InCrowd drives big numbers for Finalissima 22

The InCrowd content team turned their attention to Finalissima 2022 last week, creating content across UEFA EURO social channels and website for the showdown between EURO 2020 winners Italy and Copa América victors Argentina.

With Messi in town, hopes for a trademark performance were high and it was no surprise that the top posts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok all featured Leo! Highlights include:

  • 11.5 MILLION views of Lionel Messi highlights video on Facebook; the biggest post across EURO channels this year
  • 1.9 MILLION plays and 300k likes of the Messi arrival Reel on Instagram, in collaboration with Copa América

Next, the team turn their attention to the UEFA Women’s EURO, already gathering momentum in the build up to kick off on Wednesday 6th July at Old Trafford as England take on Austria.

To find out more about InCrowd’s content services, visit www.incrowdsports.com or get in touch directly on enquiries@incrowdsports.com

InCrowd and The ECB win Sports Technology Award

Last night InCrowd and England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were delighted to be named Sports Technology Partnership of the Year, at the Sports Technology Awards 2022, expertly run by The STA Group.

This was a highly competitive category, with the other shortlisted contenders all having great years. Thanks again to those at The STA Group for hosting such a special evening!

Here’s to another great year and summer ahead with The Hundred!

For the full list of winners, click here

InCrowd and the ECB now look to Summer 2022 and the plans already unfolding to make the return of The Hundred even bigger and better than 2021 – download the app now, and keep an eye out!

To find out more about InCrowd Customer Data and Fan experiences products, visit www.incrowdsports.com or get in touch directly on enquiries@incrowdsports.com to set up a quick all


Euroleague and InCrowd launch new official app

Euroleague Basketball launch new official app!

To accompany their new website, built by UNRVLD and powered by InCrowd’s digital experience platform, Bridge, Euroleague and InCrowd are pleased to announce the launch of a new iOS and Android app.

The new app allows fans to keep up to date with the action from all three competitions, this time right in the pocket of the Euroleague fan. Live match updates, box scores, play by plays, video and dynamic news feeds mean that fans will never miss a moment…

Find out more HERE

Exciting times ahead as InCrowd expands it’s broad product and services offering into a more diverse roster of sports. To find out more visit www.incrowdsports.com or get in touch directly on enquiries@incrowdsports.com


Ulster Rugby launch new official app with InCrowd

The new official Ulster Rugby App is now live!

As part of their digital transformation and to accompany their new InCrowd built website launched in November 2021, Ulster Rugby and InCrowd have teamed up to deliver a club first with the launch of an Official app.

With the fan very much first in mind, the new app will be the ultimate Ulster Rugby companion; alongside native, stats driven match centres, the app will deliver exclusive news, personalised content, competitions and gamification to fans and provides new sponsorship opportunities.

Another exciting step for Ulster Rugby and InCrowd; keep an eye out for new features in the future as the team continue to develop the Ulster Rugby experience, #ForEveryFan…

Find out more HERE


Rugby League World Cup Agency Roster Announced

Activity is starting to ramp up for the Rugby League World Cup 2021!

Ahead of the competition kicking off in October, RLWC21 has announced an incredible roster of individuals and business partners to deliver a truly memorable tournament for fans of Rugby League, old and new.

InCrowd are supporting the RLWC21 takeover of the The Rugby Football League’s official #OurLeague app for the build up to and duration of the tournament.

RLWC21 will be able to immediately connect with the 210K+ Our League members via InCrowd’s intelligent, data powered marketing technology and introduce new fans to the sport through exciting new activations. The Our League app will become a second screen companion to the tournament with sophisticated match centres, polls, exclusive news and personalised content bringing fans even closer to the event.

In addition audience driven, content and personalisation tools will offer brand partners new, exciting and hyper targeted sponsorship opportunities to drive ROI.

Find out more HERE


Fijian Drua partner with InCrowd Sports

The Fijian Drua, the newest franchise in Super Rugby Pacific have appointed InCrowd Sports to lead its fan and digital strategy, starting with the launch of a new website – drua.rugby. 

The Fijian Drua, who will be playing home fixtures across Fiji and Australia in their first season, have been established to deliver a sustainable route for Fijian talent to play professional rugby, whilst also showcasing Fiji’s exciting style of play in the southern hemisphere’s biggest competition.

Key to the Fijian Drua’s growth strategy will be engaging the significant audience with interest in Fijian Rugby, so the club has appointed leading data, technology and sports marketing specialists InCrowd, who are helping build a digital ecosystem from the ground up to deliver personalised experiences and engaging content for fans in Fiji and around the world.

