Manchester City builds digital fan wall on Hana Cloud Platform

Manchester City Football Club has unveiled a new interactive digital fan wall as part of its ongoing relationship with SAP.

The City Football Group, which includes the English Premier League side, announced the alliance last year. The group also includes New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F Marinos and the Manchester City women’s team.

The purpose of the “wall” is said to be to engage fans better.

It will be unveiled as the #CityPulse Wall on Saturday 17 September at Manchester City’s game against Bournemouth. Fans can find it in City Square, which the club describes as “the social hub of the Etihad Stadium”.

Behind the wall lies SAP’s in-memory, columnar database, in the form of its platform as a service, the Hana Cloud Platform. This will store player and match statistics, provided by sports data company Opta.

Fans using the wall will be able to access real-time statistics and profiles for every player in the first team, the women’s team and the reserves.

The wall will also show a live social media feed displaying fan conversation and sentiment.

Other features include player leader boards, matchday stats, head-to-head team comparisons, video content, fan quizzes and polls.

SAP is also contributing three “widgets” for the football club’s website. These will show a head-to-head record versus the team’s next opponent, a win-loss record for up to nine previous Manchester City matches, and a real-time ball possession snapshot.

Last season, SAP and Manchester City collaborated to provide fans with behind-the-scenes player statistics via the City Matchday App and website, as well as access to in-game match data across the second-tier LED at the Etihad Stadium.

All four clubs in the City group have been putting in place cloud-delivered systems that use Hana since the partnership was announced last year. These include use of the Jam social software to connect City Football Group’s global employees and Hybris, the supplier’s customer engagement software system.

The group and SAP said Hybris would soon be used to “produce more powerful reports to evaluate how the club is connecting with its fans and partners”.

Omar Berrada, chief operating officer at Manchester City, said: “Connecting with our global fan base in innovative and meaningful ways is a top priority for everyone at Manchester City and by collaborating with SAP, we are able to utilise its breakthrough technologies, both at the Etihad Stadium and online, to enhance every fan’s matchday experience.

“The CityPulse Wall is an opportunity to provide a unique digital experience for fans and the new website widgets mean that no matter where they may be, fans can access all the matchday data they are looking for.”

Kevin Kimber, head of cloud for SAP in the UK, said: “Working in partnership with City Football Group, we are committed to helping its teams optimise operations, while providing new opportunities to enhance the fan experience wherever they are – in stadium, online or via mobile devices.”

SAP also works in partnership with the German national team and Bayern Munich. ..................................................................................