Norwich City FC Case Study
The Challenge
Norwich City Football Club - Needed to Improve Fan Engagement
After promotion to the Premier League, Norwich City FC wanted a new way to connect with supporters both inside the ground and around the world. The club needed a platform that felt native on match days, scaled to heavy traffic, and created a direct channel for campaigns, competitions and sponsor activity.
RD Research submitted a bold proposal that involved photographing the stadium and pitch from the air and dividing it into squares. This would allow fans and businesses to sponsor a square metre of the pitch, post messages to “their” square, and see messages in a live 3D model of the stadium. Moderation had to be strong and immediate. The solution also needed mobile apps and SMS so every fan could take part, not just those on fast data connections.
The Development Process
We met with the club’s digital, marketing and match-day teams to define journeys for fans, sponsors and admins. We then produced a detailed specification for content flows, permissions, moderation and peak-load targets for match-day traffic.
To deliver the “own your square” experience, we photographed the pitch and stands from the air and built a zoomable 3D model. Every square metre on the pitch and every seat was mapped to a unique location in the model. Fans could claim a square, post messages and media, and pan or zoom to see the stadium from their spot.
A single backend powered the website, iOS and Android apps, and an SMS gateway. Club staff had a real-time moderation console with instant takedown, block lists, rate limiting and keyword filters.
Campaign tools supported competitions, auctions and targeted announcements. We used autoscaling cloud infrastructure and CDN delivery, then load tested to prove the platform would hold up at peak. The system was successfully stress tested to 90,000 simultaneous participants.
In one notable case a match worn shirt was auctioned on the platform. In the past a shirt would typically sell at auction for £250. Due to the reach of this new social platform the shirt raised over £3000.
Key features
- Zoomable 3D stadium with per-seat and per-square ownership and posting
- Mobile apps participation for broad access
- Real-time moderation with instant remove, blocks and audit trails
- Campaign tools for competitions, scavenger hunts and auctions
- Push notifications and in-app messaging tied to fixtures and events
- Single admin interface for web, apps with analytics and reports
- Scalable cloud hosting, CDN caching and proven load tests to 90k users
- Integration with the clubs existing social media platforms
Outcome
The platform ran for four seasons and became a cornerstone of the club’s fan engagement. Tens of thousands of supporters posted messages to their square and took part in weekly activations. Celebrity participation, including Stephen Fry, boosted reach. A nationwide treasure-hunt style competition drew more than 60,000 participants, and the system maintained performance throughout.
“The club are very grateful for the time RD Research spent on this project and are very happy with the outcome”
Rob Whittle, Marketing Manager, Norwich City Football Club