ESPN
Shaping the ultimate soccer viewing experience for increased daily user engagement
As a long-term partner of ESPN, we set out to grow fan engagement and increase daily app activity. One of our key focus areas was understanding user behavior on a deeper level through data-driven insights. GOAL! offers personalized features and an mobile app experience that keeps fans returning for more.
ESPN, part of The Walt Disney Company, continues to lead as a trusted name in sports broadcasting worldwide. Since 2022, we’ve partnered with ESPN as their preferred media technology partner, closely collaborating with their internal teams with the objective of delivering enhanced (mobile) viewing experiences for audiences across Europe and the United States.
As a result of this objective, we developed ESPN GOAL!, a dedicated soccer platform for the Dutch market that perfectly complements the international ESPN mobile app.
On the soccer pitch, every moment matters. Split-second decisions and momentary battles carry the hopes and dreams of thousands of fans. Whether in the stands or watching from home, real-time engagement is at the heart of the fan experience. Many broadcasters provide live scores and text updates for major matches, but few deliver the on-the-spot excitement fans truly crave. That’s why ESPN Netherlands set out to redefine fan engagement.
Together we created a digital platform that delivers near-instant video highlights of key match events via push notifications. By leveraging their exclusive broadcasting rights, ESPN Netherlands ensures fans stay connected to the action, offering features that set the application apart from other live score apps in the market.
In addition to the near-live video features, we elevated the viewer experience by creating intuitive gesture-based browsing, minimizing clicks for a more relaxed viewing experience.
Subtle animations, such as the detail page sliding open to reveal player information, add a more cinematic touch.
The app features detailed match schedules, standings, and statistics for the Eredivisie, Keuken Kampioen Divisie, and KNVB Cup. As a result, ESPN GOAL! serves as the one-stop shop for soccer fans in the Netherlands.
Available on iOS and Android, the app offers tailored experiences for both logged-in and non-logged-in users. Logged-in users can access goal videos and key match moments, while all users—whether logged in or not—can enjoy match highlights, in-depth statistics, and real-time data, ensuring an engaging experience for every football fan.
Push notifications keep users informed of the latest scores and match events
Instant goal and event clips from ESPN Netherlands make the app unique among live score apps
All users can access match highlights, statistics, and real-time data, while logged-in users also get access to goal videos and key match moments.
Working closely with ESPN’s project team, our Data & AI team transformed the app into a data-driven platform that evolves with user insights. ESPN aimed to increase daily active users, despite soccer matches primarily occurring on weekends.
Together we improved user retention by implementing analytics and custom events to track key interactions, which helped ESPN to further refine the app features.
This data-driven approach also allowed ESPN to continuously monitor app performance, identify areas for improvement, and optimize new features as they were introduced.
The platform laid a solid foundation for future data-driven enhancements, securing ESPN’s ability to engage with Dutch soccer fans for years to come.
Equally important, this ongoing optimization process positioned ESPN to deliver greater value to their commercial partners, including through targeted in-app advertising and other monetization strategies.
Improving user retention was a key goal for the ESPN app, achieved through data-driven insights
Given ESPN’s strict data protection requirements, we carefully selected GDPR-compliant tools to ensure full compliance. Despite these limitations, we were able to design a comprehensive data infrastructure that allows ESPN to collect and analyze data while avoiding any compliance risks.
To build on this, we worked closely with ESPN to introduce new,data-driven ways of working. We provided training, developed live dashboards, and helped their team shift to data-informed decision-making, enabling continuous optimization of the GOAL! app based on user behavior and feedback.
The makings of success
01
Integrated way of workingESPN Netherlands entrusted us with full end-to-end development responsibilities, freeing up its own product team to focus on refining and improving the app’s features. The development process followed an agile scrum methodology, enabling both organizations to collaborate closely on product iterations and updates.02
Crash-free sessionsDuring mid-season, with hundreds of matches constantly being across Europe, the app handles an enormous amount of real-time data, delivering it simultaneously to over 100,000 users. With 99.54% to and 99.99% percent crash-free sessions on Android and iOS respectively, this impressive metric underscores the robustness and stability of the app.03
Push notificationsThe app sends an enormous amount of push notifications, with users even able to opt-in to push notifications for goals in all teams across multiple leagues. Despite this load of more than 30 million messages, the app has proved remarkably resilient and handled this data without any major issues.04
Real-time video extractionLeveraging AI-powered technology from WSC Sports, the app automates video highlight generation to deliver goal highlights to fans instantly.Contact us and let's get started.
