Bilbao Final Showcases Next-Gen Fan Experience: COLIN Reports from the Europa League Showpiece
Bilbao, 21 May 2025 — A capacity crowd and a global TV audience of more than 100 million watched Tottenham Hotspur edge Manchester United 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League final at San Mamés Stadium, but for Collective Innovation (COLIN) the real drama began long before kick-off. Our delegation spent the day exploring the UEFA Fan Festival in Arenal Park and the technology showcases that ring-fenced the stadium, gathering insight into how digital tools are reshaping supporter engagement.
What we saw
Innovation | Where we found it | Why it matters for fan engagement |
|---|---|---|
AR “Lift the Trophy” booth | Official trophy stand, Fan Festival | Fans super-imposed themselves raising the Europa League silverware, generating instantly shareable social clips that drove organic reach. |
5G-powered multi-angle replays | Telefónica demo zone | Handsets pulled low-latency feeds from 60 in-stadium cameras; spectators could rewind, pause and choose their viewpoint. |
VR penalty-kick simulator | PlayStation activation | Immersive head-mounted display with haptic feedback let supporters “face” goalkeepers on the San Mamés pitch, queuing four-deep all afternoon. |
Real-time match-up predictor | UEFA Data Centre kiosk | An AI model trained on Opta data invited fans to adjust tactical sliders and see win probabilities update live. |
Cash-free “Frictionless” kiosks | Concourse Level 2 | Biometric entry and computer-vision check-out halved queue times for food and drink. |
Custom shirt printing via NFC | Adidas pod | Supporters tapped an NFC tag, designed a shirt on-screen and collected it within 15 minutes. |
Data from Telefónica confirmed that mobile traffic around San Mamés spiked 143 % on match-day, underlining the appetite for connected experiences. Broadcasters, meanwhile, produced the game in 1080p50-HDR with Dolby Atmos, a first for a Europa League final and a signal of rising production standards.
Why this matters for COLIN projects
Blueprint for event design— The multi-layered festival model shows how sport-tech start-ups can pilot products with guaranteed football.
Insight for the COMPATH Project—Universities offering degrees in XR design, AI analytics or broadcast engineering can position themselves as prime destinations for yuogn sport professionals keen to work in fan-engagement roles.
Match snapshot
Result: Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 Manchester United
Scorer: Brennan Johnson (37’)
Attendance: 51 580
Venue: San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao
Spurs’ triumph ended a 17-year silverware drought, while United was left to rue missed chances in what many described as a tactical chess match.
For collaboration enquiries, please contact: hi@collectiveinnovation.no
