Engaging with 500 million devoted fans globally

Real Madrid Football Club stands out among the world's premier sports franchises, boasting a colossal fan base of 500 million supporters worldwide. However, with only a fraction of these fans situated in Spain, the club sought a method to connect with its global audience and nurture their fervent club allegiance, regardless of their geographical location. To tackle this challenge head-on, Real Madrid enlisted the expertise of a Microsoft Services team to conceptualize, develop, and roll out a comprehensive global digital sports platform. Leveraging an array of Microsoft cloud services, this platform taps into the expansive reach of Microsoft's cloud infrastructure to consistently deliver an unparalleled fan experience on a global scale. Real Madrid can now engage with fans on a personalized level, execute targeted promotional initiatives, and harness data insights to monitor and analyze fan behaviors, among a host of other functionalities. Today, the club reports a remarkable 30 percent growth in digital revenue, underscoring its optimistic outlook on the digital future of the organization.
Undoubtedly, Real Madrid Football Club reigns supreme as the pinnacle of the sports world, buoyed by its legion of fervent fans across the globe. Established in 1902, the club boasts an illustrious track record, clinching over 100 championships, including an impressive 12 European Cups, two FIFA Club World Cups, and three Intercontinental Cups. FIFA's recognition of Real Madrid as the premier football club of the 20th century further underscores its unparalleled legacy. Across the globe, fans exhibit an unwavering devotion to the team, closely monitoring its performance and players with unbridled passion. However, until recently, the club's ability to engage with its extensive fan base was largely confined to attendees at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, visitors to its website, or participants in its social media channels. Recognizing the potential of a digital transformation to revolutionize fan engagement, Real Madrid embarked on a quest to identify a technology leader capable of guiding the club through this pivotal digital journey, ultimately forging a strategic partnership with Microsoft.

Pioneering a Digital Transformation Journey
ligned with Microsoft Services' tested strategy, the inaugural action involved gathering the key stakeholders from the club to discuss their requirements and, importantly, to define their vision for enhancing fan engagement. "Our goal was to establish connections with Real Madrid supporters globally," states José Ángel Sánchez, the CEO of Real Madrid, highlighting that nearly 97 percent of the club's fans are based outside Spain. "It's imperative for us to comprehend and glean insights from them since they are the true owners of the club."
This initial phase commenced with a meeting at the Microsoft Executive Briefing Center located in Redmond, Washington. Here, Microsoft Services orchestrated a brainstorming session that deliberately omitted technology-focused discussions. The aim was to freely explore the potential impacts of the club's digital transformation and the objectives it sought to fulfill.
"The majority of our discussion revolved around the business benefits of enhancing our fan engagement levels and exploring various avenues to achieve this," mentions Sánchez. "Despite Microsoft Services being composed of technology aficionados, they prioritized articulating and aligning our business objectives. This was not just to grasp these goals but to ensure a unified understanding and agreement on these aims among all stakeholders."
With the business objectives of Real Madrid clearly in focus, the subsequent step for the Microsoft Services team was to delineate a strategic project outline. This blueprint would steer the creation of a Real Madrid digital sports platform with international scope – a critical feature given the global dispersion of its fan base. Notably, the biggest market, Indonesia, represents just 11 percent of the fan base and is located a significant distance from Spain. Given the diverse and widespread nature of Real Madrid's supporters, the club recognized that there wasn't a "one-size-fits-all" fan profile. Therefore, capturing and analyzing fan behavior data would be crucial for the project's success.


Integrating Technology for Enhanced EngagementIn collaboration with Real Madrid, Microsoft Services developed an extensive platform-as-a-service (PaaS) architecture, leveraging a broad spectrum of Microsoft cloud solutions. This suite included technologies from Microsoft Azure, as well as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Office 365, and Power BI. The development utilized the .NET Framework alongside Visual Studio 2013 and Azure DevOps (previously known as Visual Studio Team Services), indicating the project's extensive scope. Around 50 members from the Microsoft Services team formed the core project team, with an additional 150 Microsoft experts contributing in areas such as data science and app development.
Enrique Uriel, CIO of Real Madrid, emphasizes the club's primary focus on football and the importance of having Microsoft manage the technological framework. "Microsoft's Azure platform is crucial for us. It enables us to deliver the services our fans expect by providing the global scalability required on demand," he remarks.
The implementation of a PaaS solution utilizing Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft cloud technologies afforded Real Madrid the necessary worldwide reach. Moreover, it alleviated the club's IT department from the complexities of maintaining the advanced infrastructure demanded by its digital sports platform. Consequently, the club was able to expand its digital services team rather than increase its IT personnel.
Rafael de Los Santos, the leader of the club’s digital initiatives, notes the rapid growth of their digital team, which expanded from five to over thirty members, including data scientists, within just a year. "Thanks to Microsoft's cloud-based service delivery platform, we can shift our focus from managing infrastructure to improving fan engagement and achieving better business results," he states.


Bridging the Gap with Global FansThe digital sports platform created for Real Madrid by Microsoft Services is now fully functional, providing enriched content and leveraging advanced analytics for deep insights into fan behaviors. This platform comprises four key elements:
Fan Engagement Engine: At the heart of Real Madrid's marketing efforts, this component records every fan interaction, from mobile check-ins at the stadium to updates on the club's website and online merchandise purchases. It harnesses features from Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Power BI, alongside Microsoft Social Engagement for tracking mentions and data from major social networks. The bulk of data is stored in Azure Table Storage, with Azure Cosmos DB supporting swift, high-performance data queries for analysis.
Video Expansion Service: Leveraging Azure Media Services along with Azure App Service and Azure Media Player, this service allows the delivery of both recent and archival video content, including historical matches. Azure Search provides fans the ability to look up specific matches using various filters. For live games, it offers the option to select different camera angles to replay significant moments and player actions.
Interactive Fan App: A hit across iOS, Android, and Windows platforms, Real Madrid's mobile app connects fans worldwide to club content. It offers virtual stadium access around game times, detailed information on current and former players, and comprehensive club stats. Azure Active Directory B2C handles secure user authentication and profile management. Fans can sign in through social media platforms like Facebook or use traditional login methods, ensuring a consistent user experience across devices while addressing security and scalability concerns.
Data-Driven Digital Evolution: According to Begoña Sanz, Real Madrid’s commercial general manager, the club's digital shift is propelled by data. These foundational elements have markedly accelerated the club's digital transformation. "Our goal is to gather as much data on our fans as possible to tailor our interactions across all touchpoints," he remarks. "Previously, our data came from around five sources. Now, leveraging our Microsoft cloud platform, we draw from over 70 sources. This approach has expanded our fan profile database by approximately 400% in two years, now reaching into the millions."


Expanding Digital Earnings by 30 PercentSánchez expresses immense satisfaction with the outcomes achieved through the partnership with Microsoft Services, emphasizing how the digital transformation initiative has enhanced the club's connection with its supporters. He attributes the project's success to the expertise, project management, effective communication, and swift responses from Microsoft Services, alongside their commitment to leveraging Microsoft's extensive resources for the Real Madrid initiative.
The digital sports platform has not only fostered deeper connections with fans but also unlocked new revenue channels for the club, Sánchez observes. "Leveraging the Microsoft Cloud, we've developed an understanding of our fans' identities, locations, and desires," he states.
"This knowledge allows us to devise a personalized communication strategy for each fan, regardless of their location. The capabilities of our digital sports platform are influencing every aspect of our operations, including our digital revenue, which is seeing a yearly growth of 30 percent compared to our past digital endeavors. The return on this investment has been tremendous, positioning us for a promising future."

​