OneFootball, in a move that reinforces its mission to make football as accessible as possible to its global fan base, announced the acquisition of Gloria App at WFS Europe on Wednesday.
OneFootball CEO Lucas Von Cranach also revealed that Gloria App founder Victoire Cogevina Reynal will become the first vice-president of women’s football at the company as it embarks on delivering more compelling coverage of the game to a global audience.
The announcement was made during the closing panel of day two at WFS Europe, titled Getting fans closer to the women’s game.
Alexis Ohanian, an investor in Gloria App and co-founded Reddit, also joined the panel remotely to break the news.
“I believe that this acquisition – beyond being a win for our investors, for our team, and for myself – is a win for women in football,” said Cogevina Reynal. “It tells us that we can come into the sport, we can build solutions for problems that we see and people will recognise us for that. I think that is very powerful.”
Von Cranach added: “I’m a massive fan of Victoire and what Victoire has built in the past. I’m so convinced of her capacity and her capabilities to support OneFootball on its journey.
“This clearly represents a long-term commitment to women’s football and we’re continuing to invest in club, league and federation player partnerships to bring the women’s game to our more than 100 million active users. Under Victoire’s stewardship, OneFootball is looking to significantly grow women’s football and the offer to our female audience.”
“I’m a massive fan of Victoire and what Victoire has built in the past. I’m so convinced of her capacity and her capabilities to support OneFootball on its journey,” said Von Cranach.
“This clearly represents a long-term commitment to women’s football and we’re continuing to invest in club, league and federation player partnerships to bring the women’s game to our more than 100 million active users. Under Victoire’s stewardship, OneFootball is looking to significantly grow women’s football and the offer to our female audience.”
It made for an exciting end to the sixth edition of WFS Europe, and its first in Sevilla.
Over the course of the event’s two days, thousands of industry professionals gathered from all over the world to discuss and share insights around the future of the football industry.
WFS Europe had more than 2.000 attendees, including 170 speakers and hosted an update on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by the host nation’s Supreme Committee for the Delivery and Legacy of Qatar 2022. Khaled Al-Suwaidi, who represented the organization on the WFS Main Stage discussed their vow to deliver a unique fan experience.
He said: “We’ve always promised to deliver an amazing tournament, and part of this is offering a great fan experience. We’ve created the “Hayya Card” card that will be used by fans for everything during the event, from free travel to getting into the country.”
Other key highlights included the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Real Madrid Foundation, panels on the future of sport in web3, the growth opportunities behind women’s football, and much more.
The day ended with World Football Summit setting the stage for the first-ever WFS Africa, which will take place in Durban, South Africa on 16-17 November 2022.
World Football Summit director, Marian Otamendi, said: “We’re ecstatic with the way things turned out during our World Football Summit debut in Sevilla. The panels delivered beyond expectations, the focus on how football can be a powerful driver to influence positive change was fantastic and, most of all, the energy with which key industry figures from all corners of the world came together over the course of these two days was infectious.”
Some of the world’s biggest football clubs, leagues, and federations were represented at the event, with the likes of FIFA, UEFA, LaLiga, Real Madrid, City Football Group, and FC Barcelona all attending in some capacity. Some of the biggest brands on the planet also took part, such as Meta, Hudl, and Microsoft.
The event not only included panels and fireside chats but also provided countless networking opportunities for businesses of all sizes and sectors and masterclasses for sports business professionals, such as the one delivered by Meta’s on developing a winning marketing strategy.
World Football Summit has also once again put social change at its core and 10% of the event’s ticketing revenues will go to Common Goal’s Ukraine Emergency Fund, and will return to the city of Sevilla in 2023.
