Numbers of interactions with football club profiles drops in Latin America this June

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The month of June saw the participation of fans with the clubs’ social media profiles drop in Latin America.

The average of 302 million interactions – including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook in six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay) – dropped dramatically in June: 274 million.

This trend was registered across all social media networks.

In direct comparison with the previous month (May), Facebook had a drop of 6 million interactions – a decrease of 12%. This drop was led by the Mexican clubs, that went from 20.53 million interactions to 13.41 million.

The performance on Facebook made Mexico fall behind Brazil on the platform. In May, Mexico had 20.53 million interactions, against 17.76 million for Brazilian Serie A clubs.

“Inactivity is the main reason for this drop. The tournament stopped for almost two months and during the pre-season there is not much content. Of course, when they announce signings or important dates for the semester, the interaction returns”, said Juan Pablo López Villegas, editor of Bolavip, one of the main Mexican media outlets.

The main social media platform in number of interactions, Instagram also dropped for a few reasons.

The first is the fact that Brazilian numbers in recent weeks have been below expectations. The second downfall is technical: Instagram does not provide data regarding Reels.

“Today, Reels is one of the best possible strategies to generate reach. The platform’s algorithm benefits this type of content, pushing it more prominently in the Explore tab and thus reaching people who are not yet your followers, but will be impacted by the content.” explains Wagner Leitzke, Social Media Manager at Samba Digital.

As a result, the number did not grow proportionally to the number of posts.

Nonetheless, Flamengo kept the lead, and the post with most likes and organic comments was the fanaticism of one of its fans.

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Finally, Twitter, despite the small drop in relation to the previous month, also remained in the monthly oscillation of the last few months.

“Twitter presents a very peculiar form of consumption. Consolidated in Brazil as the second  main social media platform, its format did not take off in the other countries analyzed. Chile, for instance, managed to enter the 20+ only twice, and the numbers of interactions between clubs and users never grow steadily”, reveals Bernardo Besouchet, PR Manager at Samba Digital, responsible for the agency’s digital performance analysis.

Liverpool to give stateside fans Anfield experience

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With the emergence of innovative technology, fans in New York City will be able to immerse themselves in an Anfield matchday experience. The two-day free event that will take place in Lightbox, 248 West 37th Street in New York City will give Liverpool fans an insight into how the matchday experiences feel.

During the event, fans will be moved to the iconic stadium in less than 60 seconds with the help of dynamic 360-degree light mapping, innovative multi-room digital staging, immersive video technology, and programmable lighting. The use of these technologies will recreate the fan journey on matchdays.

Liverpool engaging with fans in New York City

The materialization of this concept would see fans traveling around the Liverpool City center, they would get a chance to walk around the stadium and see statues of the club’s greats such as Bob Paisley etc.

Fans would also get the opportunity to walk down the player’s tunnel and touch the legendary ‘This is Anfield’ sign. Their journey would end by getting a view from the famous Kop where they will be able to sing and chant alongside 54000 fans on the screen.

Liverpool is trying to find newer ways through which they can engage and interact with fans around the world and the use of this technology will definitely help in bringing the fans closer to the club.

Amazon secures domestic Copa do Brazil rights for 2022

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Amazon has been busy expanding, negotiating a contract with the Brazilian media conglomerate Globo to stream the Copa do Brazil local knockout soccer championship on its Prime Video OTT subscription service next year. Prime Video will exclusively broadcast 30 matches from the Copa do Brazil 2022 edition under this new partnership. Members will also pay no additional costs from the first stage until the quarter-finals. In addition, six non-exclusive matches will be available on Prime Video between the semi-finals and the highly anticipated final.

The Copa do Brazil 2022 marks a watershed moment for Prime Video. This is all because it is the first live football event that the company will exclusively broadcast in Brazil. This contract is set to broaden the content available to Prime members.

Learn about the most recent Amazon news, such as their collaboration with Dibbs’ to enter the fractional sports trading card industry.

