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Experiencing Rosario Central game days like a local fan
Today we are going to talk about a new way of experiencing sports: the sports travel. Nicolas, a massive Rosario Central supporter, offers Rosario’s international fans the chance to spend a day with him as an Argentinian fan.
For years, Nicolas has been going to the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito every other weeks to support Rosario Central. Game days are special in Argentina. It’s an must-see experience for a soccer fan. That’s why he joined Homefans to take soccer tourists ou tours of his city and his stadium. He allows them to live a game day like a local Rosario Central fan.
Hi Nicolas, how are you?
Hi everyone. I’m doing very well. I am currently in Rosario, the city where I was born and raised. This is the city whose club I support and I’m excited to share its story with you today.
Rosario Central fans: a public like no other
You offer a game day experience in Rosario, which is 300km from Buenos Aires. For you, what are the must-see places in the city when you are a Rosario fan?
For me the place that can’t be missed is the Arroyito neighborhood. That’s where the fans can see the stadium. The stadium is next to the Rio Parana river. It is one of the biggest rivers in the world. You can come and have a beer by the river before going to the game. It’s very nice. It’s my pre-game ritual!
Before our interview, you sent me an impressive video of the players entering the stadium. What makes the Rosario crowd so special?
The word that sums it all up is “madness”. Here in Rosario everyone is crazy for football. We are very very passionate. Rosario Central is more important than the national team for us.
Argentina: a country with a rich soccer history
Nicolas’ best memories in the stadium
You must have seen tons of games at the stadium. What is your best memory in the stands?
My best memory in the stadium was when Mario Kempes was playing in Rosario. He is a great player. Mario won the World Cup in 1978 with Argentina. He played for Rosario when he was 42 years old. This season, when we played the derby against Newell’s Old Boys, he put the winning goal.
In a perimeter of a few hundred kilometers around Buenos Aires there are many great teams: Rosario Central, Boca Juniors, Argentinos Juniors, Newell’s Old Boy. Do you go to their games from time to time? Can you describe the atmosphere of these matches?
When I was younger, we could attend the games against Boca Juniors, Argentinos Juniors. Now it’s forbidden. There was a lot of violence between fans. There have even been deaths. So, fans are not allowed to go to other stadiums anymore. It’s a bit sad not to be able to go there anymore.
Going to the Bombonera to see Boca Juniors is one of my best memories. It is a very beautiful stadium. At that time, 10,000 Rosario Central fans came to the Bombonera. We chanted during the whole game. It is one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.
Nicolas’ experience with Argetina’s soccer legends: Maradona and Messi
It is also a country that has seen great soccer legends like Maradona play. Did you see him play?
Yes, I saw him play when he was playing for Newell’s Old Boys. They came to play against Rosario Central. I remember seeing him.
Do you have memories of Messi?
I have not seen Messi play. He played in Rosario when he was very young. He was maybe 5 or 7 years old. But with my friends we played soccer in the stadium where his brother played. It was in the neighborhood where Messi was born. We played against his brother.
A few weeks ago I did an interview with Tomas, an Argentinos Juniors fan. He told me that in Buenos Aires you could see Maradona walking around the city like any of your neighbors. Have you ever had the opportunity to meet Maradona in Buenos Aires or in Rosario?
I met Maradona at a concert. He was right next to us in the concert hall. The whole concert hall started chanting his name. “Diego! Diego!” then “Maradona! Maradona!” All eyes were on him. He stole the show.
A typical game day in Rosario
What are your rituals when you go to the stadium? Is there a stand, a snack, a bar around the stadium that you particularly like?
My friends and I go to the stadium every two weeks. Before going to the stadium we meet to drink beers and eat a choripan, a typical Argentine dish. It’s our pre-game ritual. We then walk to the stadium. On the way, we chant to support our team.
Is that the experience you offer to the fans you welcome through Homefans?
Yes, it’s all about the experience. Going to the stadium is not just to see the game. That’s not the Argentinian experience. Here soccer is a whole day experience. We meet, drink beer, eat choripan and go to the stadium together. It’s an experience that you have to live to know what it means to be a soccer fan in Argentina.
Napoli, England and Brazil: Nicolas’ next trips
On Homefans you are a local host for Rosario fans, but is there a sports trip you would like to make with local fans?