InCrowd has a proven track record of producing industry-leading fan technology, data solutions and professional services for a portfolio of clients that include URC (formerly PRO14 Rugby), Premiership Rugby, Euroleague Basketball, Formula 1, ECB, Rugby Football League and a number of Premier League and Championship football clubs.

In Australia and New Zealand, InCrowd currently delivers technology across 33 venues including the SCG, Stadium Australia and CommBank Stadium, as well as working with organisations such as Golf Australia and Netball Australia.

During the 2022 Super Rugby season, drua.rugby will have real time updates during match days, as well as latest news, statistical graphics, fan voting, competitions, player profiles, video galleries, interviews and other exclusive content.

The website has been built upon InCrowd’s digital experience platform, Bridge, which includes a sports specific headless CMS, digital asset manager, fan engagement tools, audience insights and tools that enable personalised content delivery and communications based on 1st party data.

As part of the partnership, InCrowd will support the Fijian Drua as they generate and collect more fan data, helping the club with its commercial strategy as well as personalising fan communications across multiple new channels as they are launched. Fijian Drua CEO, Brian Thorburn, said:

“We’re committed to offering our fans, supporters and stakeholders an outstanding digital experience when they engage with us online and DRUA.RUGBY is obviously the most critical component of this objective. We may be a brand new team but one with very strong roots. And even before running out for our first game, we have a strong global following and premium brand associations with major global players including Swire Shipping, New Balance, Fiji Airways, ANZ and Vodafone. Our partnership with InCrowd will further strengthen our engagement with our audiences at home and wherever they are overseas, with content and interactivity which will be unique to the Drua.”

InCrowd Head of Partnerships APAC Seb Lear, said:

“This is an incredibly exciting project which we are honoured to be part of. In a broader context, this is a game changer in the global rugby landscape by helping Fiji create a sustainable talent pathway and a commercial strategy that keeps the incredible Fijian talent in the Pacific. It’s been a pleasure to work with the Fijian Drua team over the last few months to begin to deliver great digital experiences for the passionate fans of Fijian Rugby. This fan first approach is a value at InCrowd’s core, with the foundation of the business built on helping sports organisations create direct relationships with their fans to drive commercial value, something that has been even more critical for every sport to focus on over the last 2 years.”

The Fijian Drua will play their first ever Super Rugby Pacific match against the NSW Waratahs at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, Western Sydney on Friday 18 February.

Interview: Dan Lipman – “Changing the industry…”

Chief Commercial Officer, Dan Lipman, talks to iSportConnect’s Ben Page about how InCrowd is helping sports clients to utilise data to drive change across their digital ecosystem and maximise ROI.

They discuss the impact of data powered personalisation and innovative new technology that is enabling rights holders to transform how they connect and communicate with their fans.

Read the full interview here

InCrowd Welcomes John Beale as CFO

After an incredibly successful 18 months, InCrowd continues to drive forward and expand its digital and data offering in international markets by appointing John Beale as it’s new CFO. John will be stepping into the role with the retirement of current incumbent David Johnson, who has been instrumental in the rapid expansion of InCrowd as a business in its 6 years.

With a proven ability in implementing corporate control and commercial flexibility in high growth technology markets, John has been part of a senior management team that led the development of a multi geographical £200m digital content sales organisation from VC, to AIM and subsequent sale. John specifically oversaw the finance function as well as data compliance and cyber security, GDPR and development of payment fraud IP via the use of deep data technologies.

John’s more recent experience of engaging legacy retail consumers with the world of recurring digital content purchasing in order to drive long term, profitable revenue streams stands him in good stead for the role, bringing a new set of experiences and technological understanding that will be paramount in the next phase of business growth for InCrowd as the company progresses its data capture and monetisation model.

“John brings some great technology sector experience to the business as we lay the foundations for the next phase of growth,” says InCrowd CEO Aidan Cooney. “I am delighted that he has agreed to join us on our journey.”

Outside of work John has always been a keen sportsman, playing a lot of football, cricket and running the odd half marathon over the years and in the post ‘kids era’ running local teams in the community across many sports.

“I am really looking forward to my journey at InCrowd and aligning my true love for sport, both as a participant and a fan, with my experience in helping to build high growth technology and specifically data services enterprises” John says.

“Aligning these two passions makes this a really exciting proposition for me. What is truly exciting is to be part of a technology business that has already proven the value of it’s core proposition with multiple key global clients and partners, combined with the obvious need across all walks of life for successful, collaborative digital transformation to optimise customer experiences. I am really looking forward to joining the InCrowd team and being part of the continued growth story!!”

