Manchester City and Sony Unveil ‘Man City Virtual Etihad Stadium’ Interactive Fan Experience

Manchester City has announced the launch of the ‘Man City Virtual Etihad Stadium’—a new interactive fan experience created by Sony for fans to enjoy.

The interactive experience makes City the first sports brand to utilize Sony’s new FavoriteSpace™ service. Since their partnership was announced in November 2021, the two global brands have been collaborating on this fan engagement proof of concept (PoC) experience.

Now available to fans, the newly launched app offers a virtual fan community where Cityzens from the UK, US, and Japan can connect and celebrate the club throughout the season. Fans can create personalized avatars and engage in various activities, including daily challenges, social events, minigames, and co-creation features. Digital merchandise can also be redeemed in a virtual City Store.

Powered by Hawk-Eye Innovations, a Sony group company, fans can explore 3D immersive match highlights for City home games during the 24/25 men’s season and relive key moments from the 23/24 season. “Through the FavoriteSpace service, Manchester City is offering new opportunities for club partners, with brands like Etihad and Nissan leading the way in developing innovative and engaging activations. These activations include reactive LED messaging within the Immersive Highlights for Premier League matches and specific challenges within the interactive Stadium Tour.

Nuria Tarre, Chief Marketing and Fan Experience Officer at City Football Group, commented: ‘We’re thrilled to launch this new experience today alongside our long-term partner Sony, as part of our broader strategy to embrace new technologies and continuously explore innovative ways to engage and entertain our audience.

‘It’s exciting to see the PoC partnership come to life with today’s launch, and we are grateful to Sony for collaborating with us on the Man City Virtual Etihad Stadium.

‘This is the latest digital experience we’ve introduced for our global fanbase, following successful initiatives on platforms like Roblox and Fortnite in recent years, and we hope fans worldwide will enjoy it.’

Yuhei Yabe, Head of New Business Development Division at Sony Group Corporation, added: ‘We are pleased to bring this new sports experience to football fans by combining Sony’s FavoriteSpace service with the engaging content provided by Manchester City.

‘Sony is dedicated to making the future of sports more engaging and innovative by leveraging our technology and entertainment expertise. It has been an incredible journey from the PoC phase with our partner Manchester City, and today, we are thrilled to announce the launch.

At FavoriteSpace, we will continue to develop services that bring fans closer together, enhancing the experience of supporting their favorite teams and players.’

To learn more about the Man City Virtual Etihad Stadium, please visit [here](https://www.mancity.com/favoritespace).

The app is also available for download on the App Store and Google Play.

‘FavoriteSpace’ is a registered trademark or trademark of Sony Group Corporation or its affiliates.