Apple partnered with U2 when it came to their latest reach out on popular content. Microsoft have chosen to go the sporting route with a €25 million collaboration which will lead to a ‘digital revolution’ at Real Madrid.
The deal sees Microsoft become the strategic technological partner of Real Madrid and they will provide digital services that are accessible anywhere and on a host of devices such as PCs, tablets, smartphones and wearables.
Last year Intel sought to bring their technology to the market through an understandable relationship with Barcelona FC and Google have built similar working relationships with Manchester United.
So what does the Microsoft relationship with Real Madrid actually mean?
Well first it needs to be taken in the context that this is “the start of a long journey that Real Madrid and Microsoft are embarking on together, heading toward the full digital revolution of the club.”
Those are the words of Orlando Ayala at yesterday’s launch of the partnership.
What we do know is that players and coaching staff will be using Microsoft tablets and software in much the same way as the British and Irish Lions did in the summer of 2013.
Fan Centred
Beyond that the real target is the fans.
“Real Madrid fans around the world will be able to get closer to the game, the club and players, and the fan community in ways we never imagined possible, continued Ayala in a blog post on the Microsoft site.
“This is a world that can be imagined when centered on the fan, fueled by passion, and powered by today’s technologies and the cloud.”
Visualisation of data will be a key part of the experience and the sense from the briefings is that this will be updating in real time so that fans can quite literally find everything they need or want to know.
Too much?
Will this be be too much? Really what more could you want than to see Ronaldo’s goals? How can you recreate in a digital way the power of being in the stadium when a moment of magic happens?
The same questions would doubtless have been asked before the advent of television back in the day.
We live in a world where change happens and is accepted at an often bewildering pace. Because sport is such a simple concept there is nothing better for bringing that change to people in a way that can be grasped and then rolled into other areas of life and business.
Microsoft will not (yet) be appearing on the front of the famous white jersey, nor on the Santiago Bernabeau stadium.
But in every other way that fans experience the club it will over the coming years be as much a part of the team as the players. It will be a fascinating story to see unfold.
