Dec 17, 2023
VUZ AND LALIGA SIGNS A 3-YEAR EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 2023: VUZ, the leading immersive social app, that allows users to stream and experience immersive behind the scenes content in 360°, partners with LALIGA, the premier Spanish football league and the largest football ecosystem in the world, to serve as the exclusive official immersive content partner of LALIGA in the MENA region for the next 3 years, offering fans an unparalleled and interactive football experience like never before.
The partnership is set to engage football fans with an endless immersive content on VUZ platform to experience LALIGA in an entirely new dimension.
“We are absolutely thrilled to join forces with LALIGA and embark on this exciting journey of innovation and immersion,” said Khaled Zaatarah, Founder and CEO of VUZ. “Our mission has always been to transform how people connect with their passions, and through this partnership, we are poised to elevate the LaLiga experience for football fans.”
Through this collaboration, VUZ will create and curate immersive content that spans virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and other interactive formats. Football enthusiasts will be able to interact with fellow fans in virtual spaces, transcending the boundaries of traditional fandom.
Maite Ventura, Managing Director - Middle East and North Africa at LALIGA, commented ¨:The MENA audience has shown remarkable growth as LALIGA´s fastest-expanding fan base. The region's fervent football passion has been our driving force for years, as we tirelessly strive to bring our leagues closer to these dedicated fans. Now, in partnership with Vuz, we are elevating the fan experience to unprecedented levels, allowing all our supporters to immerse themselves in the league like never before. This partnership demonstrates LALIGA’s objective of reaching new and broader audiences while looking for innovative ways to engage with fans in the region. It is another example of LALIGA’s continued search for meaningful digital experiences with our fans.”
The VUZ immersive social app won the Tech Company of the Year Award by Tech Entrepreneur Awards and have raised over $30 million since inception backed by investors such as e& Capital, Caruso Ventures, Dubai Future District Fund, SRMG, and many others. The immersive media platform will leverage its partners infrastructure to expand into countries globally.
VUZ, which was known previously as 360VUZ, bridges the gap between the physical and virtual worlds to offer the biggest premium immersive content library in the world with more than 30,000 hours of content and with over 1.7 Billion views covering entertainment, creators and sports segments, and XR, VR, and AR experiences from virtually anywhere in the world.
The GSM Association posted its Mobile Internet Connectivity Report for 2023, revealing 55% of the world's population, about 4.3 billion people, now own smartphones. According to its data, mobile internet users are 4.6 billion, with 4 billion of them accessing the services via smartphones. Football is considered by far the most popular sport in the continent, while research also shows that the number of gamers in the MENA-3 region is projected to be 67.4 million in 2022 and will grow to 87.3 million in 2026, with a nearly 6% average annual growth rate over 5 years. This indicates that ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) will increase over time.
With VUZ's technological prowess and LaLiga's footballing legacy, this collaboration promises to create a lasting impact on the way fans experience and celebrate the beautiful game.
About LALIGA
LALIGA is the largest football ecosystem in the world. It is a private sports association, made up of 20 football clubs/SADs in LALIGA EA SPORTS and 22 in LALIGA HYPERMOTION, and is responsible for the organization of professional and national football competitions. It has over 200 million followers on social networks globally, across 16 platforms and in 20 different languages; and has the most extensive international network of any sports property, through which it is present in 41 countries and 11 offices, with headquarters in Madrid (Spain). The association is socially active through its Foundation and is the first professional football league in the world with a competition for players with intellectual disabilities: LALIGA GENUINE.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company develops and delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, mobile devices and personal computers.
In fiscal year 2022, EA posted GAAP net revenue of approximately $7 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality brands such as EA SPORTS FC™, Battlefield™, Apex Legends™, The Sims™, Madden NFL, Need for Speed™, Titanfall™, Plants vs. Zombies™ and F1®. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.
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