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The Royal Belgian Football Association: A World-Class Digital Strategy
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Reference: IVEY-W25611-E
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Year: 2021
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Number of pages: 13
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Geographic Setting: Belgium
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Publication Date: Oct 18, 2021
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Source: Ivey Business School (Canada)
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Type of Document: Case
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Industry Setting: Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Recreation
Description
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), the governing body of Belgian football, had experienced tremendous success on the pitch and wanted to capitalize on its success with business growth. However, the football industry was challenged by increasing internationalization, commercialization, and digitalization. Engaging diverse stakeholders, including a changing demographic of fans, through digital channels became pivotal.
Against this backdrop, the RBFA initiated a strategy revision, rolling out a new app in March 2021 for an integrated and expanded digital experience for stakeholders. With the postponed 2020 European Championship scheduled to commence in June 2021 and Belgium among the favourites to win, the RBFA needed to prioritize its offerings to the fans and other stakeholders and determine what resources would be needed to fully operationalize the new digital strategy.
Against this backdrop, the RBFA initiated a strategy revision, rolling out a new app in March 2021 for an integrated and expanded digital experience for stakeholders. With the postponed 2020 European Championship scheduled to commence in June 2021 and Belgium among the favourites to win, the RBFA needed to prioritize its offerings to the fans and other stakeholders and determine what resources would be needed to fully operationalize the new digital strategy.
Learning Objective
This case is suitable for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on digital transformation, digital strategy, digital platforms, and sports management. After working through the case and assignment questions, students should be able to do the following:
- Identify specific characteristics of the sports industry.
- Discuss the key challenges and opportunities in relation to digital strategy for sports organizations.
- Explain how sports organizations can digitalize their business.
- Recognize resources that are required to build a digital platform.
- Identify potential digital offerings of sports organizations for different stakeholders.