Last night saw the much-awaited return of the Premier League.
This would normally mean that stadiums across the land would be transformed into heaving, cacophonous arenas as hundreds of thousands of people make journeys to cheer on their favourite teams. Sadly, due to current circumstances the games are being played behind closed doors.
There is absolutely no doubt that live support affects an athlete and or team’s performance. We only need to look at the Summer Olympics in London and the fantastic British support to understand the unparalleled success of Team GB.
Specific to football. Naples university produced a study which shows that football teams with the largest support are likely to score 0.45 goals more than their opposition and are more likely to go on and win the game.
As we all know playing in an empty stadium is normally a punishment for teams. Thanks to Covid it is pretty much a global reality and it will have a negative effect, otherwise it wouldn’t be a punishment.
Last night Sky attempted to improve the viewing experience by adding an undertone of crowd noise and digitally bringing sky viewers into the ground. Whilst this may have improved the ‘viewing’ experience for their customers, it did nothing for the more fundamental issues this situation creates.
It isn’t just the viewing experience; but player motivation, general fan engagement and sponsor value that are all key areas that desperately need to be addressed.
Without any encouragement from crowds, home teams lose that 0.45 goal advantage. The ups cannot be celebrated, the downs commiserated, and no-one is there to encourage the players when things get tough.
Not everyone watches the game through Sky, and if they do the chances that they are a VIP viewer and so able to appear on screens in grounds is even more slim. Sport is social we watch it together, it simply isn’t the same when you watch a game on your own.
Finally, we cannot hide from the fact that the game relies on its commercial partners and sponsors. Without crowds and full fan engagement value is lost, with lost value comes lost revenue and this is bad for the future of the clubs and the game.
Filmily, with our partners at Wasserman are offering a comprehensive fan engagement solution.
CrowdAmp doesn’t just make the viewing experience significantly better. It directly addresses fan engagement by creating communities where fans can share experiences. It brings real life sound and video reaction into stadiums so players can see the real time reactions of their supporters. Finally, by engaging viewers, fans and the players it delivers back into sport the value that sponsors expect.
To get the noise back into the game get in touch…
