I couldn’t put a number on the number of bands I’ve discovered via playing FIFA on the PlayStation.
To this day I can’t hear Bloc Party and ‘Helicopter’ without picturing my PS2 controller and battered copy of FIFA 06, the game on whose soundtrack it featured (2006 was an especially good year by the way).
My console playing days are all but behind me but to this day FIFA, or EA Sports FC as it has now become, continues its tradition of showcasing new and upcoming musical talent within its gameplay and it could be about to do the same thing for podcasting.
Spotify has released news that FC25 players in Australia and Saudi Arabia will now be able to connect their Premium Accounts to the game and curate their own music throughout the gaming experience (both in the menu area and in gameplay should the user wish).
For Spotify, as with so many of their business decisions, it’s another way to drive users into their premium ecosystems. For podcasts, especially those who create complimentary sports content, it’s another platform on which their content can be heard.
I think the opportunity for football clubs to curate bespoke audio experiences for their fans here is especially interesting.
We know that audio is an important part of the video game experience with gamers often highly engaged with what they hear as much as what they see. We also know that the way in which modern football fans “find” their team has changed dramatically over the last decade or so. That combination of factors presents an opportunity.
Long gone are the days in which you select the team you support with a map and a ruler, finding the nearest “big” club or blindly following the one your parents did. Now, big-name players, media exposure and even gaming experiences can inform that decision.
Here clubs have an opportunity to reach those fans and deepen that engagement via the in game experience.
Playing a tournament as Aston Villa? Listen to the heroes of the club's past and present via the Official Podcast. Guiding Wolverhampton Wanderers to Premier League safety? Keep up to date with the news in the real world via audio news update Wolves Express. Guiding Liverpool to an unprecedented quadruple? They let their official playlist soundtrack the experience.
It’s yet another way to engage with their fans away from the traditional match day experience and further evidence of the growing role of audio in deepening that engagement.