A new digital blue era has begun with Vivo Azzurro TV

In the midst of the last two seasons, during which Serie A has frequently questioned the utility and feasibility of a proprietary platform to broadcast video content, matches, and live events, the FIGC has forged ahead by launching Vivo Azzurro TV, the perfect hybrid between an OTT service and an official app useful for fan engagement activities.

After various rumors among industry insiders about the creation of a similar project, on May 14, the FIGC finally launched the OTT project with an event in Rome, set against the backdrop of the “Lanterna di Fuksas.” The presentation featured contributions from figures such as Luciano Spalletti and Gabriele Gravina, Marco Tardelli, and Andrea Soncin.

Currently, the platform offers various content dedicated to the men’s senior national team and how the Azzurri are preparing for EURO 2024. However, the major novelty, and a significant part of the project’s backbone, is the presence of substantial material on other national teams, especially the youth teams, and other sports and focuses related to the federation’s activities.

Indeed, it is easy to come across content dedicated to the beach soccer national team, futsal, the Paralympic movement, Italian referees, and many other social responsibility projects that too often get forgotten or do not receive the proper media coverage outside the federation’s circle.

One of the main objectives of the Vivo Azzurro TV project is clear: to bring fans and Italians closer to the Azzurri movement throughout the year, not just during the limited period of national competitions. Additionally, it aims to introduce other aspects of the federation and build loyalty among the Italian public with fan engagement activities and a data-driven strategy.

In fact, access to the platform is completely free, but it requires registration, which collects considerable data to better profile all users of Vivo Azzurro TV. It is no coincidence that within the application, users can also connect with a single click to the national team’s digital store, where they can purchase all match kits and merchandise from the various lines produced in collaboration with Adidas, another partner that has been very proactive since the beginning of its collaboration with our federation.

There was a need for a platform and a place to find useful information, curiosities, and more exclusive content, such as that dedicated to the places where the Azzurri will be hosted during the competition. The new OTT also solves some problems for fans, such as finding highlights of the minor national teams.

The new Vivo Azzurro TV OTT fits into the strategic path already taken by other leagues and especially federations, just as the Spanish federation did with an application where almost all national sports can be followed for free.

As reported by the FIGC itself, ‘Vivo Azzurro TV’ is a project supported by the UEFA HatTrick V (Investment Projects) funding program.

The FIGC increasingly becoming a Media Company

The OTT channel of the Italian Football Federation ‘Vivo Azzurro TV’ completes a journey started over the last four years through the establishment of a true media company that has conceived, produced, and distributed a series of contents across different channels: web, social media, TV, with a different approach for each platform.

From the video content created for the national teams’ social profiles, which today boast over 16 million followers, the FIGC has been producing broadcasts of youth national team matches, futsal, and beach soccer since 2022. These are live-streamed on figc.it and the FIGC’s YouTube channel: 27 matches in 2022, 44 in 2023, with an audience of around 1,500,000 live viewers.

Simultaneously, some entertainment formats have been launched, such as ‘Vivo Azzurro Live’ and ‘Casa Azzurri Live,’ live broadcasts on social profiles that accompany the pre-match and national team games, featuring numerous guests from the football and entertainment world on the sidelines and in the studio within ‘Casa Azzurri.’

The renewal process in Italy has not only started at the sporting level. That Renaissance, well documented on social media during the European Championship that saw us triumph just three years ago at Wembley, is a sensation that is permeating the entire national and federative movement.