Amazon and Globo agreed in June to make the Brazilian company’s Premiere pay-per-view (PPV) service available on Prime Video. Globo announced at the time that the arrangement will allow Prime Video members to view nearly 1,000 soccer matches, including the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, from Brazil’s native top-flight. Prime Video subscribers may now see Globo’s Brazilian football rights portfolio. Before this, Globo and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) reached an agreement at the end of 2016 to retain Copa do Brazil rights from 2018 through to 2022.

More from Globo and Amazon

Globo’s contract includes free-to-air, pay-TV, and pay-per-view rights and is approximately R$320 million (€50 million/$56 million) per year. Brazil’s leading broadcaster has been hit by the Covid-19 epidemic and is looking for ways to reduce its Copa do Brazil rights expenses in the future. With the subsequent Amazon-Globo pact, Brazil becomes the latest country in which the online retail powerhouse has exclusive sports rights.

Discover more about Globo, including its exclusive poll that provides an in-depth insight into Brazilian gamblers.

Of course, this isn’t the only thing Amazon has been up to. The company also agreed to a rights deal in Japan with boxing promoters Top Rank and Teiken Promotions. In the Asia-Pacific area, Amazon entered the Australian sports sector earlier this year with a two-year partnership with Swimming Australia. This resulted in a long-term media rights agreement with India for international cricket matches played in New Zealand.

Furthermore, Amazon strengthened its foothold in the French market during the summer. This move was due to the purchase of the domestic rights to eight Ligue 1 football matches per week. The deal is worth €250 million per year and runs from 2021-22 to 2023-24. This deal was also a departure from the online retailer’s prior approach of pursuing just specific strategic packages in its high-profile football acquisitions in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.

49ers Enterprises shares new goal to takeover Leeds United by 2024

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Leeds United, the English Premier League soccer team may soon experience majority ownership by 49ers Enterprises. In 2018, the 49ers Enterprises revealed a £10 million equity stake in Leeds. Since then, they have steadily increased their holdings. They declared a considerable increase in their interest in the Premier League squad in November, boosting it from 37% to 44%.

Find out what’s new with Leeds United, including Samba Digital’s work with the club to commemorate Dia De Muertos.

According to The Athletic, 49ers Enterprises has since secured a lucrative contract. They intend to pay more than £400 million for ownership of Leeds. However, there is speculation that the transaction might be worth up to £475 million. The option for 49ers Enterprises to purchase 100% ownership of the Yorkshire club, which includes the Elland Road stadium, expires in January 2024.

The cost of acquiring 100% of Leeds’ shares includes the money already paid by 49ers Enterprises for its current investment. As a result, the corporation remains in debt to the tune of more than £200 million.

Learn more about the Premier League and its clubs, including the expansion of media rights sales.

Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani’s holding company, Aser Ventures, currently owns and chairs the remaining 56% of the club. When control of the club is in transition, Radrizzani, who saw full control in 2017, could secure a small minority share. Furthermore, if Aser purchases another soccer team before January 2024, the agreement with 49ers Enterprises will be null and void.

Leeds could join an excellent portfolio of Premier League clubs managed by the Americans. They will be joining the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Burnley, all of which are majority-owned by US-based investors.

The MLS announces 21 clubs competing in a new developmental division

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Major League Soccer (MLS) has announced the lucky 21 clubs who will compete in its new lower tier professional league beginning next year. This all started in June when they announced the formation of MLS Next Pro. This division would help players progress from the MLS Next youth divisions to the professional ranks. This section will witness the introduction of a mix of new and seasoned professionals.

Coming Soon

This is something to look forward to in the new year, as it will begin in March 2022. MLS Next Pro will include 21 clubs in its initial 2022 season, divided into two conferences. The Western Conference will include teams from Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Portland, Salt Lake, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, and Vancouver.

Discover the most recent news from the MLS, including their new League Cup format.

The Eastern Conference will have teams from Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Miami, New England, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Rochester (which will be an independent pro club), and Toronto.

Not only that, but eight more MLS-affiliated teams, including Atlanta United, Austin FC, Charlotte FC, DC United, Los Angeles FC (LAFC), Nashville SC, and New York Red Bulls, will join MLS Next Pro in 2023.

Learn more about the MLS’s comeback, the NBA’s Disney Bubble, and how digital will be crucial during fan-less matchups.

