Does Manchester City pay influencers to go to the stadium?

The Champions League draw did not bring stand-out matches to Manchester City, included in Group C with Dinamo Zagreb, Shakhtar Donetsk and Atalanta. Having drawn ‘three relatively unknown teams’ has brought less success in terms of both English and international following, so much as to push the Citizens to launch a contest on the influencer marketing platform Tribe, aimed at boys from Manchester aged 18 to 55 with more than 5000 followers.

The purpose of Manchester City is to recruit medium and small influencers to fill the Ethiad Stadium during the Champions League games, inviting them to "tell an authentic and genuine story of what it’s like to be at a game". First, the concept of genuineness and authenticity with which the City imagines the experience of the stadium could be questioned. In the past, videos had already appeared in which at the stadium electronic banners were displayed on the screens in the stands, but also speakers that spread fake choruses and applause during the matches.

On the one hand, it must be taken into account the recent history of the City, which in the last 10 years has had to deal with a large financial potential that did not translate into a fan following as well as in other clubs, such as the rival ​​of the United, Arsenal or Liverpool. Not being one of the teams with more tradition of the Premier League - the pop connection with Oasis is not enough - to counter the deficit towards the other clubs, Man City has focused on communication, however, arrived to break through the threshold of fake entertainment, built and artificial.

Besides, a sad aspect of the fan credibility campaign also emerged from the latest report from the social media agency Pilot Fish Media, according to which 58 per cent of Man City’s 15 million Instagram followers and 33 per cent of its 7.2 million Twitter followers are fake – which in total amounts to about 50 per cent of followers across both platforms. Citizens is the only sports club in the top 50 ranking.

The involvement of big influencers is not new for football clubs, which activate and invite them as guests for events, new kit launches and games, inviting them to the press as guests and not as mere spectators. The announcement aimed at medium-small profiles is instead news, perhaps a sign of the times, which sounds more like a desperate move that risks making the show lose its spontaneity.