Premier League club Crystal Palace has secured a new sleeve sponsor in Facebank, naming the facial replication technology firm its official sleeve partner for the 2021/22 season.
Lauded as a ‘first of its kind’ deal in football, the agreement will see Facebank’s logo feature on the sleeves of The Eagles playing shirts. The company will replace 2020/21 shirt sleeve sponsor IQONIQ, a fan engagement platform.
Facebank will also be able to take advantage of in-stadium branding opportunities at the Arthur Wait and Holmesdale Stands at Selhurst Park, on pitch-perimeter LED boards and on the South London club’s website and app.
Barry Webber, Crystal Palace Commercial Director, remarked: “Our partnership with Facebank is the first of its kind in world football. Facebank has an amazing suite of products, and I am sure our fans will enjoy using some of their technology to show their support for Palace.”
Facebank uses ‘digital likness’ technology to augment, replicate and protect the human face for use in consumer apps, video games, social media and entertainment.
As a result of the partnership with Crystal Palace, supporters of the club will be able to sample Facebank’s technology using Palace-themed digital face paint on themselves and their friends and the firm’s Fan of the Match app, with results shared on social media platforms.
The firm also intends to incorporate its ‘cutting edge’ animated 3D technology, which will be used to replicate the likeness of popular Crystal Palace players.
“Facebank is delighted to be working with Crystal Palace, whose fans are known for their passion and the great atmosphere they create when following their team,” said Nick Ramsay, Chief Product Officer of Facebank.
“We develop fun and engaging technologies that help people treat their own face and body as intellectual property and we put the consumer in control of their digital presence. We are looking forward to putting it in the hands, and on the faces, of Palace fans.”
The agreement is the second major deal secured by Crystal Palace this year, following the announcement of the club’s responsible gambling partnership with national self-exclusion service GAMSTOP in March 2021.