Yes, I would love to visit Napoli. I think it’s the dream of many Argentinian fans. In my opinion, it is the city that is most similar to Rosario in Europe.
I would also like to go to British stadiums to see real fans. You see a lot of images of English fans who are very passionate. It has a special charm to it. I would like to experience it first hand. Maybe they are even more passionate than the Argentinians.
We should not forget Brazil either. It’s also a beautiful soccer country. The experience of a match in South America is very different from the European experience. You have to live it at least once in your life. I am waiting for you all in Rosario to live this experience.
If you are interested in experiencing Argentine soccer in Rosario with a guided tour of Rosario, you can book it by clicking here.
Just like Nicolas, you can become a local host and build a sports experience around your city. This is your chance to get your dream job ! If you want to know more and join the community, just click here!
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In english
Watch the game from the POV of your favorite athlete
ActionStreamer is a wearable data streaming platform delivering breakthrough solutions across sports, entertainment, telecommunications, industrial, and defense. From custom wearables to real-time data movement, omnichannel content delivery and multi-stream media viewer, the company provides leagues and sports events with a fully customisable immersive viewing experience.
ActionStreamer brings sports fans closer to the action. The American company equips players with helmets that have cameras mounted on them. Greg Roberts, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Development at ActionStreamer, shared with us the company’s ambitions.
ActionStreamer gives fans a new perspective on the action and insights on the game
Thanks to advances in video stream processing, every fan can follow sporting events from the angle that suits them. For example, during car races, every fan can follow their favorite driver. During tennis competitions you can choose to follow the match that interests you the most. At a soccer match you can watch the action from the angle that best shows how the striker won over the goalkeeper.
ActionStreamer takes customisation and immersion to the next level. The American company allows fans to follow the action from a player’s point of view. With cameras mounted on players’ helmets and caps, viewers are right in the middle of the action. American soccer fans were able to test the device at the 2019 Pro Bowl, in the XFL, during Russell Wilson’s warm-ups or during the first season of Fan Controlled Football.
ActionStreamer’s solution does not just provide athletes with helmet cams. Their technology also captures data about biometric, speed and geo in real-time. This data is easily displayable live on broadcast.
From headsets to video streams management, ActionStreamer thought about everything
Giving fans a first-person viewing experience is a very ambitious idea. To make it a reality, the founding team of ActionStreamer faced two challenges: convincing players and making it easy to process all the video streams coming from the helmet cams.
ActionStreamer’s product development team works closely with helmet suppliers and players. The company integrates cameras in helmets that players already use. The goal is for players to not even notice they have different equipment.
Dallas Cowboys Riddell SpeedFlex helmet with camera
Once the footage is captured, the biggest challenge lies ahead: managing all the video streams. ActionStreamer worked with Verizon and T-Mobile to provide a solution that makes it fast and easy for broadcasters to process and redistribute video streams. Greg Roberts believes that the advent of 5G in stadiums will significantly enhance the viewer experience in the coming years. Video streams will be able to be processed and distributed faster. As a result, broadcasters will be able to offer more viewing angles. As a result, the experience will be more immersive for viewers.
“Think of our platform as a pipeline to omnichannel media and data insights offerings, including real-time HD video, audio, and subject data (biometric, speed, geo, etc.) that can be synchronized across an entire media footprint (broadcast, mobile, streaming, etc.). All of these data categories are captured from our custom-designed streaming wearables, and distributed to media endpoints through our proprietary data streaming and delivery methods. And now, through work with Verizon and T-Mobile, the data streaming platform runs on 5G”
The pathway to a more innovative viewing experience
ActionStreamer has deployed its device in several contexts. We’ve talked about helmet cams in the NFL and FCFL. For the 2020 World Series, players had cameras on their helmets and caps.
ActionStreamer’s device also lends itself to more original POVs. In the NFL, the Ref Cam offers some very interesting footage from the referee’s perspective.
Ref Cam in the NFL
In the NBA, the Brooklyn Nets have experimented with a Hat Cam in pre-game. The dancers and pre-game hosts performed with ActionStreamer hats. The New York club broadcast this stream under the name “TeamHypeCam”. This initiative highlights the folklore of a basketball game and promotes the incredible experience basketball fans have at Barclays Center.
