Global Fútbol

Match after match, Real Betis and the Estadio Benito Villamarín are trending. That’s because the club convert their stadium into a party every pre-match, involving fans in the spectacle and enhancing the experience. This season, the club are improving the stadium experience ahead of kick-off through light, music and colour shows, which is convincing fans to choose football over other leisure options, as every time they go to the stadium they can enjoy something unforgettable.

The first pre-match show of this season was the one involving Alejandro Ortega and his electric violin ahead of the game Real Betis played against CA Osasuna in August. The song played was 'Stereo Love', a song that has regularly been played in the stadium over the past 12 years, ever since a famous trip to Salamanca in 2010, one of the biggest and most special away days enjoyed by Real Betis fans in the club's history.

Another pre-match experience from this term was when the club organised the biggest TikTok dance at a football stadium ahead of the match against Girona FC, with the crowd dancing to the rhythm of Rosalía and the famous song 'Despechá'. This was a huge success and it boosted the interactions of the Real Betis account on that social media platform: in just 72 hours there were increases of 420% in views, 233% in profile views, 442% in likes, 589% in comments, 545% in shares and 51,800 in the follower count.

Then, at Real Betis vs UD Almería, a saxophonist came out to play for the fans a version of Quevedo’s song 'Quédate', which has become an anthem for the fanbase, referring to the Copa del Rey title won in April. In the moments before another game against Atlético de Madrid, Fondo Flamenco, a musical group which has close links to the club and which created one of Real Betis’ unofficial anthems, took charge of providing that day’s pre-match entertainment.

Achieving value and boosting the brand

Discussing these pre-match shows, Real Betis’ general business director Ramón Alarcón said: “Football is entertainment and, therefore, our obligation is to put on an attractive product. The only thing we can’t control is the sporting result, so we must focus on making the rest of the experience, which we can manage, as good as possible.”

He continued: “We do this to bring value to the people who come to the stadium and, at the same time, we improve our brand. The main goal is for those who come to the Estadio Benito Villamarín to have an experience that they can't have if watching the match on television on their sofa. This is an incentive that helps us to have attendances with 50,000 people accompanying us at every match.”

One of the most spectacular pre-match moments of all was the duet performed by the saxophonist Manuel Díaz and the violinist Alejandro Ortega in the build-up to El Gran Derbi, giving the Estadio Benito Villamarín a truly festive feel. “The choice of the artists and the songs is linked to both current trends and tradition, with all of it linked to the 'Betis culture',” added Alarcón.

These elements ensure the fans feel a greater level of connection and, for example, they make fans more likely to decide to share the content. In this way, the supporters are both helping and forming part of the social media virality. As the director put it: “We’re generating content that goes viral after the match and this allows the fan to boast on their own social media by saying 'I was there', which is a way to improve fan engagement and to gain new followers.”

On the activation of the stadium and the pre-match parties, Alarcón added: “These activities help to convince the soft-fan to decide to spend their money and, more importantly, their time in coming to watch Real Betis instead of pursuing other leisure alternatives.”

Furthermore, the fact that fans now want to get to the stadium earlier so as not to miss out on the pre-match party can also mean that, for example, the sale of food and drink in the stadium increases and this boosts the overall business volume. While Alarcón has stated that “everything helps”, he added that “the improvement in sales is achieved by improving the experience or, in other words, making the options more attractive and introducing digital payment systems that avoid queues, as these are the tools to use”.