They stayed.

That is the defining characteristic of the initiative, created by World Football Summit and Integrated Dreams: each edition leaves something permanent behind. At Atlético de Madrid in 2024, audio description services for visually impaired supporters were introduced, alongside the AccessibALL Summit legacy. At Real Sociedad in 2025, Navilens was established as a permanent service and sign language became part of official matchday moments.

This Saturday, March 21, the Most Inclusive Match reaches its fourth edition — and its first outside Spain. Toulouse FC will host the fixture against FC Lorient as part of Matchday 27 of Ligue 1 McDonald’s, in partnership with the Ligue de Football Professionnel.

The programme around the match reflects the ambition of the initiative. Players from both clubs will wear shirts with their names replaced by seven pictograms representing the different categories of disability. An accessible shuttle service, audio description, visual assistance devices and dedicated spaces for neurodivergent supporters will all be in place. A ceremonial kick-off will be given by Mayane and Lucas Mazur, Paralympic gold medallist at Paris 2024. 

And from March 19, a full programme of events around employment, education and awareness will run across the city.

Yesterday, representatives from the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the Toulouse FC Foundation, Integrated Dreams and World Football Summit gathered in Paris to present the edition. This is what they had to say.

“This event will resonate internationally and leave a lasting legacy for the whole of French professional football.” — Jérôme Belaygue, Director of Communications and CSR, Ligue de Football Professionnel

“Hosting the Most Inclusive Match at the Stadium is a great source of pride for Toulouse FC. The club reaffirms its determination to make football an ever more accessible sport and the Stadium a fully inclusive place for all.” — Cindy Johnson-Tufi, President of the TFC Foundation

“Football will only get stronger by including everyone. Anyone can be part of this incredible game — and that is exactly what the Most Inclusive Match is here to prove.” — José Soares, Founder, Integrated Dreams

“Football is the world’s most popular sport because, in theory, everyone can play it and everyone can enjoy it. Yet the reality is that millions of people with disabilities are still unable to access a live match.” — Marian Otamendi, Co-Founder and CEO, World Football Summit

The Most Inclusive Match does not end when the referee blows the final whistle. What Betis, Atlético de Madrid and Real Sociedad have shown is that one matchday, when approached with the right commitment, can change the way a club operates permanently.

That is the legacy this initiative is building, one edition at a time. Toulouse FC is next.

Sports Week MX held its official launch yesterday at Cinépolis Mitikah, where Íñigo Riestra, Secretary General of the Mexican Football Federation, Cory Crespo, President and Founder of Colours Mexico, and Jan Alessie, Co-Founder and Managing Director of World Football Summit, took to the stage.

“The Federation has a responsibility to prepare the national team, but also to promote football and help develop strong professionals off the pitch. Initiatives like this one are essential to that mission,” Riestra said about WFS Mexico 2026.

¡Imperdible! CdMx será sede del World Football Summit en Junio.

@enrique_mtzv

https://t.co/vixkdsaHWT pic.twitter.com/zgsykFZIw8

— La Afición (@laaficion) March 11, 2026

“WFS returns to Mexico for its third edition, now firmly established in the global industry calendar — just as Mexico and its football are firmly established on the global sports map. The Sport Week MX programme is extraordinary proof of that, and we are proud to be part of it this year,” said Alessie.

WFS Mexico City will take place on June 3-4, just a few days before the biggest FIFA World Cup in the history of the game kicks off. It will bring together more than 2,000 industry professionals from over 50 countries for two full days of conferences and networking. 

This report, produced from the sessions of World Football Summit Monterrey 2025, brings together the data, voices and conclusions that explain why. It covers the league’s audience growth and broadcasting reach, the sponsorship returns that are drawing international brands in, the club models that Tigres, América and Chivas have each built differently, and the structural challenges that remain. The evidence is no longer a projection.

Download the full report (English and Spanish) below.