MLS Next Pro will also introduce other independent clubs to the league in 2023 and beyond. This includes Rochester New York FC, formerly the Rochester Rhinos. Jamie Vardy, a Premier League star, is one of Rochester’s backers, having purchased a minority investment in the club in June.

Each club will play 24 games in this league set up for 2022, with eight clubs making the playoffs. The season will conclude with a cup final. In addition, apparel powerhouse Adidas will be the league’s first corporate sponsor. The league’s president has been named Charles Altchek, and Ali Curtis has been designated senior vice president of competition and operations.

Brazilian soccer clubs hope to have their own top-flight by 2022

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Clubs in Brazil’s top flight, Campeonato Serie A, are planning to continue their efforts to secure control of the league from the CBF. Not only that but a new competition could be running as early as next year or even 2023.

Serie A is presently one of the few major domestic leagues still under the national federation administration. We discovered in July that Brazilian clubs want to break free from the CBF and build their own governing organisation to administer the competition. They’ll have greater control over how club games are run now that they’ve made this breakaway.

Learn more about the most recent football club ventures, such as PSG expanding its licensed product range in Brazil.

Behind the scenes

Rumour has it US-based private equity investors have committed between US$750 million and US$1 billion to the competition. And now with this investment, they are now moving forward with the project.

One of the project’s consultants is Ricardo Fort, a seasoned sports executive and the founder of Sport by Fort. Former ESPN executive Scott Guglielmino is to be playing a part, as is Charles Stillitano, co-founder of Relevent Sports. Of course, that is not all as Flavio Zveitler, a Brazilian sports lawyer, Lawrence Magrath, director of Rio de Janeiro-based investment firm Cremon Participacoes, and Rick Parry, current chairman of the English Football League (EFL) are all involved.

Click here to learn more about what’s going on in Brazil, including Globo’s exclusive survey of Brazilian gamblers.

They will not only make direct financial investments in the clubs. They will also bring in experienced professionals who have previously worked in major leagues. This professional team will act as a resource to help make the Brazilian football league a success. This new league would have to be with the CBF’s approval and the clubs’ desire to communicate with the national governing body.

River Plate climbs the LATAM standings, while Flamengo falls

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This month’s look at the performance of our LATAM club rankings on the key social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram revealed a few surprises. October brought fantastic news, as the Spooky month exceeded September by 13 million interactions. Surprisingly, Brazil, the nation with the most interactions among those studied, was the only one with a more pronounced reduction in comparison to the others. This country received slightly more than 5 million fewer Instagram interactions and nearly 1 million fewer Twitter interactions. While their Brazilian neighbours declined, the Argentines rose to second place, with 47.4 million interactions on Instagram Stories, and almost reached an impressive 49 million in May. 

To stay up to speed on our LATAM Rankings, read September’s LATAM Ranking leaderboard here.

Brazil

Flamengo has surpassed the 4 million daily engagement threshold on Instagram for the second time. It ensured the club’s 10th place in front of Club América on these two days, and its monthly Instagram performance. Interactions on the 13th were captured in a video recorded behind the goal during Andreas Pereira’s spectacular free-kick against Juevntude. The win over rival Atlético-MG, the Championship leader, the other day was a fantastic effort. Flamengo’s chances of becoming the tri champion were maintained thanks to this stunning victory.

Unfortunately for Brazil, there was a drop of little more than 5 million Instagram engagements compared to September’s total of 163 million. The losses of Flamengo (-9 million) and Corinthians (-12 million) underline this performance. In October, though, there were some bright spots. Atlético-MG and Santos both gained 4 million. Not only that, but among other cities, São Paulo gained 2 million, International got 1.4 million, and Fortaleza gained 1.3 million, helping to offset the loss.

Argentina

We returned to the stadium after 583 days away from the squad to watch a derby against their main rival, Boca Juniors, which they won 2-1. River Plate was the only team – aside from Flamengo! – to have more than 4 million interactions in a single day, which delighted the fans. In total, 4.05 million interactions were recorded, putting Corinthians (BRA) in second place by little more than 400 thousand interactions.

