Wigan Warriors have become the first Super League side to service their global fanbase with digitally-enhanced chat services.
The champions have teamed up with Manchester-based digital agency ActiveWin to service customers via the cutting-edge platform on every day of the year.
Wigan Warriors marketing and community director Martin McLoughlin said the dedicated live chat service on their website would 鈥渕eet the needs of our fans鈥�.
鈥淭heir online expectations of how they want to consume information on purchasing tickets, fixture information and general Wigan Warriors content is a vital part of our fan-engagement strategy,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e believe having a dedicated, human-resourced live chat service is a powerful tool to enhancing our customer and fan experience.鈥�
Wigan have the biggest rugby league fan base in the UK and have been crowned champions 21 times, won the Challenge Cup 19 times and are a record four-time World Club Champions.
The new partnership has other links, considering Betfred are the official sponsors of Super League until the end of the 2021 season.
The world鈥檚 largest independently owned bookmaker has named ActiveWin their agency of record for the past six years.
Betfred founder and entrepreneur Fred Done has partnered with Jacobs on several joint ventures, including Adzooma and Raven Track.
Done commented: 鈥淩ugby league is a fantastic sport and that is why I鈥檓 the headline sponsor of the Super League, the Championship, League One and more recently the Women鈥檚 Super League.
鈥淲igan and their fans will only benefit from this new collaboration with ActiveWin.鈥�
The collaboration was orchestrated by Warren Jacobs, MD of digital marketing company ActiveWin, who said: 鈥淎ctiveWin is always on the lookout for new channels to compliment what we do for clients.
鈥淪ince we are the flagship agency for Betfred and successfully engage with the same audience as the Warriors, it makes perfect sense for us to cross over to the sports club market and expand our digital services to include things like live chat.鈥