Man City launch Virtual Etihad Stadium

Article posted by Coliseum, August 20^th, 2024

Image: Sony

Manchester City has launched the ‘Man City Virtual Etihad Stadium’ – a new interactive fan experience delivered by Sony for the club’s fans to enjoy.

The interactive experience sees City become the first sporting brand to utilise Sony’s new FavoriteSpace™ service.

The two global brands have been working on the fan engagement proof of concept experience, since a partnership between the organisations was announced in November 2021.

Manchester City’s home, the Etihad Stadium, has been faithfully reproduced in virtual space, and fans can visit anytime with their avatars.

Etihad Stadium is the home of the Premier League club Manchester City F.C. With a capacity to hold 53,400 spectators for domestic football, it is the sixth-largest football stadium in England and the ninth largest in the United Kingdom.

At the virtual stadium, fans can enjoy the kind of immersive virtual content that is only possible in virtual space, such as Immersive Highlights, which allow them to freely view highlights of past home games in 3DCG from any viewpoint.

Available to fans for the first time, the newly launched app allows users to take part in a virtual fan community, where Cityzens from the UK, US and Japan can connect and celebrate the club throughout the season.

Fans are able to create a personalised avatar and participate in a variety of activities including daily challenges, social events, minigames and co-creation functions. Digital merchandise is also available to redeem within a virtual City Store.

Powered by the data tracking technology of Hawk-Eye Innovations, a Sony group company, fans can explore 3DCG immersive match highlights for City home matches during the 24/25 men’s season, as well as relive key moments from the 23/24 season.

Fans gathered as avatars in the virtual space can share their thoughts and passion for their team beyond nationality and language by communicating through emoticons, stamps, and interactions such as putting arms around each other’s shoulders.

In addition, fans can express their support for the team in various ways, such as participating in events held in virtual space on actual match days, customizing their avatars with uniforms and goods, and creating fan banners.

By responding to fans showing support in these ways, the team and the players can also interact with the fan community, thereby building even more unity among the fans and their team.

Making the most of Sony’s technology and entertainment expertise, FavoriteSpace will deliver new sports content and create a social entertainment space where fans can share their passion for their favorites.

Through the FavoriteSpace service, the club is also providing new opportunities for club partners within the Manchester City experience, with the likes of Etihad and Nissan being the first to develop innovative and engaging activations. This includes reactive LED messaging within the Immersive Highlights for Premier League matches and specific challenges within the interactive Stadium Tour.

Nuria Tarre, Chief Marketing and Fan Experience Officer at City Football Group, said, “We’re delighted to launch this new experience alongside our long-term partner Sony as part of our wider strategy to embrace new technologies and continuously explore new ways to engage and entertain our audience.

“It’s exciting for us to be able to see the PoC partnership come to life with today’s launch and we’re grateful to Sony for collaborating with us to launch the Man City Virtual Etihad Stadium today.

“This is the latest digital experience we have launched for our global fanbase – following success on other platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite in recent years – and we hope fans across the world will enjoy it.”

Yuhei Yabe, Head of New Business Development Division, Sony Group Corporation, said, “We are pleased to bring this new sports experience to football fans by combining Sony’s new service, FavoriteSpace, with the attractive content provided by Manchester City.”

“Sony is committed to making the future of sports more engaging and innovative by utilising Sony’s technology and entertainment expertise. It’s been an incredible journey from the PoC phase with our partner Manchester City, and today, we are thrilled to announce the launch.

“At FavoriteSpace, we will continue to develop services that bring fans closer together, making the act of supporting their favorite teams and players even more enjoyable.”

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