Across the last decade, it has often been said that football is the greatest soap opera around. For whatever reason, be it the prominence of front foot, “attack first, defend after” managerial philosophies or simply a dearth in top quality defenders, the recent champions league campaigns have thrown up some of the most dramatic and unfathomable results in the modern football era. Whether it’s Barcelona v PSG, Manchester United v PSG, Liverpool v Barcelona or Tottenham v Ajax, seemingly every round of knockout matches over the last five years has sought to outdo all that have gone before.
The unpredictability and sheer unlikeliness of some of the results has often led to commentary that lauds the drama with phrases such as “you couldn’t script it!” becoming commonplace. And they’re right. Some of the defining moments that have occurred not just in the champions league, but across the game (nb Vincent Kompany v Leicester) over the last few years, would legitimately be too far fetched in a scripted drama. Liverpool 3-0 down against the mighty Barcelona led by Lionel Messi without two of their world beating front three? Not a chance. Vincent Kompany, club legend, scoring his first career goal from outside the box to effectively win the league in the most tightly contested title race in Premier League history? Give over.
It is hard to fathom the plethora of gob-smacking moments that have occurred across the game in the last few years and whether this is a new phenomenon or just amplified by the intense coverage the game now receives from all quarters, the notion that football has become one of the most engaged-with entertainment products in the country can not be disputed.
The comparisons with a soap opera are uncanny. A seemingly weekly dose of unexpected narrative, the constant back and forth between overly massaged ego’s, the underdog stories shrouded in controversy. It’s got all the hallmarks of prime time, midweek evening viewing (coincidence?).
The framing of sport as an entertainment product doesn’t sit well with many, which is understandable due to the vested nature of many stakeholders. However, ultimately, whilst to many of us football is a pillar of the community and the largest social vehicle in our lives, the notion of the game as an entertainment spectacle persists.
The proliferation of content which is produced around the game through outlets such as fan media, podcasts and club generated digital content, has thrust the players and personalities in the game even further in to the spotlight than they used to be, which has made the largest media service providers sit up and take note. The romanticism and unpredictability of the narrative in real life sport is something that can’t be replicated in scripted drama, no matter how accurate the story is and therefore global media companies have recognised that the best way to dramatise a sports story, is to tell the story of the real characters, from the inside.
The growth and popularity of “fly on the wall” football documentaries across popular streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime continues to rise, as the clamour to see “behind the curtain” grips football fans across the country, no matter their allegiances. Failed concepts such as “Being Liverpool” that were deemed overly Americanised and cringe-worthy earlier in the decade, have been succeeded by successful projects such as “All or Nothing: Manchester City” on Amazon Prime and “Sunderland till I die” on Netflix, as fans desire to see behind the scenes and gain a greater understanding of their hero’s personalities, grows.
These documentaries have not been without criticism and any behind the scenes content has the potential to be perceived as merely a personal propaganda campaign or conversely, set an unwarranted agenda against a certain club or individuals. The desire for behind the scenes content, however, can not be ignored, which is why Borussia Dortmund, Leeds and Barcelona have also commissioned similar fly on the wall documentaries following their exploits.
The question is, are clubs doing enough to capitalise on the growing trend for behind the scenes content in a way that will benefit them financially, whilst not being a concurrent PR disaster?
Having researched the club produced content of various top flight clubs on their Youtube channel and social media platforms, it becomes apparent that some clubs such as Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham are increasingly producing behind the scenes content, however very few clubs have fully capitalised on the desire of fans to gain greater access to the players by innovating and identifying the opportunity for mutually valuable partner collaborations in this area.
As part of my ongoing dissertation project I have been analysing Liverpool FC’s Youtube content and it becomes apparent, quickly, that the number of views and interaction with the videos for behind the scenes content consistently dwarfs almost all other content types. One of the most striking pieces of content that I came across was a partnership activation that used first team players in a sit-com like promotional advert, talking about one of the partners flagship products.
This is evidently an exaggerated example, and the idea of football clubs producing sit-com style weekly productions is enough to provoke sleepless nights for any PR manager, however this example goes further to prove the growing recognition within the industry that behind the scenes, player led content continues to drive engagement and where brand engagement grows, so does the opportunity for commercial partnership activation’s.
As the need for innovative activation’s intensifies in the industry as match-day related experiences are impacted by the global pandemic, recognising the brand engagement opportunity that lies in behind the scenes, access all area’s, content and the potential for valuable, consistent brand exposure through collaborative production of such content could be a valuable tool for marketers to target, on both sides of the commercial partnerships. The players are the most valuable asset at the club, utilising them in even more innovative ways is the future.
Ben Stevenson on Football 