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Screenshot of Bayern Munich's redesigned website.
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Bayern Munich will this week unveil its new online and mobile presence following the club's decision to take ownership of its digital infrastructure. With two weeks to go until the start of the new Bundesliga season, the defending champions are not only laying the groundwork for success on the field but also behind the scenes. Bayern has created a data center at Munich’s Allianz Arena and taken control of all digital developments. The German side teamed up with 11 partners, which all had to relinquish their various source codes to be part of the club's digital reform. “This means that from now on, we are in the driver’s seat and in control of the future direction,” Bayern Munich Media, Digital & Communications Dir Stefan Mennerich said. The project, which SBD Global understands is the first of its kind by a football club, started 18 months ago after discussions with leading industry experts. The club’s contracts with its previous digital service providers were all set to expire this summer, which gave club officials enough time to build the infrastructure for its new digital strategy. “We believe that building the FC Bayern brand will become increasingly important for our internationalization strategy,” Mennerich said. “Content is an essential part of the brand. If we control our global content and don’t have to depend on service providers, we believe it’s an ideal way to advance our internationalization plans.” The club did not provide any information on the scale of the investment into its digital assets.
OUT OF SIGHT: The most visible signs of the club’s digital transformation will be a redesigned website, app and online store. The major changes, however, happen in the background outside of the users’ view. SAP, which signed a global partnership with the club in ’14, was instrumental in providing the backend support for Bayern’s digital future. “Within a year and a half we consolidated the backend structure from 52 systems to one basic system, which is SAP,” Mennerich said. The club also decided to change its official web domain from FCBayern.de to FCBayern.com to go along with its global ambitions. Bayern’s OTT service, FCB.tv, will switch its name to FCBayern.tv in order to avoid any potential confusion with the offering of Spanish side FC Barcelona. Mennerich said the new website will be the last major redesign and relaunch of Bayern’s online presence for the foreseeable future. “The catchphrase here is ‘eternal beta version,’” he said. “The website will go live this week but it will never be completed because we are constantly adjusting it to keep up with digital developments and user demands. There won’t be a complete overhaul of the web design in the near future, but there’s no doubt it will look completely different in a number of years, because we are constantly adjusting it.”
Bayern Munich's Digital Partners
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Company
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Function
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Deutsche Telekom
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Data Center
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SAP
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Software Infrastructure
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| Hippo |
Content Management System
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diva-e
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Website
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zero's and one's
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User-Experience Design
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| akkamai |
Security/Delivery
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blue summit
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SEO
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| Pushwoosh |
Push-Notifications
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Kaltura
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Video Player
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Omnigon
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Apps
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netconomy
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Online Shop
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Source: Bayern Munich
