I-League champions Bengaluru FC Tie up with SAP for Fan Engagement
SAP NEWSBYTE — Dec. 16, 2014 – SAP Labs India today announced that for Bengaluru Football Club (BFC), it has created a state of the art, innovative mobile application to unify the club’s growing fan base. Developed ahead of BFC’s second campaign in the I-League which kicks off on January, 17, 2015, the multi-featured application allows for superior fan engagement through social activities and communities, match day experience sharing, group discounts, news and updates, and real time visualization.
Technology today provides sports organizations with the opportunity to connect with fans by transforming interactions through online channels, mobile, and social media. BFC is a good example of this, having grown its following with dedicated fan pages and communities on social networks like Facebook and Twitter with over 61,000 likes and 7500 followers, respectively.
“As a club based in India’s technology capital and aiming to be the best in Asia, we are constantly researching new and emerging ways to provide our fans with opportunities to connect with Bengaluru FC. Partnering with SAP, which provides innovative software solutions, will only deepen the connect and engagement that we wish to have with our growing fan-base.” said Mustafa Ghouse, COO of Bengaluru FC.
With the adoption of an easily extensible and scalable architecture, users of the BFC customized mobile application will have intuitive card based content staging and easy navigation through and within sections. Fans also receive context relevant news and updates. Some unique features of the app include ‘Swarm’, a real time visualization of how fans converge towards the stadium or other hangouts, including Arbor Brewing Company, the home pub for the season; and ‘Share-a-Ride’ which allows fans to carpool to the stadium on game day.
“SAP is transforming the sports and entertainment industry across the world through new technologies and platforms. In this instance, our technology is enabling Bengaluru FC to deliver a consistent and engaging fan experience.” said Dilipkumar Khandelwal, MD, SAP Labs India, EVP & Head of Suite Engineering, Products and Innovation.
Globally, a growing number of sports leagues, teams, and stadiums work with SAP to develop integrated business management solutions that help them run their businesses. The SAP® for Sports & Entertainment solution portfolio helps the industry run better, from fans to athletes to teams and league. In the field of sports, SAP has worked with the German Football Association, The International Cricket Council (ICC), TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, the Women’s Tennis Association, the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) among others.