Sony launches FavoriteSpace™, a new service to enhance sports fan communities
The first content of the application is “Manchester City Area”.
TOKYO, Japan – Sony Group Corporation (Sony) today launched FavoriteSpace™, a new service designed to energize sports fan communities by providing new ways to enjoy sports. Leveraging Sony’s expertise in technology and entertainment, FavoriteSpace will deliver new sports content and create a social entertainment space where fans can share their passion for their favorite sports.
As part of this new service, Sony today launched the FavoriteSpace smartphone app.*1 This first app offering is a dedicated virtual space (“Zone”) where users can enjoy content from Manchester City Football Club in a variety of ways.
With FavoriteSpace, Sony will provide fans who share the same “favorites” the opportunity to interact and connect with teams and players. By enriching sports fan activities in both physical and virtual space, Sony aims to create new experiential value that will increase engagement with existing fans and also help acquire new fans.
Favorite Space App
Through the app, users can visit virtual “zones” that showcase the history and philosophy of their favorite sports teams through their avatars, enjoy team-specific content, and interact with other fans. Fans can experience the same excitement and thrills as they do in the physical world in a unique virtual way by watching immersive 3DCG content that leverages technologies such as tracking from Hawk-Eye Innovations, a Sony Group company. As part of the development of the Manchester City Space, the first team space to launch, Sony has been working with Manchester City as the club’s official virtual fan engagement partner since 2021 to conduct concept validation and incorporate fan feedback. Going forward, Sony will expand the experience by introducing more areas and content for different teams and other sports.
*1 FavoriteSpace is now available in a beta version limited to free features, a preview of the official version that will include paid features and will launch in October. The app is now available in three countries: Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Key experiences in the FavoriteSpace Manchester City Zone app (“Virtual Etihad Stadium Manchester”)
1. A new way to enjoy sports, beyond space and time.
Manchester City’s home stadium, the Etihad Stadium, has been faithfully recreated in the virtual space and fans can visit it at any time with their own avatars. In the virtual stadium, fans can enjoy the kind of immersive virtual content that is only possible in the virtual space, such as Immersive Highlights, which allows them to freely view highlights of past home games in 3DCG from n regardless of the point of view.
2. Communication between fans, players and the team
Fans gathered as avatars in the virtual space can share their thoughts and passion for their team beyond nationality and language by communicating through emoticons, stamps, and interactions such as putting your arm around another’s shoulder. Additionally, fans can express their support for the team in a variety of ways, including participating in events held in the virtual space on match days, customizing their avatars with uniforms and items, and creating fan banners. By responding to these displays of support, the team and players can also engage with the fan community, helping to foster unity between fans and their team.
Favorite Space Site
App Download Page (iOS/Android)
Click here for the Manchester City Football Club press release.
About Sony Group
Sony Group Corporation is a creative entertainment company built on a strong technology foundation. Through its six business segments—Game & Network Services; Music; Pictures; Entertainment, Technology & Services; Imaging & Sensing Solutions; and Financial Services—Sony's goal is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology.
For more information, visit the website.
* “FavoriteSpace” is a registered trademark or trademark of Sony Group Corporation or its affiliates.
