Oliver Steil (TeamViewer): “Sport will go digital, but it’s important to preserve the human factor”

“Manchester United is a perfect partner to establish us as a global technology brand”, stressed the CEO of the German company

MANCHESTER (UNITED KINGDOM), June 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The CEO of the technology company TeamViewer, Oliver Steil, highlighted the importance of the tools offered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) in the digitalization process of sport, although he stressed the importance of preserving the “emotional” side and “unexpected”, and the human factor.

In an interview with Europa Press at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, the club of which the German company is the main sponsor, Oliver Steil highlighted the “variety of scenarios” of application, including in sports, of the popular ‘software’ for access and remote control of computers and other devices.

“We offer solutions for the digitization of work processes throughout the entire value chain, in any sector, be it automotive, health or sports. Companies from all over the world use our remote connectivity solution to access and control devices remotely, whether they are computer equipment such as computers, mobile phones, or even industrial equipment and machines”, he recalled.

Similarly, companies use TeamViewer augmented reality solutions to digitize front-line processes in field services or logistics. This is the case of its sports partners, Manchester United and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, who have the ambition to be “smarter” and improve in the search for victory.

Manchester United uses TeamViewer to remotely access their club’s television systems, send photos in a very short time and, among other features, in the security system of the legendary Old Trafford through the use of ‘smart glasses’ and specialized software to make said inspection more efficient.

In addition, this solution allows significant savings in travel costs, in the case of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, which sends a smaller number of engineers to the Formula 1 World Championship circuits because they can support it from the factory in the United Kingdom to through remote connectivity.

“Step-by-step instructions based on Augmented Reality are bringing additional value to sports partners, as they too have processes like repairing technical equipment or managing their own logistics centers,” Steil said.

THE “PERFECT PARTNER”

The TeamViewer ‘software’ has already been installed on more than 2.5 billion devices worldwide, but to communicate it and establish itself as “a global technology brand” they have partnered with one of the most popular clubs in the world, Manchester United , which adds around 1,100 million fans.


This alliance has materialized in advertising actions, organization of events and experiences for fans such as playing football matches at Old Trafford. “It is important to us that Manchester United, as a football club and as a company, benefits from the introduction of our software solutions, because we see ourselves as a partner for digitalisation. This can mean an increase in the efficiency of business processes.” , but also a support for employees, because we want to help make their daily work easier, smarter, faster and better”, said the CEO of TeamViewer.

In fact, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and his team of assistants and analysts use TeamViewer technology to quickly and securely access files on their Manchester-based servers from anywhere in the world.

“In addition, they use our software remotely to manage and change content on the ‘video wall’ screens in the players’ gym. This way, the coaching team can highlight specific video content that they would like the players to focus on.” during training sessions in the gym. In the future, we explore all the possibilities on how augmented reality solutions can be used by the coaching staff and the players themselves.”

With more than 620,000 clients worldwide, and Europe as the largest region, Spain is a “very important market” in which the German company is “well positioned”, although it has not yet contemplated an alliance with the two “big” from LaLiga Santander, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, ​​although they are also football clubs “with a large number of global fans and a great history”.

“When Manchester United contacted us to discuss the possibility of a partnership, we thought it was a unique opportunity, as these types of brands are not usually available on the market,” he said.

TeamViewer spent “a lot of time” analyzing various clubs and sports around the world to select the right one. “For us it was a decisive factor that the ‘Premier League’ is followed by billions of fans around the world, and that Manchester United has a very strong following in the Asia-Pacific region, which is a growth market. very relevant to us. Manchester United is a perfect partner for our goal of establishing ourselves as a global technology brand.”

About the limit of technology applied to sport, Steil acknowledged that it plays an “important role” in current and future daily life, including sport. “The sport itself will be digitized to a greater degree, as we already see today in the analysis of player behavior data in real time. But in the end it is still important that the emotional side of the sport is preserved, the unexpected, and the human factor. Beyond all optimization”, he summarized.