LaLiga Ventures Into Hospitality With TwentyNine’s Concept
September 29, 2020
LaLiga has unveiled a new hospitality concept: LaLiga TwentyNine’s to promote LaLiga and its clubs around the world.
LaLiga TwentyNine will allow sports fans to experience a full range of sports competitions in a unique and experiential way.
LaLiga TwentyNine’s takes its name from 1929, the year that LaLiga was created. It will combine gastronomy, entertainment, football and other sports in a unique and interactive environment, with technology playing a key role. This is the first time that a sports competition has created a licensing model of this kind on a global scale, generating new opportunities for the industry.
Through this project, LaLiga will deepen fan engagement inside and outside of Spain, while expanding the international image of the competition as well as the LaLiga brand, going beyond football: It’s not football, It’s LaLiga.
Óscar Mayo, business, marketing and international development director at LaLiga, said: “LaLiga TwentyNine’s will mark a before and after in the world of entertainment. We are combining leisure, sports and gastronomy to offer people something they have not seen before. The key will be the unique experiences that will be on offer in this reimagined sports bar.”
LaLiga TwentyNine’s will be spaces that can be found at street level, in shopping malls, airports, within establishments such as hotels, cruise ships or amusement parks. The first of these spaces is expected to open in Barcelona at the start of next year and after this, inside the PortAventura World amusement park in Tarragona.
Unique experiences in a multipurpose space
LaLiga TwentyNine’s will feature different zones where customers will enjoy unique experiences, beyond those created around ElClásico or the derbies of LaLiga Santander.
Part of the space will be dedicated to gastronomy where the culinary experience will take centre stage. There will also be a multipurpose stand that recreates the stands found in LaLiga stadiums, providing spectators with the sensation of being inside the ground itself, surrounded by other fans experiencing the emotion of live sport. Visitors will be able to watch LaLiga matches and other major sporting events from international and local competitions, such as tennis, basketball, or baseball. Special events will also be arranged with LaLiga Santander ambassadors or clinics with coaches from LaLiga clubs.
In addition, the sites will have a zone dedicated to eSports for gamers, a fan engagement area, a merchandising area and a ‘Beat Center’, where fans can learn more about LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank, buy LaLiga products or participate in contests and quizzes about the competition.
For those wishing to further push the boundaries of innovation and gastronomy, a space called B-eat Experience will also be available in certain sites. This premium area will combine unique gastronomic experiences with 360º projections. Designed as an exclusive area, this zone will be created in select LaLiga TwentyNine’s around the world.
All these different areas are designed to be flexible so that they can be built according to the local interests and needs of each territory. However every site will have the same look and feel to give users a consistent image of LaLiga.
Beyond enjoying ElClásico or the derbies of LaLiga Santander, these spaces will be open 365 days a year and will provide exclusive offers to fans, helping them to make LaLiga TwentyNine’s a regular meeting point.
Global presence through Barceló Hotel Group and other partners
To bring the project to a global audience, LaLiga has signed an agreement with Barceló Hotel Group, a Spanish hotel chain with more than 252 hotels in 22 countries, which grants it exclusive rights to LaLiga TwentyNine’s licenses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
In the words of Sara Ramis, Chief Marketing Officer of Barceló Hotel Group: “From Barceló Hotel Group, we continue to bet on experiential innovation, creating unique and differentiated experiences in our hotels. LaLiga TwentyNine’s is an innovative concept that unites us with a prestigious brand in LaLiga to develop this new concept of sports bar in which our clients will enjoy surprising experiences linked to sports.”
“This ambitious project represents LaLiga’s commitment to innovation in its international development and the creation of new business lines that add value to our clubs,” explained Óscar Mayo. “We are doing this hand in hand with strategic partners that have deep experience in the hospitality or restaurant sector to help take the concept of a traditional sports bar much further through unique user experiences.”