And yet Miguel Hernández, Brand Director at Tigres, keeps coming back to a number that bothers him: 12 million. That’s how many people follow Tigres on social media. People who watch the games, know the squad, call themselves fans — but who the club knows almost nothing about.

Hernández was speaking at WFS Mexico 2025, where fan data and personalisation featured prominently across panels featuring executives from Tigres, Toluca, Chivas, the Monterrey 2026 World Cup Host Committee, Ticketmaster and several technology platforms working with Mexican football properties. The question that kept resurfacing was not whether clubs should be collecting fan data, but what they are actually doing with it.

“Between those 41,000 and the millions we had everywhere else, there was a gap. And we asked ourselves: how do we get people closer?”

Their answer was a registration programme that has now brought 550,000 fans into direct, personalised communication with the club. Not a newsletter. Not a loyalty card. One-to-one communication built on data that tells the club who each person actually is — not just that they exist.

Hernández calls it fan intimacy, a term he acknowledges makes people uncomfortable.

“The relationship a club has with its fans is like the one a person has with their partner or their friends. It has highs and lows, failures and successes. You have to stop being afraid of that word.”

The nickname that changed everything

Rubén Cuevas, Director of Marketing, Commercial and Fan Experience at Club Toluca, took it further. His team asked fans a question with nothing to do with transactions or attendance:

what do your friends and family call you?

“The next communication we sent them was through their apodo. We don’t greet them as ‘Hello Aldo.’ We greet them as ‘Hello, Diablo Mayor.’ And that changes everything — the fan suddenly feels at home.”

The results sit alongside three years of sustained work: season ticket holders grew from 5,000 to 21,000. Email open rates doubled. Cuevas is careful not to attribute everything to one title win — Toluca were champions two weeks before the panel. “We have to keep our feet on the ground. A title is a one-shot event. What makes me proud is the three years of work that got us ready to capitalise on it.”

Building a fan base for an entity that doesn’t have fans

Francisco Rodríguez, leading commercial and rights strategy for the Monterrey 2026 World Cup Host Committee, had a more fundamental problem: his organisation had no fans at all.

“Nobody has a Host Committee flag on their bedroom wall. Nobody wakes up and says ‘I’m a Monterrey Host Committee fan, always have been.’ We had to figure out who our fans even were.”

Unlike a club, Rodríguez couldn’t use results or rivalries to generate engagement. He had to build excitement for something two years away and convert it into a commercial asset for sponsors who needed proof of audience before committing.

The Juego de Leyendas — a match featuring Xavi, Pirlo, and Buffon — became the proof of concept. In three hours, the committee generated 2,500 clean registrations through a gamified campaign. Embedded in the mechanic was a single question on behalf of a car sponsor: how soon do you plan to buy your next car? Of 2,500 participants, 470 said within six months.

“Those are qualified leads. That’s somebody who likes football, who came to meet these players, who wants to buy a car. I’m giving the agency everything they need.”

Context is what makes personalisation real

Héctor Romero, CEO of FXP, was direct: “Hyperpersonalisation without context doesn’t scale. You can have all the data in the world and still talk to someone at exactly the wrong moment about exactly the wrong thing.”

Santiago Montes from Chivas illustrated this during a difficult run of results, when the club launched the Chivas Esports jersey. Social media was off-limits given the sentiment around the first team. Instead, they identified a specific microsegment — fans who used the gaming arena inside the stadium — and reached them directly. The jersey sold.

“The channel became the main sales driver. Not social media. Not a campaign. The right message to the right person at the right moment.”

Who inside the organisation is actually responsible for this?

Aldo Guerrero of Boletomóvil drew a parallel with the community manager role. Ten years ago it didn’t exist as a dedicated function. Today every serious club has several people doing it. His argument: data specialists are on the same trajectory.

“In the next three to five years, the clubs that have people who know how to humanise all of this will be ahead. The ones that wait will be hiring in a panic.”

