Football Federation Australia (FFA) has today reported strong results of the first 12 months of its four-year digital commercialisation strategy and confirms the appointment of Perform Group, a world leading digital sports content and media group, to drive its digital strategy through to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Following a competitive bid and media rights process, the FFA appointed Perform in 2014 as official data and statistics partner and to commercialise its digital network. Through the resulting multifaceted partnership, Perform Group works with the FFA to collect, produce, package and distribute content that helps engage football fans and drive new revenue streams.
One year in, Perform Group has worked with FFA to expand the digital network, achieve a 54 per cent growth in unique audience, secure an increase of 72% in revenue derived from digital assets, and deliver over $4million in media value to sponsors and advertisers.
“Interest in football in Australia is at its highest ever level and continues to grow exponentially following the continued successes of the Socceroos, Matildas, the Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League and increasing participation in our youth leagues, ,” said FFA CEO David Gallop.
“It is incredibly pleasing to see the growing interest in football now being converted into tangible business results for FFA, as we are now the preferred destination for fans of Australian football. We have put in a place a world-class digital infrastructure and commercialisation strategy with Perform, while driving advertising and content revenues for FFA. This partnership provides significant momentum as we embark on our journey for the upcoming season of the Hyundai A-League as well as the qualification campaigns for the 2016 Olympic Games and 2018 FIFA World Cup.”
According to Alex Peebles, General Manager Australia and New Zealand at Perform, “For FFA, we have brought our first team experience to the table, which includes maximizing revenue from digital platforms, distributing video, data and editorial for many of the world’s largest sporting federations such as the English Premier League (EPL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA).”
“Fans of Australian football are flocking to the new responsive websites and mobile apps, while sponsors and brand partners are reaping the rewards with access to a more highly engaged audience than previous years. The volumes and quality of video, data and editorial are also much more significant on the FFA network itself, as well as the syndication of official data to major media groups. Furthermore, we anticipate significant additional growth in all audience and revenue KPIs over the next 12 months.”
Since Perform Group was appointed, the following new assets have been put into play for the FFA’s fans, sponsors and partners:
· 27 new responsive websites were designed and built across the FFA digital network (including international Men’s and Women’s teams, Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League, Westfield FFA Cup, Youth Football and others) .
· Android and iPhone mobile applications have been built for all ten Hyundai A-League clubs, the Socceroos and the Hyundai A-League itself.
· Establishment of a dedicated multi-media content and news team producing video, text and data driven editorial and statistics, and a new advertising and sponsorship sales team working hand in hand with the FFA commercial division.
· Access to Opta, Perform Group’s world leading sports data brand, and Omnisport, the leading global multi-platform sports news agency.
· Weekly streamed Hyundai A-League games on FFA platforms as well as extensive coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2014 AFC Champions League, 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and the inaugural Westfield FFA Cup.
Headline results achieved in the first twelve months include:
· 54% increase in Unique Browsers to the FFA website network from 2013/14 to 2014/15 seasons
· 30M page views for the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 season across the FFA
· 7.9M unique visitors throughout the latest season
· 8.7M screen views for the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 season across the mobile applications
· All mobile applications rate +4 on their respective app stores
· Record Day traffic – Grand Final Day 2015 – May 17th 2015 - +100k page views to 2015 Grand Final match centre and +300k page views to the entire network on the day
· Advertiser media value in 2014/15 grew by 72% through the FFA digital network
Together, FFA and the Perform Group have also helped Sponsors and Advertisers extend their reach and engage fans beyond ‘just-a-naming’ partner, leading to increases in purchase consideration and brand recall; examples include
· Hyundai “#everystepoftheway choose your Grand Final Experience” campaign featured full digital integration where Fans voted on who sung the national anthem, performed at half-time, in-stadium food they wanted and the walk out tracks for the Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
· TAB Sportsbet pushed out Hyundai A-League Finals goal highlights produced by the FFA content team onto twitter resulting in stellar engagement rates and eCPEs, significantly above Twitter’s high performance benchmarks
· Nike completed a Socceroos jerseys campaign around the AFC Asian Cup which resulted in strong sales and a stadium full of green and gold throughout the tournament
Perform Group is a leading digital sports content and media group that comprises of two main divisions: Perform Content and Perform Media. Perform Group connects the world of sport by producing the quickest, most detailed and most engaging content, and managing a network of media brands with significant global scale. Globally, Perform Group has more than 1,500 employees across 25 territories, covering 40 sports.