Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Benfica) have again demonstrated their commitment to innovation as a means to drive success, with the announcement that they have chosen Horizm, the award-winning, AI-powered provider of digital inventory management in sport, to help improve the evaluation and monetization of their digital assets.
The deal will see Benfica use Horizm’s real time, “digital-first” solution to unlock new revenues – vital at this time of COVID restrictions – and improve their interaction with their social media following of more than 7m fans.
With 84 major trophies to their name, Benfica are the most decorated club in Portuguese football, with much of their success in recent years fuelled by their use of technology and data. There has been significant investment in the technological infrastructure at their Caixa Futebol Campus and a partnership with Microsoft Azure that sees them work with the tech giant to harvest and analyse vast amounts of player data, in order to better understand and improve on-pitch performance.
This same commitment to innovation can be seen in their off-pitch activities. In the last two years – a period of strong commercial success – SL Benfica have launched their own OTT subscription platform and became the first club in a top-flight European league to accept payments via blockchain. They have also established ground-breaking knowledge sharing partnerships with leading US sports franchises, the San Francisco 49ers and the San Francisco Giants.
In choosing Horizm, are innovating again, becoming the first Portuguese club to use the solution.
Commenting on the announcement, Miguel Bento, CCMO, Benfica said:
“At SL Benfica, we believe innovation is vital to ensuring we maintain our tradition of success on and off the pitch. Our approach to digital is also defined by this – by embracing innovative, AI driven solutions like Horizm, we can improve the way we serve our millions of fans around the world on social media, and the ensure we maximise the revenue opportunities each channel presents”
Luis Viveiros, Head of Strategy, Horizm added:
“It’s a great honour to be working with Benfica; to be collaborating with such an innovative and forward-thinking club is a big endorsement for what we do. We look forward to growing with them and helping them improve the commercial returns on their digital inventory”
The deal sees Benfica joining leading football clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Flamengo in benefitting from Horizm’s new, enhanced user experience which was launched earlier this year. The new version of the platform is faster, more intuitive and offers more functionality, making it easier for rights holders to identify the value of their digital assets and how they can best be monetised.
Horizm’s success in helping sports rights holders like Benfica grow digital revenues was recently recognised at leading industry event, the World Football Summit Industry Awards, where they were chosen as Best Supplier presented by SportsTechX. Horizm also used World Football Summit to showcase their innovative collaboration with Real Madrid CF.
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About Horizm
Horizm is the future of digital revenue in sport.
Founded in 2019, the company was born with the goal of being the number one digital asset platform for the global sports and entertainment industries; to revolutionize the way rights holders operate in our new digital era and fully support them across their digital commercial lifecycles.
Horizm provides a new, real-time solution to digital inventory management, leveraging artificial intelligence to help sports and entertainment better track, value and monetize their digital media.
Horizm’s unique platform enables rights holders, agencies and talent to drive more value for their partners and create new revenue streams from existing inventory.
Horizm also enables brands to identify high performing assets that reach their target audience and ensure greater return on their partnership/sponsorship investment.
Horizm’s solution provides a more rigorous, more holistic approach to managing and selling digital inventory, one that is focused on digital campaigns and not the theoretical value of media exposure.
Horizm is the chosen digital solution for leading football clubs such as Chelsea FC, Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, Olympique Lyonnais, Benfica and Wolverhampton Wanderers along with the FIVB, the FIH and the Australian Open.
About SL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica is the most successful Portuguese club ever, with a grand total of 84 trophies won in Portugal and abroad. Domestically, The Reds boast a record 37 league titles, while internationally they are one of only 12 clubs in the world to have won the UEFA Champions League more than once. The Lisbon giants won the European Cup in 1961 and 1962. Benfica have over 230,000 official fan members with many more millions following the team’s fortunes worldwide.
