Allen ➡️ https://t.co/6xTDkQANpA pic.twitter.com/H6HCKWbWUg
— West Ham United FC (@whufc_official) May 6, 2016
Confused? In becoming the first UK club to do so, they followed the lead of Bundesliga’s VfL Wolfsburg, who had earlier in the year added David Bytheway of Wolverhampton as its second gamer.
Happy to announce I have signed with @VfL_Wolfsburg as their official FIFA Player
— David Bytheway (@DaveBtwFIFA) January 19, 2016
There’s no doubt that clubs are right to be anticipating the changes in how fans consume and interact with sport; the question is how they can authentically integrate this side of the game with their digital content offering.
All eyes now turn to the Champions League on Saturday, with many tuning into BT Sport’s YouTube channel to catch the annual showpiece of European football – a first alongside this year’s Europa League final, which attracted a peak audience of 3.5m shown on BT Sport, its free-to-air channel Showcase and YouTube.
It’s a move that matches the news that 10 of the NFL’s Thursday night matches next season will be free to view on Twitter, while La Liga will become the first European league to live broadcast globally on Facebook this weekend, when Atletico Madrid take on Athletic in the women’s first division.
#LaLiga emitirá el primer partido de fútbol de la historia a través de Facebook
Detalles: https://t.co/s56p1KVUYU pic.twitter.com/NkNuYC8khP
— LaLiga (@LaLiga) May 24, 2016
Meanwhile, just a few hours before kick-off in Milan, the Championship Play-Off Final will determine which club steps into the lucrative environs of England’s top division. Nervous fans will be kept up to speed by live scores shown on screens around the local towns and cities for all three finals as part of the Football League’s #OnlyOne campaign.
And the Premier League will be back in August, bigger than ever with a brand new look, and all involved jostling for first position on and off the field.
What developments have you enjoyed seeing this season and what do you predict will be the emerging trends and tools for the 2016/17 season? Tweet us @SportIndustry
Image: ©Getty Images