The system of inserting cameras and processing video streams leaves room for a lot of creativity. One could imagine the club’s mascot spending game days wearing an ActionStreamer cap. Clubs could also highlight the fan experience on match days by broadcasting a typical fan’s evening at the stadium in first person. The possibilities are endless!
ActionStreamer satisfies fans’ desire to be closer to the action. Advances in video streaming speed allow us to enjoy the action from the perspective of the live players. Many uses of this technology come to mind to enhance the fan experience. Like WaitTime, ActionStreamer’s impact extends beyond sports. The technology for processing on-board camera feeds is also used by the Air Force.
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The Fan Controlled Football gives fans the opportunity to take control of a football league from A to Z. First they decided on the rules of the competition and then they took over their teams. With an engaging fan experience and an ultra immersive broadcast, the FCFL concludes a more than successful first season. Will this type of entertainment league format become a standard in the sports industry?
Zappers celebrate a touchdown
Fan Controlled Football responds to a growing demand for more fun, more immersive and easy-to-follow competitions
The FCFL embraces the changes in the entertainment industry
Over the past 40 years, technology has had a strong impact on the way new generations entertain themselves. A strong participative culture has emerged from social media. The democratization of gaming has created a need for interactivity in entertainment. Our ability to access thousands of pieces of information at any given moment has led to the development of entertainment products that adapt their pace and duration to the different moments in which they are consumed.
“Fast paced. Hard hitting. No replay. Running clock. All action.”
Thus, alongside traditional big leagues, whose rules were often established more than a century ago, “entertainment leagues” are gaining in popularity. In general, their success is based on the same pattern.
- Start with a traditional sport.
- Shorten the length of a game to appeal to casual fans.
- Change the rules to make the game faster and easier to follow.
- Make games more immersive even if it means infringing on the sports aspect of the game.
These are changes that would be difficult for the public to accept if they were made by a traditional league like the Premier League, the NFL or the NBA. New competitions, on the other hand, can put entertainment first without any problem. Rugby X, the XFL, the International Swimming League and even, to some extent, Formula E have been doing this. The Fan Controlled Football League takes this concept to the extreme.
A football competition where fans decided to speed up the action
The FCFL is composed of 4 teams: the Glacier Boyz, the Wild Aces, the Beasts and the Zappers. The competition is played every Sunday in a high tech studio with rules that were chosen by the fans. Football is a rather slow sport. In the NFL the average game lasts more than three hours. The action often stops. NFL teams have large squads within which 3 squads of 11 players take turns on a 100 yard field. The FCFL is played 7vs7 on a 50-yard field with no special squads and no kicking. These new rules speed up the game. Matches are played in less than an hour (two 20-minute halves) without replay, without stopping the clock. No need to book your whole afternoon to follow a game anymore.
“New rules and a new format maximize excitement, substantially reduce penalties, and BRING BACK THE FUN!”
Like the XFL, the FCFL has reinvented touchdown conversions. The new system is just like the game: fast-paced and impressive. No more kicking. Fans can choose to have their team attempt a 5-yard conversion for 1 point or a 10-yard conversion for 2 points. The conversions have a wide receiver and a defensive back in 1vs1 confrontation while the quarterback has 3 seconds to throw the ball to his teammate.
A competition in tune with Generation Z
At a time when Generation Z is turning more and more to gaming, the FCFL uses many of the codes of this industry. First of all, it is a form of interactive entertainment. The fan experience of a FCFL game is a hybrid between an NFL game, fantasy football and a game of “The Yard” on Madden. Visually, the league is reminiscent of the gaming industry. In addition, the competition is broadcast on Twitch, which is very popular among gaming enthusiasts.
The pace of the game and the short format of the games also correspond to the consumption modes of Gen Z who would prefer to watch the highlights of an NFL game rather than dedicating their Sunday night to watching a full game. The weekly draft system is in line with this younger generation’s tendency to be fans of athletes rather than teams.
Fans build the league and manage their team from the ground up
In 2015, the founders of the FCFL had conducted an experiment by buying a team, the Salt Lake City Screaming Eagles, and delegating all decisions to the fans: the team name, the logo, the jersey design, the coach, recruiting the players. Following the success of this pilot, they decided to take it to the next level by creating a fan controlled league.
The DNA of the Fan Controlled Football League is the involvement of the fans in 100% of the decisions. From the rules of the game to calling plays during games and picking the coaches’ outfit, the fans are in control everything.
