Digital Lions’ initiative aims to bring the action virtually

To mark the launch of the official British & Irish Lions app, Vodafone (Ireland and UK) have announced a new ‘Digital Lions’ Initiative that will allow rugby fans to virtually become a British and Irish Lion for the first time ever.

Fans will now be able to fully immerse themselves in all the Lions’ action from the build-up, starting today, through to the Tour next year.

The official British & Irish Lions app, available to download now, will offer a range of interactive features including the ‘Digital Lions’, a fully animated virtual avatar tool developed by the team behind Fortnite and FIFA that will bring fans closer to the 2021 Tour than ever before.

The Digital Lions tool will provide fans with new and innovative ways to engage with the Lions, with the ability to interact both with each other and with Lions players past and present.

Irish rugby legend Paul O’Connell has been announced as an official Vodafone British & Irish Lions ambassador for the upcoming Tour in South Africa.

O’Connell a 3 tour Lions legend, was captain of the Lions when they last toured South Africa in 2009. The animations for the Digital Lions are based on the movements of real Lions’ legends like O’Connell who was accompanied by fellow Lions ambassadors – Sam Warburton, Sir Ian McGeechan, and Jeremy Guscott – during an all-action motion capture day to record their own unique gestures for the avatars.

The avatars, which can be created in both the female and male form, will be able to use those movements throughout the season, giving fans the chance to jump like O’Connell, tackle like Warburton, and kick like Guscott.

The app will be any rugby fans’ ultimate companion to the much-anticipated 2021 Tour, providing the latest news, fixtures, ticket offers, merchandise, and interactive fan experiences, all in one place.

Other features include the ‘Team Selector’ which lets users choose their own starting line-up as well as their ‘Ultimate Legends’ team, that they can share on social media and messaging platforms as they compare their dream team with friends and other fans.

As the excitement of the tour builds, new features will be added to the app such as the chance to pose with legendary ex-Lions players in augmented reality (AR), the chance to take part in in-app games which will see them dodging players and equipment against the clock, as well as the opportunity to unlock tickets and merchandise.

Next year, when the games are being played, the ambition is for the app to act as an ‘AR porthole’ so fans’ ‘Digital Lion’ gets a first-person view of all the action in South Africa, from the comfort of their own home.

The app’s ‘Match Centre’ feature will provide live updates on all Lions news from info on the games being played to scores, scorers, team and match stats.

Anne O’Leary, Vodafone Ireland CEO said “We are so proud of our partnership with the British and Irish Lions and of being able to bring our technology experience to the 2021 Tour, uniting everyone behind this iconic team and jersey.

Our ambition at Vodafone is to ensure that we deliver cutting edge technology that keeps our customers, their families, friends, and businesses connected and our focus with the Lions is to deliver the most immersive, connected tour ever for rugby fans.

We are hugely excited about the creation of the ‘Digital Lion’ Initiative, where fans can now create their own Digital Lion using innovation technologies, encompassing motion capture, and augmented reality.

We have also secured a world-first for sport by recreating some of rugby’s iconic archive imagery using the latest AI and machine learning technology.

We are looking forward now to the build-up of the 2021 Tour and using the power of connectivity to give fans the best ever experience.”

O’Connell, Warburton, McGeechan, and Guscott will be joined by ex-England women’s player Maggie Alphonsi as Vodafone’s Legend Ambassadors, who will champion the partnership and the Digital Lions campaign throughout the lead-up to the 2021 Tour.

The app is the first in a number of activations that Vodafone is planning for the partnership. The app, and all future activations, will be designed to deliver on the partnership ambition of Connected by Vodafone. United Behind the Lions, Unlimited Together.

The British & Irish Lions will host a Test match against Japan at BT Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday 26th June 2021 for the Vodafone Lions 1888 Cup, the Test will raise the curtain for the Lions’ eagerly awaited Tour to South Africa, which culminates in a three-Test series against Rugby World Cup champions, the Springboks.

Ben Calveley, Managing Director, British & Irish Lions stated: “As the countdown to next year’s Tour continues, we are excited to be launching the official Lions app in conjunction with our partners Vodafone.

This highly innovative app, which features cutting-edge fan engagement functionality such as the ‘Digital Lion’ and ‘XV Selector’, will further complement our digital channels, allowing fans to interact with the Lions in new and exciting ways.

We have already seen record engagement numbers across our social media channels this year, and we look forward to continuing to deliver best-in-class digital content to Lions supporters all over the world.”

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