Another significant aspect was River Plate’s dominance on Facebook. They gained 3.3 million interactions compared to 3 million for Flamengo, the team that usually appears in first place. When we consider that Argentina had 5.88 million overall interactions on Facebook, with 3.3 million from River Plate and 656 thousand from Boca Juniors, the data reveals a concentration of concerning interactions and a need for other major football teams to increase content and engage with their audiences.

Learn more about Argentina’s most recent news, including their match against Italy as UEFA and Conmebol deepen their partnership.

Mexico

Previously Facebook and Instagram had the same number of interactions relating to Liga MX teams. But Instagram has begun to stand out, and by October, it had narrowed the gap to just over 8 million: (17.55 million x 9.66 million).

While the monthly record in Brazil and Argentina was over 4 million interactions, Mexico’s monthly peak on October 3rd was 789 thousand interactions. This monthly high was achieved thanks to Club America’s 2-0 Liga MX victory over Pumas in the 12th round.

Video consumption

Brazilian teams make the most use of videos on their Instagram pages. There were 2050 clubs, compared to 1241 Mexican clubs and over 1000 Argentine clubs. Brazilian clubs received approximately 100 million views, 96.4 million to be exact. One thing to remember is that interactions do not include views. In comparison, the 1000 Argentine videos earned 33.37 million views, while the 1241 Mexican videos received only 7.63 million. This impressive result accounted for 50% of Club America’s submissions, which totaled 87 videos.

Colombia

Colombian clubs were the only ones who did not rank among the top 20 on social media. With the exception of Atletico Nacional, which has won the 17th position on our rankings. The country has yet to regain its interaction rates prior to the devastating protests, and it is the sixth month in a row that the country has failed to surpass a million Twitter interactions.

Real Madrid joins together with Adobe to create innovative digital fan experiences

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Real Madrid, Spain’s soccer powerhouse, has partnered with Adobe! This club will collaborate with this software to provide new digital fan experiences as a result of this exciting partnership. This LaLiga team intends to use the new partnership to transform the league into a worldwide entertainment and lifestyle brand. Adobe Experience Cloud will be used by Real Madrid to interact with fans all around the world. This next level of football will include an interactive sports experience that will be available online and offline to achieve this exciting new goal.

Discover more about Real Madrid’s recent digital initiatives, such as its partnership with Cinedigm to launch a new streaming service in the United States.

Los Blancos, another club that makes use of Adobe Experience Platform, has similar plans. This customer data platform from Adobe Experience Cloud will generate real-time integrated consumer profiles. As a result, the club can immediately discover when and how fans interact with their brand and channels to use. Real Madrid will also use Adobe Experience Cloud services to create, manage, and deliver highly customisable content to increase interaction.

Hopes for Real Madrid 

This unique agreement aims to provide a new level of fan engagement for Real Madrid. Not only that but to strengthen the bonds between the stadium and home supporters. As a result, this collective power has the ability to enhance global experiences and progress. As part of this new data-driven plan, the Santiago Bernabeu stadium will be available to a global audience. This international audience will have access to a vast network of online experiences, goods, and services. The idea is to turn the stadium into a virtual destination for the club’s 500 million supporters.

Real Madrid fans can now interact with the club in a more intimate way from the comfort of their own homes. In the future of this relationship, Adobe will be able to uncover personal advertising based on where fans are at any one time.

Learn more about LaLiga, including the launch of a weekly Twitch highlights show, by clicking here.

Of course, Adobe hopes to assist Real Madrid in growing its company and attracting new customers. This beneficial boost will come in the form of omnichannel shopping, which will provide value to brand sponsors and partners by supporting them in developing new revenue streams. If fans have approved, brand partners of this well-known team can use segment-based profiles provided by the club to engage with customers in a more personal way. There will also be customised discounts and appropriate advertising.

