Imagine watching the World Cup final or any League match with a reserved seat in a stand, but not in a stadium, but in your trusted bar, with a giant 4K screen, top quality ambient sound and a cold drink with a delicious appetizer. This is a reality that is now possible thanks to KOP Stadium, the app created last year by Igeneris Ventures to give the world of sports the excitement and atmosphere it deserves.
After the pandemic restrictionswhich punished soccer fans and the hotel industry, added to the constant increase in the price of soccer in Spain, the Spanish startup, which has already raised one million euros, is finally launching into the market with a hybrid model never seen before: a combination of a football stadium stand and a rich gastronomic offer of establishments, now available in the capital.
This is KOP, a new way of experiencing football and other sports, including esports, installing retractable bleachers in bars and other spaces, to enjoy a unique experience in the usual meeting points for football lovers. With this, in addition to improving the experience and enjoyment, the firm intention of helping to reactivate the hospitality sector is encouraged. “It is a fundamental part of our mission, to generate new clients and new revenues for bars through KOP.”, says the CEO of the company, Frederick of Vincentand adds “We are building the largest decentralized stadium in the world, offering a unique fan experience: feeling the colours, the nervousness and the excitement, from a comfortable stand to watch a game in their usual bar”.
“Don’t risk running out of a place”
According to the report ‘Football consumption in public places’ published by Mediapro and LaLiga, 5 million Spaniards go to a place regularly to watch the games every week.
In previous editions, with the characteristic good weather of summer, the capacity was greater thanks to the screens located on the terraces. The fact that this year it will be held for the first time in winter will significantly change the strategy of hoteliers, in addition to making it difficult for the spectator to find an available space. In this sense, KOP is making a name for itself in the Spanish sports market as an app that will allow fans to reserve up to a maximum of 26 seats in the stands located in the bars and spaces attached to its platform, maximizing the square meters of the establishment. and ensuring that the user has a guaranteed place in a real bleacher seat.
As de Vicente explains, “We are going to carry out an MVP (product test) of our model during the World Cup in Qatar in 20 bars in Spain. This will be the starting signal to then scale KOP to all of Spain, where we hope to install more than 1,000 KOP’s in the next year and in turn begin expansion in international markets as passionate about the sport as Mexico, the US and LATAM” .
Bringing the emotion of live football closer to the viewer
Technology is transforming the way fans watch football from their television. The brightness, the size of the screen, the contrast, the sound or the resolution, have become essential characteristics to get the viewer closer to the stands of the stadium through the immersive experience. This is where KOP comes into action. “We want to offer a non-existent experience to fans, who meet in the digital world and meet to share their favorite events and a refreshment in the physical world at KOP.”
“The KOP concept tries to create a customer journey comparable to going to a football stadium. From the moment the fan buys the ticket for the match that he prefers through the app, until he accesses the bar that he has chosen and is assigned the seat that he has chosen within the KOP stands. Once there, he will be able to enjoy the sport and the drinks, menus, and even an open bar depending on the pack selected with the ticket. It will connect with fans from other stands and there will be interaction between them. Because football, sports and esports are about that, about meetings, friends, experience, passion and the emotion of live”, concludes de Vicente.