“(…) [T]he idea behind Fan Controlled Football lives with every fan who has ever yelled at a TV screen, thrown a remote control across the room or cheered wildly when their favorite team finally did the thing they wanted them to do. ”
Even before the first game, the fans were already involved in the creation of the league
The fans are decision makers in the creation of the league. The game’s rulebook perfectly illustrate this. Under each rule you can find the different options offered to the fans and the option they chose. Among other things, the fans could decide on the rules for overtime, the penalty system or the definition of a catch.
“Unlike traditional leagues, our focus is on optimizing everything on the field and through the entire fan experience. If something sucks, we’ll work with the fans.”
– FCFL website
When they sign up on the FCF app, fans choose a team. Throughout the season they are asked to make choices for their team. Every Wednesday, fans decide which new players will make their team’s roster during the draft.
Halfway between sports and video games, Fan Controlled Football allows fans to guide the action on the field
Every fan registered on FCF makes decisions for their team even on game days. Fans decide on team composition, but more importantly, they decide on plays. Like in the video game Madden, fans see a selection of possible plays for the next down and have the opportunity to vote for the one they think is best. The offensive team has 10 seconds to start the game after their fans have decided which strategy they should adopt.
Fans can call plays live during the game
Fans are even part of the competition
As a fan, you’re asked to make these decisions all week, and it’s not without consequences. Every good decision you make earns you FanIQ. Calling the right play in a game or drafting top players will increase your FanIQ. The more FanIQ you have, the more your votes count. Also, by collecting experience badges your votes will have more power in certain situations.
Throughout the week, fans have the opportunity to earn Team Power for their team. These are bonuses that can help players on the field. For example, fans can earn a 5th down for their team.
A Glacier Boy celebrating
What can traditional competitions take away from Fan Controlled Football?
The beauty of traditional competitions is that over the years generations of athletes compete for the same trophy under the same rules. Fans have built their own traditions with family and friends around these competitions. Enforcing rule changes like those in the FCFL in the World Cup, the MLB or the NBA would not make much sense. However, these competitions can learn from what happens off the field in the FCFL.
Less protocol and more show
The FCFL is an entertainment league. The players’ entrance does not follow a protocol it meant to be spectacular. They enter the field like WWE fighters. It is a show in itself. On top of that, the design of the end zone allows for wild touchdown celebrations. The extremities of the field are deep to give the players room to express their joy. They are also equipped with flashing lights, lasers and smoke machines to emphasise on the players’ joy.
Broadcast innovation
The viewing experience of the FCF games is very immersive. A drone is used to follow the action and offer fans a “Madden View” just like in the EA video game. Players are mic’d up. ActionStreamer provides helmets equipped with cameras to follow the action in the first person POV. The arena is also equipped with 180° VR cameras. Fans are up close and personal with the action. This type of set up can be replicated in any type of sport. The NFL and MLB have already experimented with microphones on players as well as the ActionStreamer helmets equipped with cameras. The XFL is taking it a step further by conducting interviews with players on the sidelines during the game.
Madden View
Push forward celebrities who contribute to the league’s hype
Each team has celebrity owners who have an affinity for football. For example, the rapper Quavo from Migos is a star co-owner of the Glacier Boyz. He was a quarterback for his high school team and is a big Georgia Bulldogs fan. Former Seahawks and 49ers cornerback, Superbowl winner and multiple All Pro, Richard Sherman is also a co-owner of the Glacier Boyz. Finally, the third interesting profile is the youtuber and tiktoker Deestroying joined them as co-owner of the Glacier Boyz. He is former kicker at UCF, the NCAA excluded him from the competition following his commercial success on Youtube.
These celebrities bring attention to the league and contribute to its success. It is important to involve them in the competition. The variety of profiles among team owners allows to attract a wide audience to the FCFL. Just like Drake plays a big role in the Raptors’ fan base, even without owning a team, celebrities who have a strong affinity with a club can participate in the growth of the community.
“Power to the fans” is the FCF’s motto and the league walks the talk. By handing the fans full control of the competition, the FCFL offers the most engaging experience in the sports industry today. While this league format will likely not become a standard, we can expect to see more and more entertainment leagues emerge alongside the traditional leagues. Traditional leagues can learn from the FCFL’s focus on pre-game shows, immersive broadcasting and communication around industry personalities.
