Man City on virtual reality train.

Clubs across the world are attempting to attract a different audience; an online fanbase that expects much more than just 90 minutes a week, and riding the digital crest of this wave is Manchester City. In the past year, the club has unveiled a new website, launched a Facebook Messenger bot, joined Giphy, moved into esports, and hosted a hackathon – all under the umbrella of a new club crest. The new crest design is reminiscent of its founding badge and the design that followed the club’s glory days in the late 1960s. It symbolizes exactly what City is trying to achieve – merging the club’s legacy with the super-connected digital world it now finds itself in. One of the indisputable driving forces behind this digital push is Diego Gigliani. Gigliani joined City as the club was trying to defend its 2012 championship title, in January 2013. As senior vice president of media and innovation, Gigliani and his team have placed a significant focus on closing the gap between the club and its fans using tech. In addition to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat channels that have become standard for brands – which ultimately is what a football club is – City has taken it a step further. In May the club took a foray into virtual reality. Man City teamed up with Sky Sports and LiveLike to launch a VR experience with fans in London, New York and Melbourne. Each of the fans watched City play Arsenal on May 8 through virtual reality headsets as the game was taking place at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. It built on previous schemes including iON cameras being worn by players during training, a 360-degree camera being placed on the roof of the players’ tunnel on matchdays, and the launch of a Google Cardboard-enabled CityVR app.continue