(Courtesy of Fantom)
Reigning Premier League champion Manchester City has released an AI-powered supporters’ smart wristband called Fantom. The band features the club’s crest on its silicone strap, and delivers news and updates via a glass touch screen display. Fantom also offers fans near field communication (NFC) contactless ticketing and purchasing power.
The company behind the development of Fantom is Turnpike Group, a startup based in Sweden. Turnpike co-founder Peter Carlsson has been described as a “protégé” of Elon Musk after working as CPO and VP of supply chain at Tesla.
The smartband offers daily quizzes, breaking news alerts, and live match statistics. And whenever Manchester City plays, the timer shows the match time rather than the real time.
“Fantom is an instant tribe telegraph on your wrist, making you feel connected to everything happening around the club,” said Carl Norberg, another co-founder, in a press release. “For clubs it’s incredibly exciting because it enables them to understand and reach their most loyal fans in a completely personalised way, without cannibalising existing sales, relationships or channels.”
SportTechie Takeaway
In a promotional video touting the new product, several of Man City’s fans—Cityzens—tout that they no longer need to remove their phones from their pockets to get updates. But while Fantom may reduce some of the friction for fans, it also delivers data to the club about its supporters and distributes official news on Man City. As a writer for The Guardian quipped, “this propaganda tool doesn’t so much tell everything you need to know about City, as everything they want you to know.”
