Read articles by Camilla Silva, senior marketing executive. She covers live streaming, community chats, engagement, retention, and product strategy across industries. Explore practical guides and expert insights in the Watchers Blog.

Camilla Maria Silva

Watchers integrated the community chat into the BetBoom platform in Brazil. Community significantly increased user engagement and connection with the platform, as well as the number of transactions due to the win-sharing widget.

Embedded community chats to engage users in-app and grow revenue and retention. Watchers solution allows to host live streaming in-app and provide the most engaging space for audiences

BetBoom Case: Community chat with embedded live streaming 

<p>Betboom is a casino and sports betting platform. Watchers chats are integrated into the casino part with a general community chat that allows users to gather together, discuss their experience, share information about their wins through a special widget, and watch live streaming directly on the platform.</p><p>The website and app are available in Portuguese.</p><p><strong>Maya Nosak, CPO:</strong></p><blockquote><p>“We are genuinely excited to have this opportunity to collaborate and elevate our product together. We truly believe that the distinctive features of your solution, such as live chat, message reactions, event sharing, copy-widget and more, offer our clients a unique chance to feel part of a real community, express their emotions, and enrich their overall experience on our platform.&nbsp;</p><p>We look forward to developing a long-term partnership that delivers a seamless, community-driven experience for our users.”</p></blockquote><h2>What we have provided</h2><ul><li>A customised community chat available on the platform. Users see the chat before the authorisation, after logging in they can communicate via text, threads, stickers, and emojis.</li><li>Implemented advanced moderation tools designed to foster a positive environment for user interactions. The AI moderation system effectively supports conversations in Portuguese, boasting a precision score of 94-96%. This ensures a safe and secure space for all participants, allowing them to engage freely and confidently in discussions.</li><li>Event-sharing widgets that allow users to share information about their winnings in two clicks. Other users can join the same game by clicking a widget. The widget has been helping the platform increase the retention level because of leading users into a game.</li></ul><p>All functionality available on both desktop and mobile.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/793;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/dcae60c2-0ca4-4812-85dc-8c300a7276ce.jpeg" alt="Integrated community chat for players in Portuguese" width="1500" height="793"></figure><h2>User journey</h2><ul><li>Users of the platform see the chat before the authorisation: they can open it for a readonly mode. There are three entry points to a chat. When you users try to join the conversation, they are sent to the authorisation page. When authorised, they need to create a nickname, choose an avatar, and they can participate in the communication.</li><li>They can report other users' messages, reply to them in threads, and react to messages. Messages marked with time of sending, and reading mark. Users also can send animated stickers in a chat to support liveliness and emotional level, send anonymous animated emojis</li><li>If users have won, they can share the info about the amount of money they won and the title of the game where they won, through the special widget. Other users can click it and open the initial game to try their luck.</li><li>When the live streaming is going on, users can see the video right inside the chat and comment on it.</li></ul><p>A community chat helps users stay engaged and connected with the platform before and after the games, and a event sharing widget allows the platform to cross-promote the games in a user-driver manner with no additional resources involved.</p><h2>Get in touch</h2><p>Please <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your">get in touch with us </a>if you'd like to integrate community chats with your website or app. We'll be happy to help you find the best solution.</p>

How have community chats to sports event increased engagement and retention on VirtualSoft platforms in Latin America.

Case Watchers and VirtualSoft: Community chats to engage users during sports events

<p>Watchers integrated event community chats to Ecuabet and DoradoBet, located in Latin America, and enhanced user engagement and activity on the platform significantly, as well as the number of transactions due to the copy-widget.</p><p>VirtualSoft is a leading technology and services provider in Latin America, specialising in the gambling industry with a presence in 14 countries and more than 5 brands. Watchers chats are integrated into two of them: Doradobet and Ecuabet. The platforms are available in English and Spanish.</p><p>They are dedicated to developing platforms for sports betting and online casino games.</p><h2>What we have provided for VirtualSoft</h2><ul><li>Customised community chats for all sports events available on the platforms. Users see the chats after the authorisation and can communicate via text, threads, stickers, and emojis. Community chats are open simultaneously for as many events as available on the platform.</li><li>Delivered tools for moderation, which provide a healthy space for users' conversations. AI moderation works for both Spanish and English with a 96% precision score, and provides a secure space for all users.<br>Copy-widget allows users to share their bets in a chat in two clicks and repeat the bets after each other. The widget has been helping the platform increase the number of transactions significantly.</li><li>Engagement and marketing widgets to grow engagement and create cross-promo campaigns: polls and pop-ups.</li></ul><p>All functionality available on both desktop and mobile.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/642;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/b52e3497-31ae-445a-b5e9-ec1fe7d0018e.jpeg" width="1500" height="642"></figure><h2>User journey</h2><ul><li>Users of the platform, when authorised, open any event on the client’s platform and see the chat button. They create a nickname for the chat and choose an avatar, then start sending messages and participate in conversations.</li><li>After placing a bet on the main platform, users click the share in-chat button and send information about the choice via a specific widget; the widget doesn't display any financial details. Other users can click the copy button, and the choice will be at once added to their coupon. This allows users not just discuss their predictions in a chat but exchange decisions they made and share their strategies easily.</li><li>Users can switch between different events and communicate in as many chats as they wish.</li><li>They can report other users' messages, reply to them in threads, and react to messages. Messages marked with time of sending, and reading mark. Users also can send animated emojis and stickers in a chat to support liveliness and emotional level.</li></ul><p>Chats help keep users engaged during the games and matches and build connections between the platform and audience.</p><h2>Get in touch</h2><p>Please <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your?month=2025-08">get in touch with us</a> if you'd like to integrate community chats with your website or app. We'll be happy to help you find the best solution.</p>

We upgraded the FC app with community chats and other engaging tools for fans, increasing retention, fan loyalty, and direct sales of memberships, tickets, and merchandise.

FC App: Community chats to engage the club’s fans

<h2>What we have provided</h2><ul><li>Integrated customised community chats within the football club’s app, allowing fans to cheer, discuss the season, players, and news directly in the app — without the need for messengers or additional social media.</li><li>Audio live streaming tools to host live conversations and discussions about matches, results, and tournaments.</li><li>Added engagement widgets such as polls and quizzes to encourage more active interaction with users.</li><li>Enabled marketing offers to promote ticket sales and merchandise.</li><li>Introduced badges for users with club memberships.</li><li>Added branded stickers and the ability to share pictures.</li><li>Comprehensive moderation system, including block lists, in-chat tools for users (block/report), AI moderation, and manual options in the back office.</li><li>Regular semantic analysis of fans' messages to help the clients find the opportunity to grow, improve the app, and work precisely with direct user insights.&nbsp;</li></ul><h2>User journey</h2><ul><li>Hosts can start live streams and communicate with their audience via chat. All necessary tools, including moderation features and the ability to launch polls, are available directly in the chat, so streamers don’t need external platforms or links.</li><li>Fans can access the Fan Chat section in the menu and tab bar, where they find:<br>a lobby chat for discussing club news and ongoing matches,<br>themed chats on specific topics,<br>dedicated chats for particular fixtures.</li><li>When a live stream is scheduled, fans can add it to their calendars. The chat and stream open at the set time, with a countdown visible beforehand.</li><li>Users can engage with one another and with the host: asking questions, sharing emotions, replying to messages, starting threads, sending stickers, and posting animated emojis. Reactions and replies are supported.</li></ul><h3>Chats help keep users engaged during the whole season, help to grow revenue, and gather fans from the spread social media accounts to the leading club's communication channel.</h3><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1205/833;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/ad39119b-82ff-430d-b03f-bfeaf0ed2db4.png" width="1205" height="833" alt="community chat for football fans on the FC app"></figure><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"><strong style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14, 16, 26);margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;">Get in touch</strong></span></span></h2><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Inter;font-size:0.9375vw;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.35417vw;margin:0px 0px 1.30208vw;orphans:2;outline:0px;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><span style="background-color:white;color:black;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border:1pt none windowtext;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.1px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0cm;vertical-align:baseline;" lang="EN-GB" dir="ltr">Please </span></span><a style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(87, 89, 255);font-family:Inter;font-size:0.9375vw;font-style:inherit;font-weight:400;line-height:1.35417vw;margin:0px;outline:0px;overflow-wrap:break-word;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:color 0.4s;vertical-align:baseline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your?month=2025-08"><span style="background-color:white;color:rgb(77,77,230);font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border:1pt none windowtext;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.1px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0cm;vertical-align:baseline;" lang="EN-GB" dir="ltr">get in touch with us</span></span></a><span style="background-color:white;color:black;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border:1pt none windowtext;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.1px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0cm;vertical-align:baseline;" lang="EN-GB" dir="ltr"> if you'd like to integrate community chats with your website or app. We'll be happy to help you find the best solution.</span></span></p>

Community chats are integrated with the Icelandic live-streaming platform and help direct and engaging communication between hosts and their audiences.

Livey: Chats for pay-per-view live streaming

<p style="margin-bottom:1pt;margin-top:0pt;"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watch.livey.events/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"><strong>Livey</strong></span></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"> is a pay-per-view live streaming platform for content creators. Creators can host live streaming events through Livey and monetise their content. The audience watches content also on the Livey platform: so you can find there both the back office for creators and a catalogue of videos for viewers.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:1pt;margin-top:0pt;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:1pt;margin-top:0pt;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:1pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true">The platform is based in Iceland, available in Icelandic and English.</span></span></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/1115;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/7cf2986f-6b6b-45ce-9902-dae435abf9b0.jpeg" width="1500" height="1115"></figure><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"><strong style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14, 16, 26);margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;">What we have provided for Livey</strong></span></span></h2><ul><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true">Placed customised community chats to allow hosts and streamers to communicate with their viewers. The functionality is available on the web. Users can communicate via text, animated emoji, threads, and stickers. Chats are available only for participants of events: hosts have the admin rights (can moderate messages, pin important ones, publish polls), guests communicate as regular users.</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true">Delivered tools for moderation, which provide a healthy space for users' conversations.</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true">The tool for automatic translation is provided, allowing users who don’t speak the main language of the discussion to translate all messages in chats to their desired language.&nbsp;</span></span></li></ul><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"><strong style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14, 16, 26);margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;">User journey on Livey</strong></span></span></h2><ul><li><p style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14, 16, 26);margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true">Hosts start the stream and can communicate in a chat with their guests. All needed instruments are available right in a chat, including moderation tools for manual management and the opportunity to publish polls. So streamers don’t need to use any external platforms or links.</span></span></p></li><li><p style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14, 16, 26);margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true">Users click the chat button and can engage with each other and with the host, ask streamers questions and share their emotions about the stream. They can reply to each other’s messages, start threads, and send stickers.</span></span></p></li></ul><p style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14, 16, 26);margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><mark class="marker-yellow"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true">Chats help keep users engaged during broadcasting and build connections between hosts and viewers.</span></mark></span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);"><span style="margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"><strong style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14, 16, 26);margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;">Get in touch</strong></span></span></h2><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Inter;font-size:0.9375vw;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.35417vw;margin:0px 0px 1.30208vw;orphans:2;outline:0px;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><span style="background-color:white;color:black;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border:1pt none windowtext;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.1px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0cm;vertical-align:baseline;" lang="EN-GB" dir="ltr">Please </span></span><a style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(87, 89, 255);font-family:Inter;font-size:0.9375vw;font-style:inherit;font-weight:400;line-height:1.35417vw;margin:0px;outline:0px;overflow-wrap:break-word;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:color 0.4s;vertical-align:baseline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your?month=2025-08"><span style="background-color:white;color:rgb(77,77,230);font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border:1pt none windowtext;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.1px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0cm;vertical-align:baseline;" lang="EN-GB" dir="ltr">get in touch with us</span></span></a><span style="background-color:white;color:black;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;border:1pt none windowtext;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.1px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0cm;vertical-align:baseline;" lang="EN-GB" dir="ltr"> if you'd like to integrate community chats with your website or app. We'll be happy to help you find the best solution.</span></span></p>

Freedom is an all-in-one community crypto platform where users can connect, play, communicate, build communities, and get tokens by completing various fun missions and tasks, as well as create their own communities and missions. 

Discover how the gaming app in Thailand enhances user engagement and retention through a Watchers community chat solution.

Freedom World app: community chats for the entertaining app, powered by Bitazza 

<p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The app is available in Thai and English.</span></span></p><h3><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">What we have provided for Freedom</span></span></h3><ul><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Placed customised community chats: a chat lobby and several chats for different games. The functionality is available on both mobile apps (Android and iOS). Users can communicate via text, animated emoji, threads, and stickers. They see chats only if they are authorised.</span></span></p></li><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Delivered a four-layer moderation, including AI, blocking lists in Thai, the tools for moderation by real people, and user moderation, the scope of which provides a healthy space for users' conversations.&nbsp;</span></span></p></li><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The tool for automatic translation is provided, allowing users who don’t speak Thai to translate all messages in chats to their desired language.&nbsp;</span></span></p></li><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Provided tools for achievements and badge assignments (including API for seamless assignment).</span></span></p></li><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The client uses brand avatars and stickers in chats.</span></span></p></li></ul><h3><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">User journey on Freedom</span></span></h3><ul><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Authorised users click the chat button on the home page to join a chat or a similar button on the game pages. After clicking it, they open a chat.</span></span></p></li><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Users have the same avatars and nicknames that they use on the main platform profile.&nbsp;</span></span></p></li><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">They can communicate, reply and react to each other’s messages, start threads, and send pictures.</span></span></p></li><li><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(14,16,26);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-emoji:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Chats help keep users engaged in games and missions and build communities within the Freedom app.&nbsp;</span></span></p></li></ul><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><br>&nbsp;</p>

Learn how one of the leading online gaming platforms boosted user engagement and retention with a Watchers community chat solution featuring interactive widgets, AI-powered moderation, and seamless integration.

Community chat for gaming platform — Jackpot City Integration

<p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:12pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">In December 2024, we successfully implemented our chat solution for Jackpot City, a global online casino platform offering a diverse range of games. The client opted for a general public chat that is directly linked to the gaming experience, allowing users to access and participate in the chat while playing any game available on the platform.</span></span></p><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The integration included a diverse set of interactive widgets such as polls, quizzes, and marketing offers, which Jackpot City uses to promote various activities and events on the platform. To boost engagement and retention, the client leverages our tools to award badges for specific user behaviours and trigger pop-ups to encourage participation in game streaks and other challenges. Our engagement tools are flexible and powerful, enabling Jackpot City to build an impressive, on-platform system that keeps users involved and coming back.</span></span></p><blockquote><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:-apple-system, system-ui, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Arial, &quot;Apple Color Emoji&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI Emoji&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI Symbol&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;caret-color:rgb(33, 33, 33);display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:auto;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-line;widows:auto;word-spacing:0px;">“The integration of community chat aligns with our broader strategic goals of enhancing user experience and fostering engagement. It represents a thoughtful step toward creating a more interactive and connected environment for our customers. Our experience with Watchers has met our expectations. It has also allowed us to make changes that align with our brand dynamically and to understand better and respond to consumer-facing issues. The Watchers team has been excellent at responding to issues and delivering solutions for our team in record time.”&nbsp;</span></i></span></p><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.f6s.com/software/watchers-social-solution?deal=50%25-discount-on-watchers#reviews"><strong>Alex Johnson, Jackpot City</strong></a></p></blockquote><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Watchers solution was integrated via WebView, ensuring a fast and seamless implementation process.</span></span></p><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Our AI-powered moderation system also plays a crucial role, providing real-time protection by hiding or flagging negative or spam messages within milliseconds, creating a safe and welcoming communication space that preserves the positive experience for all users.</span></span></p><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The chat was fully customised to match the Jackpot City brand identity, including colours, fonts, avatars, and branded stickers.</span></span></p><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Additionally, Jackpot City actively tracks all chat interactions to gather valuable insights into user behaviour, helping them fine-tune their engagement strategies and make data-driven decisions.</span></span></p><p style="background-color:#ffffff;line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 12pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Together, these features create a rich, interactive, and secure environment that significantly enhances the user experience, transforming it into a social and interactive one. We are going to develop a partnership with the Jackpot City brand to help them further grow user engagement and retention.</span></span></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/799;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/53b6c18c-f526-4598-9817-7f2f7399d3e9.jpeg" width="1500" height="799" alt="online community chats for gaming"><figcaption>Community chat can be opened from any game page</figcaption></figure>

Learn how to build in-app communities that boost engagement, retention, and loyalty through chat, moderation, and user-driven features.

Build your own community app with our step-by-step guide. Learn what in-app communities are, key features, and tools to boost engagement and retention.

In-App Community: How to Build and Manage One Inside Your App

Based on the recent IBM research about sports fans and their digital preferences, we are exploring what sports features are the most important right now, and what will help you to grow engagement, interaction, and improve monetisation of your app. 

Learn which sports app features modern platforms should include, from live scores and video content to personalization, fan chats, moderation, analytics and monetization tools.

Sports App Features For Modern Sports Apps

<p>Fans use sports-related apps mainly to check match updates and read sports statistics, but they more and more expect a personal, interactive experience. Such an experience can be provided with sports app features like game highlights, behind-the-scenes content, live streaming, and community-building features. All of them will help audience to engage in their favourite club or media app alongside a like-minded fan community. Nobody fancies having ten apps open at the same time anymore: one for stats, one for the info, another for broadcasting, and one for chatting.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://newsroom.ibm.com/2025-08-18-ibm-study-sports-fans-demand-more-dynamic-digital-content,-powered-by-ai#:~:text=Surveyed%20fans%20identify%20real%2Dtime,is%20not%20the%20dominant%20language.">Global research by Morning Consult and IBM showed</a> that sports fans are turning to dynamic digital content experiences, expecting deeper engagement. Technically, AI, personalisation, and real-time features are central to achieving the engagement fans seek in sports.</p><p>Grand View Research’s study shows the sports app market was <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sports-app-market-report">valued at $3.66 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $8 billion by 2030.</a> Only apps that go beyond and offer fans key opportunities for sports consumption and entertainment will succeed in the crowded market.</p><h2><span style="font-size:22px;">Sports App Features… What exactly do you mean by that?</span></h2><p>According to the mentioned IBM report, modern sports app users find the following aspects most important:<br>Summarising: users need a summary of the content they viewed, listened to, read, or missed. Features for this can include game highlights, commentary, AI assistants summarising games users missed, or a short intro for a newly transferred player.</p><p>Personalisation: users want the app to consider their preferences. Customising the profile and choosing what to see and who to communicate with is as important as high-quality news recommendations. Personalisation can also include gamification elements because users earn them on their own.</p><p>Interaction: any app users, not just sports fans, seek interactions. It is a necessary part of the digital experience users expect. Many media and sports brands partner with WhatsApp or TikTok to gather their communities there, but is this a good solution and a satisfying kind of interaction? Let’s see.</p><h2><span style="font-size:22px;">Modern Sports App Features Users Expect</span></h2><p>Let’s jump to the concrete features to see what they can give your users to make them return more. Before choosing the feature to develop, you need to specify your goals: you want to grow revenue by selling merchandise? To grow incremental value through subscriptions and memberships? Do you need to attract more sponsors and partners by showing the overall metrics growth? Or do you need to support and grow your fan base and user loyalty? By answering this, it will be easier to pick the most suitable features for your set.</p><p>Almost 40% of sports fans expect to find all the needed information and functions in one place when using a sports app. As we wrote, nobody wants ten apps open at once while watching a football game. The most popular reasons fans mention for using sports apps:</p><ul><li>Real-time update</li><li>Access to exclusive content</li><li>More statistics</li><li>Engaging with other fans or with the team.</li></ul><p>Let's go through the features that can meet all these needs.</p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">Content Features and Their Paradoxes&nbsp;</span></h3><p>Modern fans expect more than mainstays from a sports app because they consume content across various formats. Imagine how much content surrounds any user on social media, VOD, broadcasters, and news media. When you start a new app or relaunch an old one, decide your content goals. You cannot compete with the variety of platforms and content providers, so don’t try. Instead, find and specify your niche.</p><p>If an app provides the same schedules, standings, news, stats, and updates as sports websites and TV channels without catering to expectations, growth is challenging. According to an IBM study, sports fans want more dynamic digital content, personalised content and real-time game updates as three things they value highly.</p><p>Over the last several years, broadcasters and industrial giants have closely followed changes in broadcasting consumption. Despite a large shift to VOD, most viewers still watch sports via linear TV. While this is good news for advertisers, it challenges brands going digital because they must compete with the TV screen. It also challenges viewers who have too many screens and platforms to consume at same time.</p><p>Short-form videos of key moments like goals, fights, and celebrations, along with interviews and behind-the-scenes content, can bolster user mainstays. Providing a space within the app where users can discuss the latest highlights and sports news boosts engagement significantly. Creating exclusive content for subscribers equips the app with an additional monetisation flow and gives users a new reason to return.</p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">Personalisation</span></h3><p>Personalisation involves creating opportunities for interactive content. To start personalising UX, the app can use onboarding to ask generic questions to users about their preferred teams or players, as well as personal information like age, gender, and country. So, updates, sports news feeds, and dashboard information will highlight what the user is interested in.</p><p>Dynamic adjustment within your app based on analytics of user engagement that can ensure you stay up to date on users' personalised needs. For example, if a user frequently engages with content from a particular team, that information can be used to make it available as soon as they open your app. Alerts and push notifications further reinforce personalisation by pushing out information your customers care about.</p><p>Personalisation is also connected not only with recommendations based on data but also with the experience which the user can personalise on their own: for instance, customise the profile with images, colours, names, or any other elements. On the other hand, users can participate in gamifying offers and achieve personal trifles they will like and stick to, and which will make their profile and their experience with this app unique.</p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">Interactive Features</span></h3><p>Creating that interactivity can be quite simple by creating polls around predictions regarding upcoming games or post-game polls about star players, as well as weekly quizzes. Providing in-app opportunities for predicting the outcome of matches with winners declared at the end can also lead fans to be more invested.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1371/1500;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/8d004c5f-4068-43f7-9a36-1c60aef297b6.jpeg" alt="sports app features in a modern sports app interface " width="1371" height="1500"></figure><p>Fantasy sports tools can be another workable interactive feature. With them, users can create a fantasy team to earn points based on the real-world performance of the athletes they choose. Fantasy sports work perfectly with community rooms, as they put the experience of fantasy leagues into live interaction with a real community.</p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">Community Features Inside a Sports App&nbsp;</span></h3><p>According to IBM, many more fans prioritise <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/community-engagement-strategy">сommunity engagement </a>in sports in 2025, compared to 2024. A good sports community app today requires a place within it where sports fans can communicate. That means creating community rooms, allowing commenting and discussion on news or events, or just chatting between matches. Without a community engagement feature, there is little reason for users to open up your app before, during, and after events beyond a simple stat checking. The IBM study we mentioned also revealed that over 80% of sports app users use their apps during events, and even a larger percentage of those users use them during live events.</p><p>What’s specifically important is that community-building tools are strongly connected with other features mentioned. When users’ conversations take place within the sports app, all their data is held within the app. It helps the app owners strengthen the relationship with users, develop personalisation and optimise offers for more opt-in services.</p><p>As for various types of sports, communities inside apps are most preferable by football and golf fans. Globally, 53% of sports fans seek community engagement if not separate them into various kinds of sports.</p><p>Except the necessity for users, community features allow you to keep all first party data inside your app which become more valuable, and increase retention—users will come back to your app’s communities, nit in the messages and Instagram.&nbsp;</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/How-and-Why-Is-Collecting-First-Party-Data-Crucial-for-Your-Business"><strong><u>Read about first party data usages</u></strong></a></p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">Moderation and Safety Concerns</span></h3><p>When the fandom came into the official app, risks also came. Community chats and real-time messaging not only provide users with the tools to connect, but at the same time, the passions of sports fans can lead to derogatory comments being posted. So, safety features like content and community moderation tools are essential.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/Safety-VS-Censorship-Our-Approach-to-Moderation"><strong><u>Read about AI moderation systems more</u></strong></a></p><p>Today, moderation must include many levels and be cascaded to protect users, the brand, athletes, and all possible participants of the sports consumption and circulation. Block filtering, AI flagging, and tools for users to provide a secure space for themselves are usually included in the moderation pack for any community-building app.</p><p>Sports have their own specificities being one of the most multicultural and multinational industries which, unfortunately, still cannot get rid of racism and other violent behaviour. But with the moderation system built right and attentively, the community which is gathering in the team app will be much safer than gathering on social media, where these situations are uncontrolled.</p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">AI Agents and Assistants</span></h3><p>AI is rapidly becoming a core part of the sports fan experience. As you remember, we mentioned that summarising is extremely important for sports fans: the summary of the game, tournament, team performance, the short info about what is happening in the other team group can be easily provided by AI.<br>AI can be a good assistant in the search for any sports-related information: for instance, if fans want to estimate the statistics of the new transfer. If such an assistant does not live in the external service, but inside the team’s app, fans will have many more reasons to spend time there or even pay for a subscription.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/ai-sports-assistant"><strong><u>Learn more about AI sports assistant&nbsp;</u></strong></a></p><figure class="image"><a href="https://watchers.io/ai-sports-assistant" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/750;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/5dd341f1-3913-4f6a-9f3b-2d776e909ebc.jpeg" width="1500" height="750"></a></figure><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">Monetisation Features</span></h3><p>Obviously, monetisation tools meet the needs of the brand much more than fans. Still, if the brand organises them in the right way, they can meet users' necessities too.<br>Monetisation tools can include merchandise shops, subscription and membership models of usage, sponsorship deals: when fans watch 5-hour tennis, they can both buy a tennis kit for training and order some food, and if these can be done through the same tennis app, where they communicate with teammates and read live comments, this experience will be full.</p><p>Internal ads remain the main tool for monetisation of the services and platforms, and people more often claim that they are <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/gen-zers-would-trade-more-ads-lower-streaming-costs-prices-rise">ready to watch</a> advertisements if they can get exclusive content for a lower price.</p><h2><span style="font-size:22px;">How to Choose the Right Features for Sports Apps</span></h2><p>A single sports app doesn’t need to be everything all at once, and the features chosen should be dependent on the audience, platform style, goals, and capacity to execute. What kind of app do you develop: club app, league app, live score apps, sports media app, OTT / streaming platform, event or tournament app, sports fan app?</p><p>Your target audience will also help you shape which features you should roll out first. For example, a study by Parks Associates <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.parksassociates.com/blogs/digital-media-and-content-distribution/younger-sports-fans-shift-viewing-habits-creating-new-opportunities-for-streaming-services">indicates</a> that younger audiences want highlights, interactivity, and social media engagement from mobile sports apps. Younger fans are more likely to engage with interactive features like live stats, polls, fantasy sports, and integrated gaming.</p><h3><strong>Checklist for choosing sports app features:</strong></h3><ol><li>Choose the core feature of your app</li><li>Find ways of monetisation</li><li>Find out how you will collect, store, and use user data</li><li>Choose the ways to personalise the user experience</li><li>Estimate what type of gamification suits you the most</li><li>Decide which place the community will have in your app and the ways users will communicate with each other or with the team</li><li>Organise a moderation system for fan chats</li><li>Add clear and engaging onboarding</li><li>Choose which type of exclusive content you can provide for users</li><li>Integrate an AI bot to cover users’ needs.</li></ol><h2>Fast and Easy Integration of Community and Interactive Features</h2><p>With Watchers, you don’t need to build the community features from scratch: integrate communication chats, live streaming, community podcast tight in your app, gamification, and AI sports assistant help you to give your users a deep and interactive experience. &nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your?month=2025-09">Try Watchers</a>, and build the community strategy with us and observe your metrics’ growth.</p><h2><span style="font-size:22px;">FAQs About Sports App Features</span></h2><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">What are sports app features?</span></h3><p>Sports app features are the specific tools created and integrated to improve the experience for users. Usually, they can be divided into three categories:&nbsp;engagement, like polls or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/community-chats">community chats,</a> utility, like match updates, and monetisation, like upsell widgets.</p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">What features should a sports app have?</span></h3><p>A sports app should include this list of core features:</p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Real-Time Alerts:&nbsp;Instant scores, stats, schedules, standings, fixtures, team profiles, and news feed<br>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Live Coverage:&nbsp;Video streaming or real-time commentary.<br>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interactivity:&nbsp;Fantasy leagues and real-time community chats.<br>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gamification: Achievements, badges, other rewards.</p><h3><span style="font-size:20px;">Why do sports apps need community features?</span></h3><p>Community features allow fans to share their emotions about the match in real time, creating the atmosphere of a real stadium. This interaction builds user loyalty with the brand app and keeps fans engaged long after the end of the game.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/sports-industry-trends"><span style="font-size:20px;"><strong><u>Learn more about current trends in the sports industry</u></strong></span></a></p><h2>Resources</h2><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://newsroom.ibm.com/2025-08-18-ibm-study-sports-fans-demand-more-dynamic-digital-content,-powered-by-ai#:~:text=Surveyed%20fans%20identify%20real%2Dtime,is%20not%20the%20dominant%20language.">IBM Study: Sports Fans Demand More Dynamic Digital Content, Powered by AI</a></li><li>Grand View Research <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sports-app-market-report">Sports App Market Size, Share And Growth Report, 2030</a></li><li>Activate Report <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.activate.com/insights-archive/Activate-Consulting-Technology-and-Media-Outlook-2025.pdf">Activate Consulting Technology &amp; Media Outlook 2025</a></li><li>Parks Associates Study <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.parksassociates.com/blogs/digital-media-and-content-distribution/younger-sports-fans-shift-viewing-habits-creating-new-opportunities-for-streaming-services">Younger Sports Fans Shift Viewing Habits, Creating New Opportunities for Streaming Services</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/espn-live-sports-scores/id317469184">‎ESPN: Live Sports &amp; Scores App - App Store</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/gen-zers-would-trade-more-ads-lower-streaming-costs-prices-rise">Gen Zers would trade more ads for lower streaming costs as prices rise</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.statsperform.com/fan-engagement-monetisation-ai-report/">Sports Fan Engagement, Content Monetisation &amp; AI Trends Survey</a></li></ul>

