Amazon Prime's Man City documentary is part of a "broader shift" in how the club markets itself.amazon prime
Away from the core offering of TV rights on channels like Sky and BT, football clubs are "striving to diversify their media offering, therefore exploiting their huge brand potential," according to Ben Londesbrough of CAMPAIGN LIVE. Last week, Man City released a £10M ($12.8M) documentary series produced by Amazon Prime, titled "All or Nothing: Manchester City." Sport and entertainment agency Cake Managing Partner Richard Gillis said, "This documentary is part of a broader shift in the way the club thinks of itself, from football team to media and entertainment property." Devotion to a club is "more complicated than it used to be," with so much content on so many platforms "vying for the eyes and attention of young football fans all around the globe." Clubs are therefore capitalizing on their capabilities as brands, "presenting content in tailored and sophisticated ways." BraveBison Chief Creative Officer Will Pyne said, "Like any good brand, clubs need a strong content strategy that delivers quality, locally-relevant content on subjects and personalities fans care about." In '17, Man City became the first Premier Leauge club to hit 1 million YouTube subscribers, and is "now releasing a vast array of in-house content on a daily basis." Earlier this year, ManU followed suit and launched an official YouTube channel. The YouTube model is "still relatively young," however, with other EPL clubs like Newcastle United "falling way behind in the game," hosting only 38,000 subscribers (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 8/23).
