When fans really become part of a world class sports event

The last weekend of October 2019 saw Budapest hosting one of the biggest swimming shows in the world, the International Swimming League arrived to Hungary after rounds in Napoles, Lewisville and Indianapolis.


Fans flowed in the Duna Arena from all around the world to support the stars lining up in four teams. London Roar, led by superstar Adam Peaty, LA Current captained by five times Olympic champion Nathan Adrian, NY Breakers headed by three times world champion Pernille Blume and last but not least Team Iron, spearheaded by the Hungarian swimming icon, Katinka Hosszu.


The competition is already making big waves around the world with the show that it delivers on all locations. The organizers set the goal to revolutionize the way how a swimming competition is conducted and try to deliver a first class on location fan experience to everyone who is fortunate enough to cheer for the world’s best swimmers on the stands. Extreme light shows, mysterious race lighting, MC’s and jaw dropping DJ moves firing up the crowd on all competition days of the seven rounds.


However, ISL Budapest gave a little more to fans in the Duna Arena than the previous locations and also to fans biting their nails off in front of the live Eurosport broadcast in all European countries and the ESPN broadcast in the United States. What was different this time around? ‘Seyu – Together for victory!’ not only gave a lifetime memory to fans in Duna Arena by having their fan selfies displayed on the giant screens above the pool, Team Seyu also connected in real time remote fans thousands of miles away from the live action with the swimming legends on poolside.

Two thousand fans were screaming on the stands on both days of the competition, while over a thousand from all around the world made sure that the top class athletes saw them cheering for their victory. During the weekend fans tuned in from all parts of the United States, United Kingdom and Hungary to be part of this amazing event.


It was thrilling to see how supporters made clever use of the team specific poses while getting their photos taken. We saw many London Roar fans forming claws with their hands, while Team Iron fans were quick to flex their biceps and point at them. Fans were also using motivating messages and hashtags on their photos provided by Seyu for each team.


Happy supporters in Duna Arena had a chance to pose in front of an interactive wallpaper which they picked for themselves depending on who they cheered for. Team Seyu were using five LedPostAirs to display the themed backgrounds, this way fans could pose next to the giant photos of the biggest stars of the competition.

Seyu fan selfies weren’t only displayed in Duna Arena and hush, disappeared into the ether, no, they were also shared on social media, giving additional, lasting exposure in the online world to the event and to the teams competing. Only a week after ISL Budapest, on Seyu’s official social media account fan selfies already delivered an average 3.7 organic engagement per photo which will continuously increase by the following days as happy fans liking, tagging their photos and sharing their memories with friends in their social circles.

Providing a highly engaging and entertaining service with the help of ‘Seyu – Together for victory!’, ISL Budapest organizers did a bit more than giving fans a unique amusement. They seized the opportunity to cash in on a new communication channel to reach the young, tech savvy generations and expanded a conventional commercial surface, the on location giant screen, into five additional marketing platforms. The ISL brand logo wasn’t only displayed on the selfies posted to the LED screens, it was also ‘stamped’ on all selfies shared on social media by fans, teams and swimmers, on all automated emails sent to users, on all animated push notifications and service intro posters, plus listed in Seyu’s application as sponsor on three spots. Also, this way transforming a few seconds of screen appearance into an infinite presence on social media for the ISL logo, presence that often manifests in directly being tied to supporters’ profiles forever, thanks to fans tagging each other on the branded photos.


The lasting emotional bond that was forged between ISL and the fans as a result of the euphoric experience of being displayed on the giant screens at their long awaited sport event and on the official social media channels of their favourite teams, hardly matchable with any other experience widely available not only in the arenas, but for remote fans too in great distances away.

Swimmers in all teams loved the new activity available for their fans, the Brittish star, Adam Peaty invited fans in his Instagram story to tune in via Seyu selfies. There is so much opportunity in using ‘Seyu – Together for victory!’s moderated communication channel in a continuous manner and keeping fans connected on a global scale to a line of sports events between rounds.



The biggest take away from being part of ISL Budapest and providing Seyu’s innovative solution yet in another sport is that, no matter which sport we are talking about, fans love to show the stars that they are with them in the fight for glory.

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