Dugout, a new digital media platform supported by a number of elite European football clubs, has officially launched.
The free-to-access platform will feature a wide range of content, such as player interviews and behind-the-scenes video footage, as well as dedicated profile pages for each club and player partner.
Dugout has already signed agreements with several major clubs, with senior executives from a number of clubs listed as directors.
English Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, Spanish Liga team Barcelona, Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A club Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain of France's Ligue 1 are all represented on the list.
In addition, Dugout has deals in place with a number of other major clubs, as well as over 150 players, such as Barcelona and Brazil star Neymar, Arsenal’s Chilean attacker Alexis Sanchez and Gareth Bale of Real Madrid and Wales.
Content will be available on Dugout at least 24 hours before it appears anywhere else, with the exception of the television channel operated by Barcelona.
Fans can access the platform via the Dugout.com website or the official mobile application in an initial eight languages – Catalan, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Kate Burns, previously of Google and AOL, has been appointed as executive vice-president of Dugout. According to the Guardian newspaper, speaking about the new platform, she said: “It has been designed to engage and attract millennials from across the globe and we know this is a critical audience for advertisers to reach.”