The relationship between Real Sociedad and Goodball has only just begun but the relations between the two entities are being profitable and fruitful for both parties. In the context of this relationship, Pablo Ardanaz, International Business Manager for Goodball, visited our city in order to learn more about the club.
Welcome to San Sebastian! What was your first impression of the city?
Thank you! Actually, I was born in Pamplona, so it isn’t my first time here. It is always a pleasure for me to be in San Sebastian and now I have a very good reason to come more often.
You have now visited the new stadium, what do you think about it?
It´s impressive at every level! For the fans, for the players, for the club and for the sponsors. I´ve had the luck of visiting many stadiums around the world and the new Anoeta has nothing to envy to any other stadiums. In fact, the new stadium was one of the reasons why we wanted to become partners of Real Sociedad.
Can you explain yourself? Why was Real Sociedad the right partner for you?
We are an innovative media platform; we develop products based on AI and data processing and we are always trying to create something new. In Real Sociedad we saw the best possible partner; Real Sociedad is also investing resources on new technology and trying to improve the services they offer to their fans and sponsors. During our first conversation you could already feel that we have many things in common.
Tell us a little bit more about GoodBall.
We are a technology company; we develop Apps for us but also for other companies. GoodBall is our last App which is a football news portal combined with our voice recognition software that allows our users to interact with the App.
So it is like Siri for iPhone?
Yes, that is a good analogy. However, our virtual assistant is specialized in football. You can ask the App about personal information of any player, how many appearances the player has, or his birthday or his preferred foot; GoodBall will answer you all these questions. The same at the club level.
It´s a pity that our technology is, at this moment, only available in Chinese and that the local fans of Real Sociedad and La Liga cannot enjoy it yet.
What are your expectations for the cooperation with Real Sociedad?
Firstly, we wanted to increase our brand exposure, and this is something that is working well. La Liga is getting more popular in China, moreover Real Sociedad had an amazing start in the league, consequently more fans are interested on watching the Real Sociedad games. We are very happy in this aspect. On the other hand, we are speaking about potential partnerships to develop new products that could be relevant for the club and for our company.
Do you have plans to come to visit us soon again?
Yes, but next time we will be a bigger group coming and stay for a home game at the Reale Seguros Stadium. We will also talk deeper about potential partnerships for the upcoming months.