FC Barcelona strengthens its digital ecosystem with the launch of Barça Play
FC Barcelona today unveiled Barça Play, its new audiovisual hub, fully integrated into its website and the new official App. With this launch, the club is taking a decisive step in consolidating its own digital ecosystem, evolving towards an integrated experience where content, services, benefits and experiences coexist within a single digital environment, designed to offer members and fans a more direct, personalised and continuous relationship with the club.
FC Barcelona continues to adapt to changing digital consumption habits. The website and official App are becoming the main gateway to the club's digital universe, bringing together service information, member and fan benefits, and a full range of audiovisual content in one place. This marks the first phase of an evolving project led by the Barça Identity and Barça Media teams, responsible for the strategic concept, brand positioning, user experience and editorial vision of the club's new audiovisual hub, in close collaboration with the Club's Technology department, responsible for the development and implementation of the new digitl experience.. This cross-departmental collaboration has enabled an experience that brings together brand, content, technology and services under a single digital identity.
The launch event, held in an immersive format, was conceived as an occasion centred on the club's members. FC Barcelona invited a representative group of members to be the first to discover Barça Play and the new official App.
Through an audiovisual journey and a series of interactive spaces, attendees were able to explore the platform's features and experience a new way of accessing the club's content, from live broadcasts to exclusive programming and the future functionalities of the digital ecosystem. FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta was at the event to address the guests, introducing this latest step in the club's digital transformation strategy and thanking them for their role as the first protagonists of this new digital ecosystem.
Members at the heart of the project
The launch of Barça Play reflects a clear strategic decision: to place members at the centre of the club's digital transformation. In this first phase, members will be the first to discover the platform, test it and enjoy free access, reinforcing FC Barcelona's commitment to its membership.
The official FC Barcelona App currently has more than 800,000 weekly unique users, representing a 30% increase compared with a year ago, further recognition of a loyal and committed fan community.
Comprehensive audiovisual offering
Barça Play brings together the club's entire audiovisual heritage, original Barça productions and all live broadcasts. Users will be able to access historic matches, documentaries, series, interviews, exclusive Inside Barça content and original productions exploring the club's history, values and day-to-day life. The platform also features an extensive audiovisual archive, allowing users to revisit some of the most iconic moments in Barça history.
In addition, this new initiative significantly expands the club's live content offering. Members will be able to watch pre-season matches, Barça Atlètic fixtures played at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, Barça Legends matches and a selection of La Masia fixtures every weekend, all free of charge.
Throughout the season, Barça Play will also offer live programming linked to first-team matches, including stadium-based shows, analysis, special guests and exclusive content. The platform also features TOP BARÇA, a 24-hour linear channel that makes Barça Play an always-on experience, with continuous programming of classic matches, documentaries, archive features, goals and other blaugrana content.
Integrated digital experience
More than simply an audiovisual content service, Barça Play forms part of the evolution of the new official App, designed to become an all-in-one platform capable of centralising every aspect of the relationship between the club and its members and fans. The implementation roadmap envisages that, following the launch of the audiovisual content, ticketing services will be integrated, followed by e-commerce, bringing together all the services and needs of the Barça community within a single digital environment.
The objective is to build the leading digital hub for the Barça community, simplifying the user experience while streamlining the relationship between the club and its members and fans. Barça Play represents a new way of experiencing Barça: a dedicated space that connects content, services, experiences and benefits under one digital identity.
Statement by Paloma Mikadze, Director of Barça Identity & Barça Media 360
"With Barça Play, we didn't want to create just another platform. We wanted to build FC Barcelona's new audiovisual hub, fully integrated into the website and official App so that members and fans can find and experience everything Barça in one place.
"Members are at the heart of the project, which is why they are the first to enjoy the content and live broadcasts free of charge. This is a phased rollout that will later be extended to Culers Premium subscribers and fans.
"Barça Play forms part of a long-term strategic vision: strengthening our own channels and building an increasingly integrated digital ecosystem adapted to new consumption habits.
"It is also the result of close collaboration between Barça Identity, Barça Media 360 and the Technology Department, combining brand, content and innovation to create a digital experience designed to keep evolving."
More news here