Neymar Jr's transfer helps Dugout set new record viewing figures

Scott Goodacre -

Brazilian striker Neymar Jr’s world-record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain has helped Dugout break its own records for the number of views of its content.

The site followed Neymar through his first 24 hours as a PSG player, including revealing his squad number, showing him meeting the club’s president, and documenting his unveiling at the Parc Des Princes.

This exclusive footage was shared with over 1 billion people around the world thanks to more than 75 publishers who embedded the content on their sites. As a result, the videos received 1.4m page views on the Dugout website and 14m impressions across social media – a new record for the site.

The transfer – and resulting footage – catapulted PSG to the top of the Dugout leaderboards for page views for the first time ever.

Elliot Richardson, President of Dugout, said:

“While all the mainstream news is about the fee, we know that fans crave that intimate, ‘human’ side of a transfer which is rarely broadcast. That’s where, with our unique club and player relationships, we’re able to carve out these opportunities.

“PSG think very innovatively about digital content, and as we have a strong relationship with them already, they decided the Neymar opportunity naturally made sense for their Dugout channel. Many more of our partner clubs are adopting the same approach and we look forward to more of these types of events in the future.”

Following its launch towards the end of 2016, Dugout has signed up 60 clubs from around the world as partners. The site also has over 100 individual footballers on its books. The football-based social network allows fans to follow several clubs and players and offers exclusive and behind-the-scenes content.

At the beginning of August the Scottish Professional Football League became the first league to partner up with the platform. They currently boast over 38m global users.

Players and clubs are increasingly looking to monetise the content they share on social media, and Dugout’s model of sharing advertising revenue allows them to make the most of their respective followings.