Bundesliga's new AI takes fan-first approach to whole new level, putting control in palm of supporters' hands
South China Morning Post
4 min read
The top flight of German football concludes this weekend, and the final games of the Bundesliga season will all kick-off at the same time on Sunday.
With champions Bayern Munich unreachable at the top, attention will focus on the battle for European places, the fight to avoid relegation, and regional bragging rights.
And with nine games to keep track of, supporters will invariably be flicking through different television channels and streaming sites to keep up with all the action, as it happens.
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But what if you could access all nine games and learn about the form and records of all 198 starting players, 162 substitutes, and more, on one screen? Enter the potentially game changing, AI-driven Bundesliga Interactive Feed.
First launched in Japan last October, the feed is designed to give fans access to all the games, goals, and key moments in one place on their mobile phone or other devices, but with the difference that they control what they see and how.
Kevin Sim, Bundesliga head of Asia-Pacific, said the league's motivation in designing the feed was to create a "unique fan experience" that went beyond the traditional, where fans had to follow matches across multiple television stations, websites or apps.
Kevin Sim (right) with former Germany goalkeeper and now Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn at a Bundesliga Experience event in Thailand in 2019. Photo: Bundesliga alt=Kevin Sim (right) with former Germany goalkeeper and now Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn at a Bundesliga Experience event in Thailand in 2019. Photo: Bundesliga>
"Fans want a much more engaging service - they are not satisfied with just watching a broadcast, they want to consume it and find out more," Sim said.
"For example, if you're watching the game but you didn't catch the line-up after the first 30 seconds, that's probably the first thing a football fan would do.
"You pull up your phone, look online for information, and it breaks down into this very fragmented experience because you're probably running two or three things: fantasy app, line-ups, news, statistics.
"[But now] if you want a live table, goalscoring table, live stats, speed they run, distance ... everything is immersive in the same environment and can be basically pulled up at your will," Sim said.
Bayern's Leroy Sane (right) celebrates scoring his side's third goal with teammates Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller during a league game against RB Leipzig. Photo: DPA alt=Bayern's Leroy Sane (right) celebrates scoring his side's third goal with teammates Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller during a league game against RB Leipzig. Photo: DPA>
Japan, which boasts eight players in the Bundesliga and has a long history of sending stars such as Shinji Kagawa to the league, was considered the ideal market to test the programme.
The wider Asia region, and Hong Kong in particular, is next on the league's list, and market-specific versions of the feed will be available to overcome any language and cultural barriers that may exist.
Ultimately, the goal is to engage the younger generation, who follow the sport differently than to those who went before.
Bayern Munich fans at a training session in a preseason event in Shanghai, China in 2020. Photo: AFP alt=Bayern Munich fans at a training session in a preseason event in Shanghai, China in 2020. Photo: AFP>
"From a digital standpoint, the Millennials, the Gen Zs, actually like to have the ability to watch the best of [all] games," Sim said.
"The truth is that the older generation of fans are very accustomed to a certain away of consuming football content. The younger generation has increasingly been harder to engage. They have shorter attention spans. They need it to be personalised and intuitive."
The league views Hong Kong as its ideal marketplace, with its "world-class infrastructure, first-world mobile connectivity" providing the perfect setting.
"Hong Kong is one of the markets we would really like to try to bring the feed to life. It's ideal," Sim said
As for the perennial clout-chasing Hong Kong football fan culture, Sim is sure that while the likes of Bayern Munich and Dortmund may be favoured, there is plenty of opportunity to learn about other teams, such as Leverkusen, SC Freiburg and RB Leipzig.
"When we have a service like this, obviously the Bayerns and Dortmund have a lot of brand equity in the market in Hong Kong, given they are prominent and have played in the region," he said.
"But an interactive feed like this provides a lot of soft introductions to certain teams. It will give some awareness not only for a couple of teams, but for a wider fan base, which is good for us."
