Microsoft’s
partnership with Spanish football club Real Madrid is going very
well, so the software giant is looking into ways to expand into
the sports field with more similar agreements with different teams
across Europe.
Peter Jaeger, senior director DX and a board
member of Microsoft Germany, said in an interview with Sports
Business Daily that the company is currently in talks with some
other football clubs, but nothing is certain for now, so more
announcements could follow soon.
Microsoft already has a similar partnership with
Hamburg SV in Germany, but more could be reached as the season
will restart soon in most of the countries after the winter break
and the closing of the transfer market.
Only “technological partner” for now
And yet, Redmond explained that while it’s
looking at the football business for partnerships, it’s still
not interested in becoming an official sponsor for a specific
team. What it wants, however, is a technological agreement similar
to the one in the United States for the NFL – Redmond provides
tables and software to teams in order to view stats and
comparisons during the games.
“We won’t buy a football club and we won’t
invest millions into a sponsorship deal. We are a technological
service provider. We can help generate more money for the sponsors
and for the clubs. We support them in fan engagement and
merchandising,” Jaeger was quoted as saying.
And Germany now seems to be the next destination,
with Jaeger adding that Microsoft’s “own team” could soon be
announced.
“We started in the U.S. But we are trying to
get into the German market with our own team,” he added.
With such agreements, Microsoft not only becomes
the provider of key technology for these teams but also strikes
important marketing deals that could spur adoption of its products
in Europe. Just imagine how many people would buy a Windows Phone
if Cristiano Ronaldo were using one every day.
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