First ever FC Bayern Munich HackDays were a great success!

Bayern Munich hosted their first ever “HackDays” marathon at the Allianz Arena, and it was a major success. Done with the aim of bolstering Bayern’s digital presence for the future, it was held from Jan 19 to 22.

226 participants from 43 different countries came together for the 4-day event. They were divided into different teams that competed in various challenges using different forms of technology. The challenges included, but were not limited to, virtual reality, augmented reality, global fan networking, and innovative services.

Team ‘Beat Adidas’ were the ultimate winners of the grand prize after designing an app they called “The Adidas Challenge.” Since Adidas is Bayern’s main apparel sponsor, the idea behind the app was something that would offer different shopping incentives for Adidas and Bayern products, as a reward for performing various sports and fitness related tasks. It adds a whole, more engaging experience to shopping for Bayern Munich and is designed to make it more fun.

Benjamin Stoll, Bayern’s project manager for digital club platforms, posed with the winning team:

Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was quite pleased with the results of the hackathon and admitted that the digital innovations are going to be an integral part of the club’s future (via FC Bayern.com):

The atmosphere was like a big party. Digitization will play a major role for us this year - it’ll be a key part of our strategy off the pitch.

Rummenigge, Sven Ulreich, Jerome Boateng, and Bayern legend Giovane Elber were present at the awards ceremony to crown team Beat Adidas as the overall winners, capping off what was a massively successful four days.

Photo by Adam Pretty/Bongarts/Getty Images

Highlights from the HackDays: