From anonymous followers to known fans with the new dedicated Sport & Entertainment Business Unit
A plug & play MarTech solution to boost fan engagement for clubs, federations, and brand sponsorships
Drawing on years of expertise in engagement, gamification, and loyalty, and supported operationally by the startup Sporters (incubated within WeSportUp, CDP’s sports innovation accelerator), we are launching a new Business Unit dedicated to Sport & Entertainment!
We are bringing an innovative fan engagement and conversion model to the market, built on plug & play solutions tailored for clubs, leagues, and federations, as well as brands currently investing, or planning to invest, in sports, delivering concrete benefits in terms of customer activation and acquisition.
Why launch this initiative?
We aim to revolutionize how supporters and fans interact with sports stakeholders, establishing authentic, long-lasting relationships with them.
The new Business Unit’s objective is twofold: support clubs, leagues, and federations in restructuring, building, and monetizing their fan communities, which are too often delegated or left at the mercy of social media platforms, by taking direct ownership of fan data and guide brands through fan conversion and customer engagement, bypassing low-converting traditional sponsorship models.
The value proposition is as simple as it is effective: transform fans from "anonymous followers" into "known, managed fans."
A true sportech community ecosystem powered by a novel fan conversion model that relies on multiple ready-to-use tech solutions: predictions, challenges, quizzes, trivia, gamification, and fan head-to-heads rewarded with status tiers, special badges, and scores that unlock custom experiences and benefits. These represent just a portion of the platform tools customized specifically for this Business Unit.
Early adopters of the solution include Lega Pro Serie C, AS Roma, FIGC, DAZN, and FC Internazionale Milano. Late in 2024, Inter launched the initial phase of its first loyalty program, "INTERISTA", dedicated to Nerazzurri supporters, with full deployment unfolding throughout 2025. The initiative creates an engagement journey that evolves into a behavioral loyalty system which, by leveraging edutainment, offers fans a personalized customer journey across the entire season.
As a result, the Club can gain deeper, more granular insights into its supporters, fostering a direct, two-way dialogue and delivering valuable experiences based on interests that extend well beyond football.
"The mission of this partnership is to revolutionize the sports industry by transforming current fan management and sponsorship dynamics into true capitalizable assets and new streams of incremental revenue and performance," states Simone Bellino, Country Manager of Sporters, who brings over 25 years of sports marketing experience to his new role heading the Business Unit.
Want to see what we can do for your business?
Thanks to Engage, Gruppo Media Key, Daily Online, ADC Group, FocusMo, Touchpoint, Promotion Magazine for sharing the news.
"With this new initiative, we are positioning ourselves as pioneers in a constantly evolving sector that we believe will become one of the most profitable industries in data monetization over the coming years. Listening to and engaging fans through a 'one-to-one' rather than a 'one-to-many' approach will shape a future where sports passion transforms into a shared, continuous, and rewarding experience, no longer tied to the outcome of a single match or event. This represents a crucial paradigm shift, allowing organizations to aim for far more ambitious relational goals with their fanbase through direct data ownership and continuous enrichment. In doing so, sports entities can operate as true media hubs, competing in mature retail media markets like those in the UK, US, and Spain, all without third-party disintermediation."