The sessions at WFS Mexico didn’t produce a unified methodology. What they did illustrate — across a sold-out club, a recently crowned champion, and a host committee building from zero — is that the distance between having data and doing something useful with it remains significant. And that closing it has less to do with technology than with the decisions made around it.

That number was the starting point for a broader conversation at World Football Summit Monterrey 2025, where operators, marketing specialists and players came together to discuss women’s football from an angle that no longer requires any apology: the business case.

The model that made it possible

Behind the commercial growth lies groundwork that often goes unnoticed. Marianela Camelo, Operations Coordinator at Tigres Femenil, described it precisely: the project has spent eight years built on a non-negotiable premise — treating the women’s team to the same standards as the men’s. Dedicated training facilities, an exclusive pitch, and medical staff specialised in female physiology.

“It’s not charity… Tigres had something very important, which was vision… I think we have a gold mine here, because women’s football truly is a gold mine.”

Marianela explained that for the league to flourish, clubs needed to believe in it and execute plans that put the women’s team on an equal footing with the men’s in terms of resources and logistics.

The Liga MX Femenil tells a similar story at league level. By making games free to access and building a dedicated content strategy around fan behaviour, the league grew its audience from 10 million to 30 million viewers and doubled its sponsorship agreements. “We decided it was vital to democratise women’s football,” explained Mariana Gutiérrez, Director of Liga MX Femenil. “It’s about building community and giving players the big stage they deserve.”

What the brands are measuring

Rodrigo Morales, Senior Vice President Latin America at Wasserman, arrived in Monterrey with return-on-investment figures that reframe how sponsorship in this sector is evaluated. According to his analysis, investing in women’s football generates 35% more purchase intent than an equivalent sponsorship in men’s football. The average ROI for brands: between 15 and 18 to 1.

These are numbers that cannot be sustained by social responsibility narratives. They are sustained by real consumer behaviour, and that fundamentally changes the argument executives have to make in front of their boards.

For Alejandro Gesberg, Director of Connections and Sponsorships at Grupo Modelo, the next task for brands is concrete:

“The first thing we have to do is put players in the same spotlight where today nobody doubts who Héctor Herrera is. Why? Because there is a career, there is a following. We have to put the players in that spotlight, tell their stories and make sure they have that place.”

What only those who have lived it from the inside can see

Janelly Farías arrived at the national team nine years ago without a club to play for. She was juggling three jobs just to keep training. Today she is a regular international and one of the most articulate voices on what has changed, and what still needs to. Her perspective is that of someone who has watched the industry transform from the pitch, not from a boardroom, and that is precisely why her figures carry a different kind of weight.

“The prize money for players in 2019 was 30 million and in 2023 it was 100 million — a 300% increase in four years. And the main sponsors of the World Cup contributed 300 million.”

For Farías, those numbers are not just a sporting achievement. They are confirmation of something that for years was treated as a risky bet:

“Today we have discovered that this is a business. The time to invest is now.”

And she sets one condition for that business to be sustainable:

“Before being footballers, we are people, we are human beings and we deserve to be treated as human beings.” 

This is not a demand at odds with performance. It is her explanation for why the clubs that have built environments of trust, like Tigres, are also the ones accumulating titles and generating the metrics that brands now present in their boardrooms.

2031: a date that concentrates expectations

2031: a date that concentrates expectations

Mariana Gutiérrez does not shy away from the scale of what is coming: “I truly believe Mexico’s women’s side will be world champions long before the men’s.” It is a bold claim — and the data, increasingly, supports the ambition behind it.

Coach Pedro López Ramos was direct: in 2031 Mexico will host the Women’s World Cup, and that event will act as an accelerator for everything already underway.

“In 2031, the Women’s World Cup will be held in Mexico… that is a reality. In 2031, women’s football in Mexico is going to boom.”

