FK Zeljeznicar is set to become Balkan’s first football club to partner up with SEYU
An innovative solution designed to increase fan engagement for the Club using its existing in-stadium LED boards.
PRESS RELEASE
London, Sarajevo, Budapest, 21 April 2021
FK Zeljeznicar is set to become Balkan’s first football club to partner up with SEYU, an innovative solution designed to increase fan engagement for the Club using its existing in-stadium LED boards & embrace continue its quest to embrace sports tech scene many football club giants are signing up to…
FK Zeljeznicar, a professional football club from Bosnia celebrating its 100th year anniversary in 2021 partners up with Budapest and London-based SportsTech company SEYU. The partnership is designed to dramatically increase fan engagement and create new revenue streams for the Club.
FK Zeljeznicar Chairman, Samir Ceric, states:
“FK Zeljeznicar is not just the most successful Bosnian football club of all times and one of the oldest clubs from Ex-Yugoslavia; it is an institution and a way of life. Its fan base that exceeds 1m fans gives the Club a global image and deserves innovation at its best. Taking charge of the Club that has so much history and heritage is not just a privilege but a big responsibility too and that’s why one of my main ambitions as a part of my 2030 Vision for the Club is the introduction of the latest technology in sports tech space that’ll give FK Zeljeznicar an edge over the rest in the Balkans region. Being the first to launch another sports tech solution via SEYU is starting to put our Club into a very strong position as the region’s innovators and pioneers. SEYU offers huge benefits to FK Zeljeznicar including creation of additional revenue on already sold commercial surfaces by monetizing remote fan base directly, expanding marketing portfolio offered to sponsoring brands, involving, entertaining remote fans in real-time and delivering high-engaging, moderated, branded, fan-generated social media content. This new approach puts us in a strong position to globalize and commercialize Club’s assets worldwide and give our fans and supporters more because they deserve it, but our sponsors and partners too. One of my ambitions was also to leverage the strong Bosnian diaspora based all over the world (especially in the US, Scandinavia, Germany, and Australia) and this new tech platform will allow us to do so bringing our global fan base to our famous stadium ‘Grbavica’. We not only want to be the best football club on the pitch; we want to be the best off the pitch too and this is just the beginning of a new exciting era for Zeljo.”, said Samir Ceric.
SEYU’s platform will use the club’s existing IT infrastructure such as perimeter LED boards and giant screens, so FK Zeljeznicar will not need to invest in hardware when it comes to SEYU and the service can be set up remotely inside 48 hours ahead of each home match (creating all visual assets needed for promotion). Seyu can also handle loyalty marketing campaigns or the direct selling of VIP fan photo experiences for the Club.
Tom Vechy Vecsernyes, Seyu’s Co-Founder and CEO, says:
“When I first spoke to Samir Ceric, I quickly realized I was talking to a visionary who understood 21st-century technology in the sports industry and wanted to deploy it with his Club and position it as a regional market leader in the Balkans. There is a great team behind Ceric and FK Zeljeznicar and we are very proud to be a part of their journey. This cooperation with the most successful Bosnian football club and one of the oldest ones in the Balkans (ex-Yugoslavia) sets an important milestone for Seyu to scale its presence in that part of the world where football is more than a sport, it’s a way of life and fans are incredibly passionate and real.”
Seyu was recently awarded as one of the most promising fifteen start-ups in Hungary (in all sectors), representing the sport tech industry on its own. Working with clubs like CD Leganés, Real Sociedad, Real Valladolid or brands like Vodafone UK (ESA Award 2021 Top 3), Mercedes-Benz already landed a chance for the start-up to showcase the power of its solution on the Spanish national team’s match against Kosovo. In 2021 Seyu became one of the number one solutions which helps clubs not only involve their remote fan base in match days, but to find a new, sustainable revenue source in a financially challenging period as a result of the pandemic.
“The Balkan market entry comes as part of our rapid expansion in global football” – said the start-upper. We are experiencing a huge demand for Seyu on numerous markets such as Spain, Italy, Holland, Greece, Poland, Germany and USA, clubs also reaching out to us in basketball, handball and rugby. We had countless discussions before the pandemic with clubs across Europe, however somehow implementing a digital solution always ended up at the bottom of the club owners’ lists. In opposition to this, the crisis really taught the industry to find ways to ease their dependency on conventional revenue channels, and today clubs are much more open for digital solutions such as ours. I really like FK Zeljeznicar’s approach of attacking possible future challenges head on, instead of leaving the club’s faith in fortuna’s hands when it comes to revenue generation.”
Samir Ceric, FK Željezničar Chairman also comments: “Meeting Tom Vechy Vecsernyes was an important milestone for me as new Chairman of this major giant of Bosnian and Balkans football. I am very excited to be teaming up with his company Seyu and very much looking forward to a continued relationship with him and his team in the weeks and months to come. I believe they’ll help FK Zeljeznicar bridge the gap with our diaspora and enable those fans to properly engage with their much loved football club in a fun and exciting new way.”
