LALIGA launches “Beyond The Match Challenge”, inviting innovators to shape the future of fan engagement

LALIGA has launched the Beyond The Match Challenge, an innovation initiative developed in collaboration with Ignyte to explore new ways of engaging fans and expanding their experience around football. The initiative responds to evolving entertainment habits and digital behaviours, seeking innovative solutions that can strengthen fan participation and create new experiences before, during and beyond the match itself.

The challenge aims to identify solutions that can increase active fan participation, encourage interaction between supporters and create recurring experiences that strengthen the relationship between LALIGA and its fans. Proposals can take digital, physical or hybrid formats, provided they offer the potential to become part of the LALIGA ecosystem over the long term.

The initiative focuses on four main opportunity areas: in-match participation, with real-time interactions, predictions, voting and competitions; community, through experiences that connect fans based on their interests, teams or profiles; data and storytelling, exploring new ways to interpret statistics and enrich the understanding of the game; and extended experiences, including rankings, missions and challenges that connect the stadium, broadcast and digital environments.

Raúl Ostalé Bruixola, Commercial and Marketing Director in MENA, LALIGA, said: “Beyond individual activations, we are looking for solutions that bring a truly structural vision and can generate meaningful, measurable engagement. For us, it is essential that these proposals have the potential to scale internationally, integrate naturally within the LALIGA ecosystem and demonstrate clear technical and operational feasibility. At the same time, we will be looking closely at key aspects such as data protection, rights and regulation, as well as the potential to develop sustainable sponsorship and monetisation models.”

The challenge will culminate in a Demo Day, where selected teams will present and demonstrate their solutions. The winning proposal will receive a USD 10,000 prize and will be showcased at the Innovation Stage of the Dubai FinTech Summit, providing an opportunity to reach an international audience of investors, companies and government entities.

Through the Beyond The Match Challenge, LALIGA continues to explore new opportunities at the intersection of football, technology and innovation, with the aim of creating new ways for fans to participate and engage with the competition beyond the traditional matchday experience.