FC Bayern and Adobe: Kicking-off the next generation of sports fan experiences

There aren’t many football clubs whose name carries the same level of prestige as FC Bayern. With a staggering 32 Bundesliga titles, including 10 consecutively since 2013 and six-time UEFA European Champions, FC Bayern is a club rich in Bavarian tradition and sporting accolades that stretch across their 122-year history.

Today, we’re excited to announce that in partnership with Adobe, FC Bayern will be able to get closer to its fans than ever before, using Adobe Experience Cloud and Adobe’s customer data platform.

Thanks to FC Bayern’s new multi-year digital transformation journey with Adobe, the club is taking supporter engagement to the next level, creating and delivering next-gen fan experiences, worldwide and at scale.

What makes FC Bayern so special is that it’s a club with loyal and loving fans who span generation after generation. I’m one of them, having supported my favourite team for almost 40 years.

This all translates into a global fanbase that embodies the spirit and passion of supporting one of Europe’s — and the world’s — most elite sporting clubs. One that craves new and exciting ways to get closer to the club and the players they love — which ultimately became the driving force behind FC Bayern’s transformation journey with Adobe.

The changing face of sports consumption

The FC Bayern fanbase is growing daily and across the globe. With this comes a responsibility to communicate and interact with the club’s fans — wherever in the world they might be — in a way that’s unique and relevant to them.

When we look back over the past three years in particular, the demands of FC Bayern’s fans and customers have changed dramatically. Many aspects of life have shifted to become digital.

Today’s fan, especially younger supporters, expect participation and real-time entertainment, across multiple devices. Nearly half (47 percent) of people who watch sports on TV or via digital platforms simultaneously consume other content such as social media, messaging services or food delivery apps.

As such, the sporting world is undergoing an exciting transformation — with digital technologies empowering clubs to explore more innovative and immersive ways to connect and engage with their fans. FC Bayern recognise they have a duty to enhance the fan experience for multiple audiences across the globe, not just supporters in Germany.

Perhaps most importantly, this transformation journey isn’t just about one brand using another’s technology, this is a strategic innovation relationship that encompasses shared objectives.

We’re helping drive FC Bayern’s ambition to transform supporter engagement for new and existing audiences, attracting the next generation of global fans, and supporting their sustainable business goals.

Information will be drawn from sources spanning all FC Bayern's properties — online, offline, B2B and B2C — and pulled together to create a single view of every customer, all while honouring fan preferences.

This deeper and more complex understanding translates into some exciting and innovative experiences for fans; resulting in personalized content, delivered at scale and connected across every channel, platform, and device.

The combination of deeper audience insights and real-time personalization capabilities will allow FC Bayern to enhance every aspect of the fan experience, from real-time food and drink discounts on match day to immersive shopping experiences for viewers at home.

It means FC Bayern can submerge people in the passion and heart of supporting the club, wherever they may be — in their famous stadium the Allianz Arena, at home, or on-the-go.

Excitingly, FC Bayern will also adopt Adobe Document Cloud, including Adobe Acrobat Sign, which means the latest hot transfers and contract agreements will all be carried out digitally with Adobe technology — along with fan memberships and supplier contracts.

Not only will this drive greater efficiency, but it will also support the club’s wider sustainability goals.

United by our shared passion for experiences that matter

FC Bayern believes the future is only theirs if they keep reinventing. It’s a vision that’s perfectly designed to keep up with the ever-changing world we now live in, and demonstrates why partnering with Adobe represents the perfect fit for achieving sustained success in the digital-first economy.

FC Bayern and Adobe are united by many common values but, above all else, we share an unrelenting passion for creating exceptional experiences that deliver emotive, lasting connections for fans.

Learn more about our partnership here.