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Major sports teams embracing m-commerce potential

Wednesday, July 10, 2013 - 11:13 by Paul Tissington

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A growing number of major sports venues across the UK, which play host to some of the biggest football clubs on the planet, are turning to m-commerce to seek new ways to engage with fans.

Marketing Week reports that Premiership sides, including Manchester City and Liverpool in the UK, as well as Celtic and Rangers up in Scotland, have adopted Wi-Fi networking at their stadiums, to give spectators free network connectivity and an incentive to use bespoke apps on their smartphones, while watching big games.

Fifteen further sides from the Premier League are expected to take advantage of this type of technology in the next year, with visitors being given the opportunity to get exclusive content and carry out safe shopping online when they are attending a match.

Industry insider, Josh Robinson, explained the appeal of making m-commerce easy to achieve at major stadiums, comparing this type of venue to a flagship outlet for a retailer.

While the product may be the intangible brand of the team itself, there are still plenty of licensed items and additional services which can be marketed and promoted through this medium.

Stadiums are facing similar problems to modern bricks and mortar retailers, since people now have more ways to watch sport than ever available to them, most of which do not actually require them to visit the ground in person.

If there are additional reasons to do so, however, then there is more chance of people feeling happy to get out of the house and actually spend money at these venues.

Football fans can now expect to be able to carry out their shopping online, send tweets, upload photos and do much more, thanks to Wi-Fi networks at their favourite stadiums. And if this benefits teams as well, then there is much to be gained from this rollout.