Spanish football league organization, La Liga, is finally set to launch its first-ever subscription-based mobile platform, LaLiga Xtra. The platform which will be launched in conjunction with a mobile technology company, Mondia Group, is aimed at offering exclusive content to football fans in Africa and the Middle East.
The African continent is renowned for its love for football. The most popular foreign football league is the English EPL which has been around for a pretty long time. In contrast, it almost seemed like the La Liga made a rather late entry into the continent.
The Spanish top flight has, however, been gaining lots of traction and amassing large followings in countries like Nigeria and South Africa. The growing number of African players plying their trade in the league also played a great part in this growing popularity.
It is not surprising then that two broadcasting powerhouses on the continent, SuperSports and StarTimes are always jostling for the right to broadcast the league in Africa. And this new streaming platform would want to harness that popularity to bring even deeper content to African fans.
LaLiga’s Head of Business, Marketing and International Development, Óscar Mayo, captured this intent when he explained that the La Liga desires to build communities of football fans through engaging content and new experiences.
“We want to entertain fans all week long, not only during the 90 minutes of a match, and we are convinced that LaLiga Xtra will achieve this. Our goal has always been to get closer to fans across the Middle East and Africa to show everything that Spanish football has to offer.”
Óscar Mayo
LaLiga Xtra will bring a variety of new experiences to the fingertips of its users. The platform is designed to be multi-lingual to cater to the diverse languages spoken on the African continent. Contents that will be available on the platform include video, images, articles, and infographics as well as upcoming fixtures and in-depth player and club info.
Users can play games such as quizzes, a prediction challenge and La Liga’s fantasy football game, with the option to compete against other users. Exclusive interactive experiences will also be on offer to LaLiga Xtra subscribers, including the chance to take part in a live chat with a LaLiga Ambassador.
Users will be able to choose daily, weekly or monthly subscription packages although it is unclear what the subscription costs look like.
What is clear enough though is that with Mondial’s over 1.4 billion global users and its experience working with big and global brands such as Disney, Nintendo, Sony, Universal and various telecommunications companies, La Liga may have found the perfect partner.
Chief Commercial Officer at the Mondia group, Paolo Rizzardini, says the real value which his company brings is the ability to create an end-to-end solution including digital payments as well as its experience in operating in many markets across the globe
“Our partnership with LaLiga is an endorsement of our expertise in creating digital experiences for all. LaLiga is a premium content partner with a commitment to delivering exceptional experiences to their audiences, and we are thrilled to help make the initiative a reality”
Paolo Rizzardini
The platform will be available on desktop, mobile and tablet devices and will be initially launched into 70 countries. It will initially be available for Orange subscribers before been rolled out to subscribers of other telecom networks.
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