UEFA teams up with Sportradar as the Champions League’s first exclusive betting data partner

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Surprisingly, the UEFA has revealed a new first for the organization. This governing body of European soccer has teamed up with Sportradar for its first exclusive gambling data collaboration. Sportradar, a Swiss-based sports technology company, has agreed to a three-year contract extension. This sports technology company server will be UEFA’s exclusive authorised collector and provider of data for betting purposes under this new deal. Sportradar will be able to carry this title and provide these services to the end of the 2023/24 season. This provider of sports betting data and broadcast solutions has also expanded its position as UEFA’s official integrity partner.

Learn more about UEFA’s most recent projects, including the opening of a new interactive UEFA football experience at Westfield London.

This intriguing agreement will cover an amazing 1,550 matches throughout the duration of its term. This partnership will also encompass all UEFA properties, including national championships such as the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 and UEFA Euro 2024. Of course, this is not all; it will also include the UEFA Nations League and club competitions like the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

Integrity relationship with a 12-year history

This 12-year-old integrity relationship between UEFA and Sportradar will see an extension with this new deal. Their relationship will have a makeover to include dedicated intelligence and investigation services to support UEFA’s anti-match-fixing unit. Not only that, but Sportrader will continue to supply the UEFA with bet monitoring services to maintain the competition’s integrity. Of course, in addition to safeguarding its member associations, the organization hosts events to defend the sport from match rigging.

This contract will add to Sportradar’s long partnership portfolio, which already includes ties with the AFC and Conmebol in South America, as well as the global governing body, Fifa. Of course, this is not all for Sportradar as they also have collaborations with the NBA, NHL, MLB, and Nascar, in addition to soccer. Currently, the organization covers over 750,000 events each year across an impressive 83 sports.

Discover more about UEFA’s latest agreements, such as Adidas and UEFA expanding its cooperation to include women’s football until 2025.

Sportradar has over 20 years of experience collecting and developing significant products based on football match data. They have been named the world’s premier sports technology firm. This title is due to being the only organization with the technological capability and one-of-a-kind resources to genuinely assist the expansion of one of the world’s largest sports federations.

The merging of the two relationships enables UEFA to engage more freely with the sports betting sector, providing better access to market knowledge and support from both a sporting and a commercial standpoint.

LaLiga debuts a weekly Twitch highlights show

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With the popularity of Twitch growing, LaLiga has announced that it would expand its content offering on the streaming site. With this expansion, it will include highlights from the top two divisions of Spanish soccer. This exciting new weekly highlights program will premiere on Mondays and will include summaries of all the matches from each fixture round through LaLiga’s official Twitch channel. Not only that but it will also be an introduction to its host, Rubén Martin.

Last year, LaLiga made history by becoming the first major European soccer league to have its own Twitch channel. In this cooperation with the Mediapro agency, which is also participating in the highlights program, they were able to stream select matches within this account.

Discover more about what LaLiga has been up to as part of the ‘Beyond Stats’ collaboration between LaLiga and Microsoft.

The Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao was the first live game on the Amazon-owned site, which took place in April. However, for the 2021/22 season, LaLiga confirms that extra matches will be streaming on Twitch.

Digital Piracy

LaLiga’s decision to increase its highlights video distribution comes as a recent study shows that digital piracy in Spain is dropping. This research is from GfK’s Observatory of Piracy and Consumption Habits of Digital Material’s 2020 report. Within this report, it highlighted that Spain reported a 7% year-on-year decline in access to unlawful online content.

With this, according to GfK research, 71 million soccer matches have been illegally watched in the country last year. This number was down from 87 million in 2019, but still, a considerable number that cost the business $268 million.

Read more about how LaLiga Tech is kicking off the new World Padel Tour collaboration by clicking here.

Unfortunately, social media platforms remain a major gateway to unlawful content. The percentage of illegal content accessed through that channel grew from 23% in 2019 to 27% last year. It saw Facebook with 55%, YouTube with 39%, WhatsApp with 34%, Instagram carrying 28%, Telegram with 25%, and Twitter with 24% were the most popular sites for obtaining pirated material.

Between 2019 and 2020, the number of pirate sports content customers in Spain stayed stable. Last season, however, LaLiga’s anti-piracy technology was credited with removing more than 1.5 million unauthorized sources. Spanish soccer teams have obtained banning orders against 23 distinct online domains and complaints against 32 IPTV website providers.