The conversation will continue. Women’s football will be back on the agenda at WFS Mexico City on June 3-4 at the Camino Real — taking place just weeks before the FIFA World Cup kicks off on Mexican soil, and at a moment when the industry’s most pressing questions are no longer about whether to invest, but how, and how fast.

The question that remains open is how many clubs, brands and investors will be sufficiently well positioned when that moment arrives, and how many will have taken too long to make the decision.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest in history, and for TelevisaUnivision and its sports division TUDN, it represents a broadcasting challenge with no precedent. All 104 matches will be available across the company’s platforms—ViX will stream every single game—and the tournament unfolds in Mexico, where TUDN operates from a position no other broadcaster can claim: at home, days before the opening match kicks off at Estadio Azteca.

At WFS Mexico 2025, Olek Loewenstein, Global President of Sports at TelevisaUnivision, outlined how TUDN is approaching the challenge. Loewenstein will return to the WFS stage at WFS Mexico 2026 (June 3-4, days before the opening match at Estadio Azteca). His comments reveal the strategic pillars behind the company’s World Cup content strategy.

Multiplatform means multiplatform

“Content has to be generated 24/7 and multiplatform,” Loewenstein said. “It’s a word that’s been used a lot in the media world for many years. But this is the first time where, being in the country, people will want to know what’s happening, where, at every moment.”

TUDN’s strategy isn’t about repurposing the same content across different platforms. It’s about generating content specifically designed for each one—linear TV, streaming (ViX), digital, social—and doing it simultaneously, in real time, throughout the tournament.

Serve every type of audience

A World Cup is consumed differently than a regular Liga MX match. Entire families sit together—from the grandmother who knows every tactical formation to the uncle who has never watched football. TUDN’s content has to work for both.

“You have to be able to educate those who don’t necessarily understand what’s happening,” Loewenstein explained, “while also giving every detail to that football-obsessed grandmother who wants to know the lineups, who’s injured, what happened in the press conference.”

The content strategy has to balance accessibility with depth, entertainment with information, all without alienating either end of the spectrum.

Go beyond the 90 minutes

People will finish watching one match and immediately want the next one. But between matches, they’ll want stories. What do the players eat? How do they travel between cities? How are teams managing the distances and time zones across three countries?

“The 90 minutes are something we can sit down, watch, laugh, cry, criticize,” Loewenstein said. “But the reality is it doesn’t end there. People are going to want the next match and they’re going to want to understand what happened in between.”

TUDN’s content operation is built around this: continuous storytelling that extends far beyond match coverage.

Mexico as a window to the world

Working alongside FIFA, TUDN will be generating content for global broadcasts—stories that showcase Mexico’s cities, culture and gastronomy to audiences worldwide. This isn’t just about football. It’s about using the World Cup as a platform to tell Mexico’s story.

“It’s about showing the magic cities, the food, the culture—opening the doors of the country to the world through images, video, audio,” Loewenstein said.

Build a legacy

For the 600 people at TelevisaUnivision who will work on the tournament, the World Cup represents a unique learning opportunity. Many will be embedded with FIFA’s global content team, working on productions that will be seen by billions.

The experience they gain—the knowledge, the contacts, the expertise—will reshape the Mexican sports media industry long after the final is over.

The World Cup is coming. The content challenge is already here.

The World Cup, one of the most anticipated editions ever, is expected to generate $40.9 billion in economic impact, but the opportunity for the industry goes way beyond the tournament. The football business across the Americas is undergoing a massive commercial shift, driven by record-breaking figures and structural changes:

• Revenue Growth: Liga MX is centralizing TV rights for 2028, with annual revenue projected to jump from $392M to $950M.
• Investment & Structure: The 2024 entry of private equity into Liga MX and the return of promotion and relegation for the 2026-27 season are driving new commercial dynamics.
• Franchise Valuations: MLS values continue to rise, now averaging $767M, with top-tier clubs already exceeding the $1 billion mark.

