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FC Bayern Basketball

Making Score Points Towards Basketball Fans with AR-App

FC Bayern Munich, the renowned sports club of the Bavarian capital, has had a basketball department for more than 75 years. Since 2014, FC Bayern Basketball is an independent GmbH (FCBB). With the men’s team, the club plays in the Bundesliga and in the top European league, the EuroLeague. The fan base of the team is large. Due to Corona, however, the FCBB supporters were unable to follow the games live on site for many months. In order to maintain the closeness between players, club and fans, the club opted for digital formats. As a result of an innovation workshop with the principal partner Deutsche Telekom, a technology partnership between FCBB and Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems MMS was established. Their xReality experts subsequently designed and developed an AR app for a 360° fan experience, which strengthens the identification of fans with the club – even when the ranks are now fully occupied again.


Customer benefits


Checkmark for the benefit of our customers

Fans feel even more emotionally connected to the club

Checkmark for the benefit of our customers

App offers sponsors innovative presentation spaces

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Newly created touchpoints increase the attractiveness of the Audi Dome

  • Lukas Horn, Digital Strategy & Innovation Manager at the FC Bayern Basketball

    „With this app, our fans can be close to players in a completely new, innovative way. We are thrilled!“


Reference at a glance


Task

Task

Increase bonding between team and fans with virtual tools

 

Solution

Solution

Smartphone-App with gamer avatars, 3D- and augmented reality contents as well as gamification

 

Benefits

Result

360° Fan-Experience-App, which offers innovative sponsoring spaces and contributes to the attractiveness of the Audi Dome

 

  • Requirements

    Bonding Fans Offering Innovative Solutions

    What companies do for their customers, sports clubs also offer their fans: to inspire their target group at every point of contact so that a close and long-term bond is formed. The enthusiasm of sports fans is not only related to the game: players become idols, the visit to a game becomes an event, the club becomes a family.

    FC Bayern Basketball accepted the challenge of creating completely new experiences for its fans beyond a classic club app that reach right into their own homes. In collaboration with the principal partner Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiary T-Systems MMS designed and developed an AR app that allows fans to playfully interact with their team and bring their heroes home in 3D.

  • Solution

    AR-App Creates Skin-Deep Sports Experiences

    For the augmented reality application, all 17 players of the current FC Bayern basketball squad and the mascot Berni were captured by the Munich company Youlittle using a 3D scanner. Afterwards, the xReality experts from T-Systems MMS animated the avatars of the players and developed a 3D model of the Audi Dome. The AR app was created for iOS and Android on the Unity development environment, which is based on common 3D animation programs.
    Features of the app are started by scanning a marker, such as a code, sticker, or logo. One such marker are player cards, which are available for every player and can be grabbed freely available in the Audi Dome. When the player map is scanned by the app, the three-dimensional avatar of the player who is also moving appears. The fan can view it from all directions and retrieve information, for example about the person. In addition, fans can take a picture of themselves with the avatar and share the screenshot. Other markers are located at points of interest in the Audi Dome, where fans are encouraged to take action during their visit. For example, the app guides the fan to their seat, and when entering the VIP area, a welcome video is played in the app. It is also possible to call up offers from the merchandising shop in the app or, for example, to arrange test drives with the e-tron of the principal partner Audi on display in the Audi Dome via a marker scan.

The markers in the hall can be seen on the app's landscape map. In addition, markers are hidden in the Audi Dome, similar to "Easter Eggs," to arouse the app users' ambition to collect gamification points for a higher level. Other markers can also be placed outside the hall, for example in sponsors' stores, where a player avatar could recommend a shoe.
The app also offers additional features for experiences at home: fans can bring an original basketball basketball basket with a virtual pitch environment into the living room and swipe it in the original backdrop of the Audi Dome basket and score points again.
The app is modular, cross-platform and expandable and can therefore be used for different target groups and clubs.




  • Benefits

    Fan Experience Strenghtens Commitment

    With the AR app, the experience around the game and the club becomes even more intense and exciting. The personal approach allows fans to be enthused and to identify more strongly with the FCBB. Thanks to gamification, the fun factor and ambition of the app users increase. The ability to virtually bring players into their own living room creates a greater emotional closeness to the team.
    The exclusive information that can be accessed in the Audi Dome with the app increases the attractiveness of the sports and event location. The app also offers the fans orientation and guides them within the building. This makes the visit to the venue even more interesting than before.
    With the app, FC Bayern Basketball partners can also offer new, innovative sponsorship spaces with diverse possibilities of digital product placement. Ultimately, the augmented reality app with its many features contributes to the perception of FC Bayern Basketball as an innovative club.

About the FC Bayern Basketball GmbH

Basketball has a long tradition at FC Bayern Munich. The division was founded in 1946; on 1st October 2014 it was split into FC Bayern Basketball GmbH. Since the 2011-12 season, the club has been represented in the Bundesliga and since then plays in the “Audi Dome” with a capacity of 6,600 spectators. The German championship was won by FC Bayern Basketball in 1954, 1955, 2014, 2018 and 2019, and the club won the German Cup in 1968, 2018 and 2021. The Munich professional basketball players play in the EuroLeague on the international stage. The FCBB was the first and only German team ever to reach the EuroLeague Playoffs in 2021. The Munich team repeated this success this year, only being eliminated in the decisive fifth match against the renowned FC Barcelona.
The basketball department of FC Bayern Munich also runs several junior teams in the highest levels of the respective age groups, including the U19 in the Junior Basketball-Bundesliga and the U16 in the Youth Basketball-Bundesliga (Federal League).




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