Liverpool FC (LFC) has formed an agreement with Meta which allows fans to customise their own digital avatars in official club colours.
As LFC becomes the first Premier League club to launch its own virtual merchandise on the Meta Avatars Store, the collection can be shown on the technology company’s platforms, which includes Facebook and Instagram.
Drew Crisp, SVP for Digital at LFC, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be the first Premier League club with our own Meta Avatars. This is another fantastic opportunity for our global fanbase to digitally engage with Liverpool Football Club and create their own individual club-coloured avatars.
“Having a digital connection to the club that our fans adore – whether they’re here, near or far – is so important and helps to bring our global family closer together when physical connections aren’t always possible.
“We have more than 70 million global supporters following our Facebook and Instagram channels, and we’re really looking forward to seeing many of those avatars change and don our iconic kit or lifestyle apparel.”
As the top-flight team aims to offer fans a ‘unique way to create a digital version of themselves’ and ‘express their personality online’, supporters now gain the choice of dressing an avatar in the home kit or the multi-coloured away strip from the 2022-23 season, as well as in LFC’s own-label lifestyle collection.
Insider Analysis: This partnership comes amid increasing interaction between sports and the emerging metvase, as clubs and leagues seek enhanced fan engagement. Whilst Liverpool are the first to launch digital kits via Meta, they are not the first to target an enhanced digital presence – cross-city rivals Everton notably partnered with Fancurve to launch digital avatars in August.