In partnership with Mexico Host City, this edition will welcome 2,000+ professionals from 50+ countries. WFS Mexico is renowned for bringing together C-level decision-makers from across the global and regional industry. Past editions have featured the entire ecosystem: from governing bodies like FIFA, CONCACAF and FMF, to leagues and clubs like LALIGA, LAFC and Club América, to global brands like Nike and Adidas, tech platforms like AWS, and broadcasters like TelevisaUnivision.

The calibre of conversation is set by speakers like Javier Tebas (LALIGA), Mikel Arriola (FMF), Davor Suker (football legend), Peter Moore (Santa Barbara Sky FC), Heidi Pellerano (CONCACAF), Jurgen Mainka (FIFA), or famous content creator Jero Freixas (Muchachos FC).

And as challenging as it may seem, this year we’re aiming to raise the bar even further.

Super Early Bird rates are available until March 13, offering 50% off Delegate passes and 25% off Corporate passes.

After that, prices go up and availability goes down.

Book your ticket!

Here’s how we got here, and where we’re heading.

Why did WFS start in 2016?

Football was changing fast. New markets, new technologies, new players entering the business with fresh ideas. Traditional stakeholders and disruptors were all part of an industry in transformation, but there wasn’t a neutral meeting point where everyone could connect.

Marian Otamendi, Jan Alessie and their team saw that gap. World Football Summit launched to bring the industry together (clubs, leagues, federations, investors, tech companies, and decision-makers) creating a space to connect, generate business, and build a community where everyone has a voice.

How did one event become a global series?

Because football is a global business, but it’s not the same business everywhere.

The industry needed regional platforms where local decision-makers could connect with global players, where specific challenges could be addressed alongside global trends. So we took WFS to Asia, Africa, America, the Middle East…

Each region taught us something different. In some markets, the timing was perfect, the ecosystem was ready, the stakeholders were hungry for connection. In others, we learnt the hard way that passion for football doesn’t automatically translate into the right conditions for our platform. Not every move worked, but each one made us smarter about where and how we create value.

What started as an annual event in Madrid became a truly global series connecting the ecosystem across regions and continents.

What’s kept WFS relevant for 10 years?

Adaptation. And sometimes, survival.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, our entire business model vanished overnight. Events were impossible. But the industry still needed to connect, maybe more than ever. We launched WFS Live in a matter of weeks, bringing everyone together digitally to keep the conversations going during those critical months. It wasn’t Plan B; it was reinvention under pressure.

That crisis taught us something: our value isn’t in running events. It’s in serving as the industry’s connective tissue, whatever form that takes.

As the industry recognised that business growth, sustainability, and social responsibility aren’t separate conversations, we responded. We put environmental impact on the agenda. We created our Female Leaders Programme to drive gender equality in football. We dedicated space to social impact, inclusion, and the role football plays in creating positive change in communities worldwide.

But we didn’t stop at conversation. We took action. Initiatives like the Most Inclusive Match demonstrated our commitment; not just talking about inclusion, but actively creating moments that embody it.

More recently, the industry called for a consistent meeting point in Saudi Arabia, one of the most dynamic markets in football right now. We established WFS Riyadh, consolidating our presence there.

It’s the same pattern: the industry has a need, we adapt to meet it. Sometimes smoothly. Sometimes by necessity. Always with the commitment to serve the industry first.

Who has endorsed our vision?

The trust we’ve built speaks for itself. When FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina, or US Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone choose WFS as the platform to share their vision, it validates our role as the industry’s neutral meeting point. When legends like Ronaldo Nazário and Rio Ferdinand, visionaries like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, or Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus join the conversation, it shows the breadth of perspectives WFS brings together.

The diversity of organisations that trust the platform tells the same story. Governing bodies like FIFA and UEFA. Leagues like LaLiga, Bundesliga, and the Saudi Pro League. Clubs like Chelsea and Club América. Tech giants like Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, and Cisco. Consultancies like BCG. Service providers like Ticketmaster and Signify. Media outlets like Forbes, The Athletic, The Guardian, and Fox Sports.

This isn’t just a speaker list or a partner roster. It’s evidence that we’ve created what we set out to create: a space where everyone in football has a seat at the table.

The numbers back it up:

• 32 events across 11 countries.
• 2,670+ speakers.
• 44,600+ attendees.
• A network of 153,000+ professionals.
• 750+ partners
• 1,900+ brands
• 2,900+ rights holders who’ve made WFS their meeting point.

So what’s next?

We’ll keep adapting. The industry never stops evolving, and neither will we.

A decade at the heart of the industry has taught us that football’s commercial success is inseparable from its soul. This conviction drives our new claim:

“Expanding the business, honouring the essence.”

Expanding the business is our commitment to growth. Professionalisation, new markets, technology that keeps the industry competitive. Maximising the game’s potential as a global economic engine.

Honouring the essence is about protecting what makes football irreplaceable. The emotional bond with fans, the heritage of clubs, the power to mobilise millions aren’t romantic concepts, they’re the foundation of the business. Without the passion that differentiates football from any other entertainment product, the industry loses its value.

We’ve spent ten years proving that these two goals aren’t contradictory. The business exists to amplify what makes the game unique. Our mission for the next decade is to ensure they continue going hand in hand.

We unite the industry not just through events, but through a shared commitment: build a bigger, stronger football business by staying true to what makes it matter.

That’s what the next ten years are about.

And it starts now!

The WFS StartCup aims to turn innovation into value by connecting emerging projects with decision-makers from across the football ecosystem and exposing those solutions to real industry demand.

A proven track record

Since 2017, the StartCup has received 500+ applications across six editions, and has served as an early platform for startups that are now firmly established in the industry.

Past finalists and winners include Oura, Spiideo, Challengermode, Satisfi Labs, ThermoHuman, Content Stadium, Playo, LIGR Live and VRTL, projects that have gone on to secure Tier-1 investment, scale internationally and work with leading clubs, leagues and sports organisations.

The most recent edition alone attracted 130+ applications from over 30 countries.

Who should apply

The WFS StartCup is open to startups and projects that meet the following criteria:

• Proven traction: at least one year of revenue or equivalent market validation
• Industry relevance: a solution applicable to professional, amateur or grassroots football
• Team & ambition: a committed team with international outlook
• Exclusivity: previous WFS StartCup winners are not eligible to apply

Application process

To be considered, applicants must submit their pitch deck and project information from February 19 to the first week of May. Click here to submit your application.

Projects will be evaluated by a jury composed of leading professionals from the tech, sports and investment ecosystems including Uday Khanna, from Accenture; Marion Reichel, from Athlete Ventures; Juan Fuentes, from GSIC powered by Microsoft; and Audra Elena Shallal, from Flying Finn Angels.

Evaluation criteria

Projects will be assessed across six key areas: 

• Product innovation 
• Strength of the management team 
• Investment readiness, 
• Go-to-market strategy
• Pitch deck quality 
• Business model positioning within the competitive landscape.

What participants get

The WFS StartCup acts as a launch platform within the WFS ecosystem.

Winner

• Speaking opportunity at World Football Summit events
• Complimentary tickets for WFS events
  

Top 5 finalists

• Pitch opportunity in front of industry decision-makers, investors and strategic partners
• Visibility across WFS channels
• Participation in the StartUp Stand
• Mentorship and advisory support
• Two complimentary tickets and a 30% discount on additional tickets
  

All participants

Access to virtual workshops with startup experts and Angel Investors from EBAN Sports.

Key dates 

• February 19th – Applications open 
• First week of May – Application deadline 
• June 16th – Finalists announced 16 De junio
• September 2026 – Final pitches and winner announced activacion en evento

The whistle’s blown. Get your application ready!

