The Sports Industry is changing

Master digital transformation with UNITY!

Sports Industry

Design your sports club's digital future!

The challenges in the sports industry are diverse. On the one hand, the operational business must be lean and effective in meeting the requirements of the various customers (fans, sponsors, partners, associations). On the other hand, it is important to exploit the opportunities of digitalization appropriately and efficiently. In the end, both must pay off in terms of strategic goals, such as increasing customer and fan satisfaction, increasing revenue, and reducing costs.

Four key areas of action are crucial for successful digitalization in the sports industry:

Internal Digitalization

Increase internal efficiency by optimizing and harmonizing customer-centric processes across all existing systems and all functional areas.

Digitalization for Fans

Strengthen loyal customer and fan relationships by using available solutions efficiently, such as customer relationship management, social media, platform technologies, website, an app for fans and digital ticketing.

New Business Model Development

Take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization in sports! Increase your sales and develop new services and business models.

Processes, Organisation and Culture

Empower your employees! Assign clear roles and responsibilities and integrate relevant topics such as sustainability into your company.

UNITY has conducted successful projects in the sports industry since 2008. We have developed a broad range of services specifically for digitalization in sports. In doing so, we always pursue the goal of harmonizing the requirements and needs of fans with the goals of the organization.

Action fields for digitalization in sports

In order to be able to meet customer & fan needs in the long term, four key areas of action are crucial. The factors of vision, IT target architecture, roadmap and governance form the comprehensive strategy that controls the various areas of action.

Efficient processes and an established culture in the organization are regarded as the basis for creating a clear distribution of roles, empowering employees, and making sustainability a relevant topic, for example.

From an initial maturity check up to IT implementation, ticketing, membership management or game-day organization can be optimized within the club. At the same time, integrated digital channels and customer data management will become increasingly important for sports clubs in the future. In order to improve fan experience and long-term customer satisfaction, the design and implementation of a holistic CRM and the integration of digital touchpoints along the entire fan journey, such as through digital tickets, eCommerce or (self) services, is indispensable today. In addition, the development of new business models, in the form of innovative sponsoring services, B2B partnering or loyalty programs, shapes the framework conditions for long-term growth.

Consulting Services in the Sports Industry

Internal Digitalization

Increase your organization's internal efficiency and optimize its performance.

How we support you:

Maturity Check: Customer-centric IT architecture / customer data management
Optimization of internal processes (operational excellence) and organizational development including change management
IT implementation - from gathering requirements, system selection and implementation support until rollout (for example CRM, ERP, CMS, merchandising, ticketing, eCommerce and BI/analytics)

Digitalization for Fans

Improve fan experience and increase long-term customer satisfaction.

How we support you:

Concept and implementation of holistic Customer Relationship Management: strategy, organization, processes, IT tool and mindset.
Integration and synchronization of digital touchpoints along the entire fan journey (website, single sign-on (SSO), merchandising, ticketing, app and service)
Development and introduction of metrics-based campaign management

New Business Model Development

Design a framework for long-term growth.

How we support you:

Strategy workshop on “Digitalization” with a concrete implementation plan (Master Plan of Action)
Development of smart product & service ideas and their implementation (for example, a digital stadium)
Conception and implementation of innovative and data-driven Business Models (for example, Platform or Partnering)

Die ORGA App für Sportveranstaltungen

Mit der ORGA App der ORGArena GmbH (ein Beteiligungsunternehmen der UNITY Innovation Alliance) lassen sich Veranstaltungen sicher und effizient planen, durchführen und absichern.

Die App steuert alle bei einer Veranstaltung anfallenden Aufgaben über ein smartes Berechtigungssystem an die jeweiligen Mitarbeiter, die bei der Veranstaltung Dienst haben. Der Veranstaltungsleiter hat dabei stets alles im Blick und bekommt das revisionssichere Protokoll, bei Freigabe der Veranstaltung, auf Knopfdruck.

Die ORGA App hat die Papierchecklisten in der Bundesliga abgelöst und mit Bayer 04 Leverkusen den Digital Champions Award in der Kategorie Prozess & Organisation gewonnen.

Derzeit nutzen 15 Clubs und Vereine aus der Bundesliga und 2. Bundesliga sowie der Schweizer Super League die ORGA APP.

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What sets us apart in the Sports Industry

UNITY has been a reliable partner in the sports industry since 2008. We have developed a broad range of services specifically for the current challenges in the sports and arena market. Our expert know-how in this industry provides support in the areas of digitalization, IT architectures, customer relationship management and organizational development. We apply our best-practice approaches successfully to the sports industry from other industries and develop customized solutions from the idea to the market-ready product, together with our customers. This is how we developed the ORGA app – a software solution for game-day organization – together with several Bundesliga clubs.

UNITY has already provided support to more than ten clubs and associations in their digital transformation and completed more than 40 successful projects.

Project Stories in the Sports Industry

Development of Future Scenarios

The Future of Football 2030

As one of the largest manufacturers of sporting goods in the world, looking towards the future is a must for adidas. In particular, knowing how to deal with increasing complexity and the successful implementation of digitalization and internationalization efforts are deciding factors for the economic success of tomorrow. In order to be prepared for future challenges of the global market within the "football ecosystem," as well as set a scope that strategically focuses their activities, adidas developed consistent scenarios together with UNITY for the "Future of Football 2030."

In this project, a cross-departmental team analyzed the factors that comprehensively describe the complex "football system," including: governance and league structures, players and brands, new technologies, communication and worlds of experience as well as social phenomena and value structures. Projections were developed for all of these factors and combined into consistent future scenarios by UNITY. IT technologies, biometrics, data and algorithms were identifi ed as a fundamental basis for new business models. New types of fan orientation and thus far unknown forms of football experiences were considered. The scenarios were the foundation of further analyses, such as: what types of future business models will there be in football? How will Industrie 4.0 change the production of sporting goods? What role do brands, leagues, players and fans play? By posing these questions, adidas’ task at hand now is the long-term orientation of the football business unit’s strategy towards the future scenarios that were developed as well as to focus on relevant search fields.

140 relevant Key Factors and Ideas

3 consistent Future Scenarios

Strategically Derived Directions

“The future scenarios that were developed with UNITY form a fundamental basis for the further development of our strategic direction. With the help of the scenarios, we can identify strategic search fields, develop new busines models and expand competences that are relevant for the future.”