One feed, 36 sources and lots of potential uses

14.03.2022 – The Social Media Matchday Feed was launched in 2020-21 as an element of the DFL’s International Product Portfolio (IPP). Since then, the clubs’ social media reporters have been providing additional live content via smartphone before, during and after matches of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. Thanks to the distribution technology of the Californian company Greenfly this concept provides additional new perspectives, looks behind the scenes and even more proximity to the players.

Broader content range for clubs and media partners

Media partners now use the Social Media Matchday Feed – originally designed for their social media channels – to enrich their reporting on all platforms in real time with content from the stadiums. The corresponding sequences are increasingly visible, including on live TV. As the feed has been extended to Bundesliga 2 matches in the 2021-2022 season as part of a gradual enhancement, Sky is integrating corresponding content into its pre-match reporting on Bundesliga 2 in Germany on each matchday, for instance.

In close cooperation with all 36 clubs, and thanks to the intuitive infrastructure of Greenfly, content is now also created during the week, outside of matchdays. This enables an even larger offering and better planning capability for media partners. As the central coordination point between the clubs and the media partners, the DFL is working with all stakeholders to devise a production plan that is focused on the content preferences as well as the the involvement of players taking into account aspects of localisation and personalisation of broadcast partners and territories.

Quick and wide-reaching communication tool

Local star players feature prominently in the reporting of all media partners in order to raise interest in the Bundesliga among fans around the world. Geographical distances are overcome by authentic and personal content with the local stars. The match between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt gave rise to one particular example: on the back of a clip in the Social Media Matchday Feed, the media partner Nordic Entertainment Group (holder of the broadcasting rights for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Poland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) was the first broadcaster to report on the surprise inclusion of Denmark’s Jesper Lindström in the starting eleven – the Eintracht Frankfurt striker had originally looked set to miss out due to illness. This garnered plenty of attention and engagement for the Bundesliga broadcaster, especially in Lindström’s home country.

“The feed enables us to give our viewers the exclusive sense of being behind the scenes and really close to the players,” said NENT in response to the DFL’s additional offering. The opportunity to report live from the scene of the action gives the feed a huge amount of authenticity and speed. This is impressively borne out by the example of FC Augsburg striker Mads Pedersen. An emotional greeting to the Danish fan base, shared soon afterwards by the player himself and the club, resulted in one of the strongest social media posts by the Bundesliga in Denmark in terms of engagement. High-impact posts like this help the media partners, the clubs and the DFL to achieve greater visibility and reach.