Euro 2016 Fever Takes Over

Today marks the start of Euro 2016, the 15th tournament of its type since the first competition was hosted in France and won by the Soviet Union in 1960.

Unsurprisingly the web is bursting with those desperate to get in on the excitement, us included (after all it is the first time Wales have appeared in a competition in my lifetime!) , here’s a look at what you can expect to see over the next few weeks.

Google

As of yet, there is no sign of a specific Euro 2016 micro-site similar to what Google built for the 2014 World Cup, the trend retrospective site is still available here: https://www.google.com/trends/worldcup

Google’s doodle features a Euro 2016 animation to greet searchers as of this morning, I’ve like to see it remain throughout the duration of the tournament.

In terms of providing information as quickly as possible to searchers, Google has provided a useful special feature which appear for the following searches:

Euro 2016
Euro 2016 Fixtures
Euro 2016 Results

Also if you search for Euro 2016 venues, you will see this information box:

I’ve like to see more features added as the tournament progresses, such as one for Euro 2016 top goal scorers, although that doesn’t seem too likely as there currently isn’t one for the in progress Copa America tournament.

Twitter

There is no doubt that Twitter feeds will be dominated by Euro 2016 discussion over the next few weeks, to make this a more visual experience, in the build up to the campaign Twitter unveiled a number of Emoji’s for each team and for the competition.

Any Tweet sent throughout the tournament that includes the official tournament hashtag -#EURO2016 – will automatically trigger an emoji of the trophy.

Fans will also be able to Tweet their support for their country with a special national flag emoji. Include the hashtag #WAL or #TogetherStronger to trigger the Welsh Flag emoji.

As well as this, from the first match day up until the final, the Eiffel Tower will be illuminated of the colours of the nation that received the most support on Twitter that day 10 minutes after the final whistle of the last game of the day.
As well as this a selection of the best Tweets that day will also be broadcast on the Eiffel Tower!

Facebook

Aside from being over run by sellers of “unofficial” team kits, Facebook has quite a nice hub dedicated to Euro 2016 for mobile users. This section shows the key stories and photos of the event, as well as showing you status’ and photos from your friends list.

There are also unofficial apps which will overlay your profile photo to help you show your support for your country (or the team that simply want to win!). I’d have like to have seen an official app for this, perhaps this will happen for the 2018 World Cup!

YouTube

A recent report published by Tubular Labs revealed that viewership of football videos in the UK on YouTube has doubled in two years.

David Guetta played a special free concert at the Champ de Mars Fan zone on Thursday night which was streamed live on the UEFA.tv YouTube channel 

There is likely to be a wide range of official video content published on the channel and countless unofficial highlights, interviews and more being published.

Periscope & Vine

These video sharing apps will be full of fan videos hoping to give you the “behind the scenes” footage that you are craving. It’s quite likely that some TV presenters will get in on this act too, adding a different layer to their coverage of the tournament.

Your Inbox

Be prepared to be overwhelmed by companies using all sorts of tie-ins with the tournament. This morning alone my inbox has had numerous “kick off with…” offers and messaging!