Millwall FC have partnered with UK tech start-up, OneID®, to innovate their online sign-in process. This is a forward-thinking development for the club as OneID®’s technology will innovate the process of how fans sign-in online. OneID® enable people to verify their identity online. Their technology works in seconds and can verify the identity of all users of digital banking, which is currently circa 50mn people in the UK. Embracing OneID®’s identity technology will make it easier for fans to interact with the club online when buying tickets and merchandise.
The future of Football
This partnership is symbolic of how football clubs are embracing technology with a fan-centric and forward-thinking approach. For example, in 2014, the World Cup in Brazil had more than 3.2bn football fans view the World Cup across the globe. Since then, online viewing across digital platforms has continued to increase in popularity. The relationship between football and its fans is becoming more digitally led and an increasing number of games are being watched on mobile device worldwide.
Fast forward to present day and The International Football Association Board (The IFAB), football's lawmaker, has stated that Artificial Intelligence-driven semi-automated VAR offside technology is on course to be implemented at this year’s World Cup in Qatar. This semi-automated technology was developed by FIFA and should cut the time to make an offside decision down to 3-4 seconds by providing the VAR with more accurate, faster information.
Millwall FC CEO, Steve Kavanagh, said of the recent partnership with OneID®: “We’re delighted to announce our partnership with OneID, who have helped the club transform its online offering for supporters. The ease with which fans can use their technology to quickly and easily register for a single sign on account, or ‘Millwall Profile’, speaks for itself, and I’d like to thank everyone at OneID for their efforts throughout this process. We’re excited to work alongside them in the months and years ahead to continue developing together.”
What is OneID®
OneID® is the only provider of truly digital, real-time identity services that create absolute certainty between a business and a customer, in the fastest, cheapest and safest way.
This ground-breaking technology can authenticate the identity of all users of online banking, which is circa 50 million people in the UK, in a way that is secure, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and certified to DCMS Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework. OneID®’s products have already appealed to a wide range of businesses in the UK.
OneID®’s purpose is to make the world a safer place. And is the only UK Identity Service with access to bank-verified data to ensure that every transaction is protected by the most advanced counter-fraud measures.
Conclusions
The partnership between Millwall FC and OneID® is indicative of football further embracing technology. Football and technology continue to merge together to create superior fan interactions and experiences. Younger fans continue to drive innovation as their football interactions, ticket purchases and viewership continues to be heavily mobile and technology led.
Digitized games and fan experiences are likely to increase as clubs innovate their user experience to accommodate fans on a global scale.