Belgium - Iceland: the full stadium experience in your living room

The Belgian Red Devils will play at home against Iceland with an empty stadium on Tuesday, 8 September. To avoid it being a silent match at the King Baudouin Stadium, the Belgian Red Devils are calling on their fans to support them en masse from their living room. The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) conveys supporters’ cheers from their living room to the stadium and your TV screens at home. You can also discuss great player moves with your friends, like at a café, but from the comfort of your sofa. To make this fan experience come true, the RBFA will set up a test on Tuesday evening with the television channels VTM and RTBF and the innovative start-ups HearMeCheer and FanFest. 

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the Belgian Red Devils fans cannot go to the King Baudouin Stadium on Tuesday, but are forced to watch the match on TV at home. It’s a real shame for the fans as well as for the players on the field. To bring the experience of the live match to your living room, the RBFA sought out innovative start-ups that could bring the full stadium experience to the living room and the field. The apps from HearMeCheer and FanFest will really liven up the home game against Iceland on Tuesday. 

Manu Leroy, Marketing & Communication Director for the Royal Belgian Football Association:

“The Belgian Red Devils will have to play in empty stadiums for some time, which is why we needed to find a manner in which we could engage the fans in the game and get the full stadium experience to them. We found two innovative start-ups via the international virtual incubator HYPE Sports Innovation. HearMeCheer transmits live cheers. FanFest allows supporters to chat with friends via their computers about the match as if they were in the stadium or a café.” 

The King Baudouin Stadium experience on your TV instead of a sterile, pre-recorded audio track

The app from the Canadian start-up HearMeCheer captures the cheers, chants, and encouragement of Belgian fans in front of their television. The app mixes supporters’ sounds and transmits them live as a background to the comments on VTM and RTBF, the channels that will broadcast the match against Iceland. If you want to cheer the Belgian Red Devils on to victory from your living room, go to hln.be/supportermee on Tuesday evening. ​ 

Elias Andersen, CEO of HearMeCheer:

“As a start-up, we are honoured that we can help fans of the highest-ranking team in the world in one of the most popular sports. Now that the Belgian Red Devils have to play in empty stadiums in the time of COVID-19, our innovation helps the Royal Belgian Football Association create the feeling of a full stadium. It makes the experience much more enjoyable for the players on the field and the supporters at home in front of their TV set.” 

Bea Goedhuys, Partnership Manager at DPG Media:

“As a proud media partner of our Belgian Red Devils, we are happy to support this original initiative. We believe it’s important to give all the supporters at home the chance to really make themselves heard in the stadium. After all, what is a match without fans? So when you watch the match on VTM or HLN.be, be sure to check out HLN.be/supportermee and cheer our Red Devils on to victory.” 

Lastly, the RBFA will test a second innovation on Tuesday. Supporters can video chat with friends during the match from behind their computer via the app from the New York start-up FanFest. If you want to try it, go to watch.fanfest.io/rbfa. The app creates the full experience of a stadium or café where supporters can discuss great player moves in real time.

About HearMeCheer

HearMeCheer is an innovative fan engagement platform developed by the team at ChampTrax. The Toronto-based company has created an app that allows sports fans at home to actively engage with their favorite teams playing in ballparks, arenas, and stadiums around the world. HearMeCheer collects live fan noise, cheers, sounds and reactions into a live audio stream that is used by sports teams, leagues, and broadcasters in live game coverage.For more information, visit HearMeCheer.com 

About FanFest

FanFest is a digital platform where sports fans create "watch parties" to cheer, bet, and buy merchandise with family and friends. Launched in 2020, fans in 100+ cities across 4 continents use FanFest for nearly 2 hours on gameday. Created by VICI Sports, Inc. and launched in 2020, FanFest is already a recognized leader in virtual fan monetization. Leading sports teams including Paris Saint-Germain, sports federations including the Royal Belgian Football Association, and sports broadcasters including Univision commercialize fans with FanFest while creating an easy-to-use, socially-distanced, global destination to enjoy live sports. FanFest is 100% free to launch.

For more information, visit www.playvici.com

About HYPE

HYPE is the leading global platform for Sports Innovation, with 40k+ members including Startups, Sports Leaders, Clubs, Brands, Investors, and Mentors. HYPE is a proven gateway for converting SportsTech into Business Success.

Among our network, you can find brands and institutions such as FIBA, River Plate, Miami Dolphins, Sina Sports, Royal Belgian Football Association, Amazon, 1.FC Köln, Loughborough University, and additional strong global partners. ​ HYPE also created an unmatched success portfolio including 200+ startups that graduated from the HYPE Accelerator, raising more than $180M, and 40% of them have also raised a 2nd round of funding.

If you want to assist to the demo day for clubs and federations of the global virtual accelerator HYPE you can join via this link.

Contact
​Stefan Van Loock
​Press & media officer @BelRedDevils and @BelRedFlames
​GSM +32 477 63 93 36
​stefan.van.loock@rbfa.be