14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s partnership with Spanish football club Real Madrid is going very well, so the software giant is looking into ways to expand into the sports field with more similar agreements with different teams across Europe.
Peter Jaeger, senior director DX and a board member of Microsoft Germany, said in an interview with Sports Business Daily that the company is currently in talks with some other football clubs, but nothing is certain for now, so more announcements could follow soon.
Microsoft already has a similar partnership with Hamburg SV in Germany, but more could be reached as the season will restart soon in most of the countries after the winter break and the closing of the transfer market.
Only “technological partner” for now
And yet, Redmond explained that while it’s looking at the football business for partnerships, it’s still not interested in becoming an official sponsor for a specific team. What it wants, however, is a technological agreement similar to the one in the United States for the NFL – Redmond provides tables and software to teams in order to view stats and comparisons during the games.
“We won’t buy a football club and we won’t invest millions into a sponsorship deal. We are a technological service provider. We can help generate more money for the sponsors and for the clubs. We support them in fan engagement and merchandising,” Jaeger was quoted as saying.
And Germany now seems to be the next destination, with Jaeger adding that Microsoft’s “own team” could soon be announced.
“We started in the U.S. But we are trying to get into the German market with our own team,” he added.
With such agreements, Microsoft not only becomes the provider of key technology for these teams but also strikes important marketing deals that could spur adoption of its products in Europe. Just imagine how many people would buy a Windows Phone if Cristiano Ronaldo were using one every day.