What remains far less common is seeing how a league translates that understanding into live, scalable products that operate at the core of the competition rather than at the edges.

That was the focus of a panel presented by AWS at WFS Riyadh, moderated by Amr Rawi (CEO, Game Changers), featuring Dave Mace (AWS) and Khaled Basyuni (Head of EMEA for Bundesliga). The discussion centred on how a long-term technology partnership can support a league’s fan-centric strategy in practical, measurable ways.

Starting with shared priorities

Mace described a working model based on alignment around objectives rather than tools. Before defining technical solutions, AWS worked with the Bundesliga to understand what the league was trying to achieve from a fan and business perspective.

“We work backwards from that we don’t even touch the technology conversations at first it’s literally understanding the business what are you trying to do.” — Dave Mace

That ambition has remained consistent since the early workshops that launched the partnership in 2020: engaging a global audience while preserving the Bundesliga’s identity as a fan-focused competition. The collaboration was structured around three interconnected areas — media production, fan engagement, and data and analytics — developed progressively and refined over time.

This approach allowed the league to evolve its digital products without disrupting the live football experience. 

From data generation to product delivery

The Bundesliga now generates around 3.6 million data points per match, captured through live tracking and positional systems. On their own, these numbers have limited value. Their relevance comes from how they are processed, interpreted and delivered.

Each match produces 16 Bundesliga Match Facts, distributed in real time through the league’s own platforms. These insights are designed to add context to moments on the pitch, helping fans understand why an action is difficult, unusual or decisive.

Basyuni linked this directly to fan behaviour, pointing to a 23% increase in app usage and time spent driven by the availability of live, in-game insights.

Choice as a core design principle

Another theme running through the panel was control. Rather than guiding fans through a single narrative, the Bundesliga is building experiences that allow users to decide what they want to follow during matchday.

Basyuni described a viewing model that offers an overview of all games while enabling fans to prioritise specific events, teams or players. Goals, red cards or tactical developments can be surfaced according to individual preference, giving fans the ability to shape their own experience without breaking the live nature of the competition.

“You are in the director’s role for your own viewing experience. so you get to customize it and personalize it to how you want to consume that content not how you are told to consume that content.” — Khaled Basyuni

Context over volume

Throughout the discussion, both speakers emphasised the importance of grounding data in football expertise. Mace explained how AWS combines analytics with input from coaches, players and referees to identify which moments are genuinely meaningful.

Historical archives and live positional data are used to build models that surface insights in real time, offering context rather than distraction. Mace illustrated this with a specific goal by Joshua Kimmich that carried only a 0.8% probability of scoring:

“If that goal goes in you realize it’s a rare opportunity and it’s a real skill set that kimchi’s just turned around and banged it in the top corner. but that’s a story… give that to the commentator give me a replay tell me how difficult that was story story story insight.” — Dave Mace

The aim is not to overwhelm fans with statistics, but to deepen understanding of the game as it unfolds.

Cross-industry influence

The partnership also benefits from AWS’s work across gaming, media and live entertainment. Technologies such as real-time rendering, interactive overlays and 3D environments are already familiar to fans through other digital experiences.

“We bring in people who are working on fortnite and unreal engine and things like this and we’re saying tell us what you’ve been doing and vice versa… it just made sort of common sense to mix these together.” — Dave Mace

In the Bundesliga’s case, these tools are adapted selectively, supporting new ways of explaining and visualising football without altering the sport’s tempo or structure.

Implications for leagues and rights holders

The Bundesliga–AWS partnership illustrates a more advanced stage of football’s engagement with technology. Data is treated as a product input, platforms as strategic assets, and personalisation as an outcome of design rather than an isolated feature.

For leagues and rights holders, the case highlights how sustained collaboration between a sports property and a technology partner can lead to fan experiences that are relevant, scalable and measurable — while remaining grounded in the live match.