About John Beale
John has over 10 years of experience in the IT Managed Services and Telecoms sectors, working specifically in growing entrepreneurial businesses undergoing both organic and inorganic change. As an ACMA qualified accountant and graduate in Mathematics with Economics, John has held the position as CFO of Evoxus, Telinet and niu-solutions in VC backed, leveraged environments focusing specifically on understanding and delivering the corporate control and commercial understanding requirements of companies in high growth technology markets. John joined Mi-Pay in February 2011 as CFO and now joins InCrowd in a period of exceptional growth.

For more information, contact enquiries@incrowdsports.com

New Ulster Rugby website goes live

The new Ulster Rugby website is live!

We are delighted to announce that the new Ulster Rugby website is live!

A great team to work with, this is a club with huge aspirations for their digital platforms and the delivery of incredible experiences for their fans.

The launch of the website is the next big step in their digital transformation journey and we’re very happy to continue to work together to deliver great things in the future!

Read more about the project and take a look around the new site – just follow the link: Ulster.Rugby

InCrowd Welcomes Simon Thomas as Chairman

With significant growth in the UK and International markets in the last three years, InCrowd has appointed Simon Thomas, as Chairman of its Board of Directors. A leader in the evolution of commercial sports marketing during his time at TEAM Marketing, FIFA and Fox, Thomas will guide the Board and shareholders, whilst offering strategic advice and support to the senior management team.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Simon has agreed to join InCrowd as Chairman. His appointment adds to a number of new senior executive appointments we have made in the past year. The level of experience that Simon brings both in terms of his standing in the industry and as a specialist in organisational transformation and development, should turbo-charge our next phase of growth across multiple new territories .”

Thomas adds, “I have great respect for Aidan; as the founder of Opta Sports, he has a great track record and enormous experience in this area. At InCrowd he has built a strong team and the progression of the business in just 6 years is impressive. Product innovation to crack the digital challenge is paramount, along with client success and the creation of strong and trusted relationships. It’s an exciting era for the business and I’m very happy to join the team.”

Over the last 18 months, sport has seen a distinct acceleration in its digital transformation, as organisations realise the importance of truly knowing, connecting and engaging with fans on a deeper and personalised level through better use of first party data and premium fan facing platforms.

In response to this, InCrowd chose to focus on product development, ideating, building and delivering new and innovative solutions to respond to the rapidly changing requirements of clients and their commercial partners. Over the last 2 years, InCrowd has almost doubled in size to over one hundred team members, with 65% of the workforce focussed on R&D.

At the heart of InCrowd’s product innovation is their Customer Data and Experience Platform (CDXP), Bridge, a “one stop shop” for querying and using customer data to create personalised fan experiences across digital platforms via a best in class headless CMS and direct to fan content, messaging and engagement tools, all analysed across a range of tailored reporting suites.

“The very foundation of our business lies in our belief that fans are your greatest asset and that creating great digital experiences through high-quality fan facing platforms, data driven content & messaging and innovative activations is the most effective way to drive swift ROI.” says Cooney. “We empower clients to be bold in their digital and data transformations and support them fully at every stage of their journey. These are the organisations that are now reaping the rewards and we’re excited to help others reach their full potential.”

Thomas agrees;

“We are in an era of digital disruption, and clearly the industry is moving towards greater and more effective use of data. InCrowd are market leaders in this space. Everyone’s talking about the need to connect directly with fans and consumers, but at the moment it seems to be more talk than action. InCrowd are actually making things happen, facilitating monumental digital changes for their clients and demonstrating tangible returns, which is one of the things that sets them apart.”

About Simon Thomas
A sports industry veteran, Simon will take on the role of Chairman alongside his role of Partner at Colgan Bauer. An influential boutique firm, Colgan Bauer offers international sports strategy consultancy for many of the world’s top governing bodies, rights holders and investors. Prior to this, Simon was Chief Commercial Officer at FIFA, where he extensively restructured the digital and commercial teams. His further experience includes 15 years at TEAM Marketing, UEFA’s commercial agency for the development of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League competitions in various roles culminating in Chief Executive Officer; and 3 years as EVP Global Sport and Content Sales at Fox where he acted on rights acquisitions for Fox Sports internationally and established a global content sales team selling entertainment, factual and sports content. Simon also established his own advisory agency, Talisman Sport & Media.

For more information, contact enquiries@incrowdsports.com