Football may be the most popular sport in the world, boasting more fans, followers, and participants globally than any other, yet the ‘beautiful game’ has often lagged behind when it comes to embracing modern technologies.
One example that generates great debate, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system is now deployed widely throughout the highest levels of professional football, after first being trialed in the early 2010s by the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KVNB). However, one of the first sports to implement video referees was Rugby League in Australia, during the 1996 Super League World Nines competition, almost two decades before VAR was fully incorporated in major football competitions.
Much improved use of digital technologies is now more commonplace in football, such as analytical scouting and training tools used by coaching staff, along with social media platforms and other online media aimed at engaging fans. Using a single data-based ecosystem, LaLiga Tech was launched in September 2021, offering a unique range of services to digitally transform sports and entertainment, becoming the world’s first company to combine the experience of an international sporting organization with deep technical expertise.
Sharing the Digital Essence of Spanish Football Experience
Insofar as the online digital age is concerned, Spanish football and LaLiga have often been at the forefront of embracing new ideas and technologies, especially when it comes to enhancing the product offered to fans and followers around the world. Arguably, this is one of the key reasons why ‘El Clásico’ games played by Spain’s two biggest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, attract the highest TV audiences of any domestic football match in the world.
Putting that into some perspective, accompanied by the rise of social networks and across all platforms, FC Barcelona boasts more than 272.9 million followers, while Real Madrid is just behind with slightly over 271.6 million followers. By comparison, English club Manchester United is way behind on 143.1 social media followers, despite the English Premier League being considered the most popular domestic league in the world.
Aiming to share years of research and development, along with bespoke technological solutions built in-house, this is why Spain’s LaLiga decided to launch the new LaLiga Tech venture. The core idea is for the sporting world “to build on its emotional connection with fans by taking a data-led approach to understand fan behaviors and design modern, engaging, and profitable experiences,” according to LaLiga Tech CEO, Miguel Ángel Leal.
LaLiga Tech has already secured agreements with numerous football competitions, along with other sporting organizations, with their services based around three pillars. They are Fan Engagement via new apps and web platforms, Content Enhancement & Protection to improve product quality with better safety and security, plus Competition Management to improve key areas of sporting activity. Essentially, what LaLiga Tech is providing is a one-stop-shop for everything a sporting organization or entity could ever need, fully digitized and future-proof.
Making the Most of Big-Data & Modern Technologies
Undoubtedly, this approach taken by LaLiga tech will also be appealing to other entertainment sectors, including those with close ties to the sporting world, such as online betting, which has become a global cultural phenomenon over the last couple of decades. Although wagering on sporting pursuits has been around for millennia, the digital age has unlocked the most profound ways for fans to directly engage with their favorite sports.
The systems provided by LaLiga Tech are aimed at enhancing sports data and engagement, therefore giving fans and followers more information than ever before. This is certainly a boon for anyone who regularly bets on football or any other sports, given that people will have more detailed statistics available, whilst also being even more informed about the sports attracting their wagering interest. Indeed, being more informed is one of the key reasons why Asiabet has produced a highly detailed guide to online sports betting.
The aim of such a guide is to educate bettors about how to get started, how to find reliable sports betting sites, financial aspects including deposit and withdrawal methods, along how to discover the best free bet offers and other top bonuses. Likewise, only trusted and reliable betting sites are covered in reviews, meeting stringent criteria such as being registered and governed by reputable gambling authorities.
Looking ahead, it’s fair to say that what LaLiga Tech is now offering, should also be welcomed and embraced by betting companies and bettors alike, enhancing the overall engagement experience surrounding our favorite sports. Indeed, the digital age has enhanced how increasingly informed we are as fans, which is great news when considering how much enjoyment we already get from sports. You can’t have too much of a good thing, according to the old saying.