Learn how to measure fan engagement in sports with the right metrics, from repeat visits and content depth to community activity, retention and fan lifetime value. 

Learn how to measure fan engagement in sports with the right fan metrics, from repeat visits and content depth to community activity, retention and fan lifetime value.

Fan Engagement for Sports: Key Metrics

<p>Not long ago, sports brands and clubs were actively chasing reach and visibility, counting TV ratings, impressions, social media followers, and likes. Many still go after likes and views, but these metrics don’t reflect a real level of fan engagement and loyalty anymore. Even with millions of views on social media, clubs can have unsold tickets, empty stadiums, low revenues, and two users on their official app.&nbsp;</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/glossary/fan-engagement">Fan engagement tools </a>help the brand grow fan loyalty, pull them back to the stadium and digital platforms repeatedly, and make them invest in the brand. Clubs that create lasting emotional bonds with fans enjoy high ticket and merchandise sales, bright and wide sponsorships, and the direct increase in revenue.&nbsp;</p><p>In this article, we highlight the real fan engagement metrics that matter the most today and how to benchmark them.</p><h2>Why Old Fan Engagement Metrics No Longer Work</h2><p>Fan metrics like views, number of followers, and likes were once something sports brands boasted about, but they don’t hold the same value today. These metrics, at best, reflect a brand’s reach, but they don’t show true fan loyalty to the brand. Recently, PSG Lab <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.psg.fr/en/content/paris-saint-germain-accelerates-innovation-with-psg-labs-at-station-f-and-opens-applications-for-its-next-startup-batch-psg-club-news-2025-2026">announced</a> that they focus on fan engagement because they see the problem in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://wsc-sports.com/blog/industry-insights/inside-psgs-tech-first-vision-for-global-fan-engagement/">separating</a> the fan base of the club from the club itself. Arsenal and Barcelona started an official partnership with WhatsApp to communicate with fans constantly.&nbsp;</p><p>Anyone with a slight interest in a sports brand or club can follow it on social media, but only devoted and die-hard fans show up at actual games and purchase team merchandise.&nbsp;</p><p>Genuine fan engagement is measured by how emotionally connected fans are to a brand, how often they show up at games. &nbsp;For clubs and brands, it means high ticket sales, packed stadiums, and solid fan support on match day. Clubs that cater to their fans’ actual needs even see revenue benefits from subscriptions on their streaming apps, merchandise sales, and fantasy leagues.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/1001;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/85693daf-01a0-4069-b284-dfeeae20cff2.jpeg" width="1500" height="1001" alt="Fan engagement metrics"><figcaption>The packed stadum looks like this</figcaption></figure><h2>What Fan Engagement Really Looks Like Today</h2><p>Fans today demand more interactive experiences from clubs than ever. Besides the actual game, they want exclusive content and personalised interactions that make them feel more connected. Many clubs and brands have realised this and are actively inventing ways to increase fan engagement.&nbsp;</p><p>Yet, many still find it challenging to actually engage their supporters and build a loyal fanbase. These clubs need to understand and follow a simple <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/glossary/user-engagement">user engagement </a>model: attention → participation → retention → value.</p><p>Turning supporters into loyal, devoted fans starts with grabbing their attention. Social media is by far the best way to do it. With <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://backlinko.com/social-media-users">69.9% of the total world population using social media</a>, promoting your club through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch is a must.&nbsp;</p><p>Constant presence on your fans’ feeds is bound to catch their attention, but content must cater to their needs to make them participate. However, a supporter who occasionally joins a conversation or likes a post is still not a truly engaged fan. You need to keep delivering value to make them come back and participate regularly. This kind of engagement doesn’t come from traditional fan engagement strategies.&nbsp;</p><p>Even though social media presence has its importance, sports teams and clubs now need to take extra measures to meet the constantly rising demands of fans. These include:</p><ul><li>Providing personalised and behind-the-scenes content on your own app</li><li>Conducting live events where fans can connect and engage</li><li>Establishing fan communities&nbsp;</li></ul><p>Creating interactive experiences through real-time trivia and quizzes, video calls, and streaming<br>F1 Drive to Survive docuseries is the perfect example of how personalized and behind-the-scenes content attracts fans. The F1 fan base grew significantly after the release of the docuseries, with around <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://pro.morningconsult.com/instant-intel/f1-fandom-netflix">30% of U.S. fans saying</a> the series was a major reason they started following the sport.</p><p>Brands see real value when they listen to their supporters’ needs and make them feel connected. This shows up as high ticket and merchandise sales, increasing subscriptions and memberships, sponsorship, and ad revenue.</p><h2>The Fan Engagement Metrics That Matter Most</h2><p>Let’s discuss the key metrics for measuring fan engagement that show whether your fans are actually connected to your club or brand.</p><h3>Repeat Visits and Frequency of Interaction</h3><p>Engaged fans always come back to consume new content, and they interact when they find it interesting enough. These are the fan metrics you must measure to see what kind of fan base you have.<br>Monitor how many fans return to your site, socials, or app, and track the number of daily or monthly active users. Measuring the average time a fan spends on your app and the number of games they watch per month is also crucial. It gives you invaluable insights into fan behaviour.&nbsp;</p><p>Fans that consistently visit your app, stay on it for a meaningful amount of time, and interact are far more likely to show up at games and buy team merchandise.&nbsp;</p><h3>Depth of Content Consumption</h3><p>True fans are actually invested in your content, and they consume a significant portion of it. Measuring fan metrics like scroll time on blog articles, percentage of a video a fan watched, and the time spent on content gives clear insights into how interested fans are in your content.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/1001;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/3d5e85e9-8626-4592-bbf2-329d7fb4df47.jpeg" width="1500" height="1001" alt="Fan engagement and retention"><figcaption>Fan engagement and loyalty are closely connected</figcaption></figure><p>If your fan analytics doesn’t show deep consumption, it could mean your content isn’t focusing on their needs. Check which content type is showing deeper consumption, which gives you a clear idea of how to improve your content strategy.&nbsp;</p><h3>Community Activity</h3><p>Fan communities play a vital role in boosting fan engagement, but you need to analyze fan behaviour in communities to gauge true fan engagement. Monitor whether your fans are starting conversations, participating in discussions, and sharing content with others. These are the traits of loyal fans. Die-hard fans even make their own content about your club.&nbsp;</p><p>Communities with high fan activity lead to organic growth and high fan lifetime value.</p><h3>Retention Rate</h3><p>Retention rate measures how consistently fans interact with your club or brand over time. It’s one of the top fan engagement metrics to track to see if you’re building lasting relationships with your fans.&nbsp;</p><p>Track renewed subscriptions, repeated ticket purchases, and repeated visits to your app and site. Loyal fans who really feel connected to your club are the ones who actually spend money.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/user-retention"><strong>Read more about retention strategies and how to improve them</strong></a></p><h3>Churn Rate</h3><p>Churn rate shows how many fans dropped off, stopped buying tickets, unsubscribed, or became inactive, and it directly affects fan lifetime value and revenue. It is measured through fan engagement metrics like season ticket sales, streaming subscriptions, and app usage.</p><p>If your churn is high, it’s a good idea to create a poll or conduct a survey to find the reason behind it. It could mean fans are struggling to afford tickets or subscriptions, losing interest because of poor team performance, or they are not satisfied with the overall fan experience.</p><h3>Long-Term User Value&nbsp;</h3><p>Loyal fans bring in revenue, which you can track through long-term user value. It measures the total revenue a fan generates for the brand or club over the entire time they remain a fan.&nbsp;</p><p>Devoted fans make repeated ticket purchases, buy team apparel, and subscribe to apps. These metrics give you long-term user value and show the worth of your loyal supporters.&nbsp;</p><h2>Where Fan Engagement Data Comes From</h2><p>Many sports brands still consider social media a goldmine for collecting fan engagement data to measure metrics, but it’s only a part of the data sources. Almost every team now has an official website. Around 73% of sports fans use mobile sports apps. Many clubs and brands also have membership portals, virtual fan communities and forums, and streaming channels.&nbsp;</p><p>All these platforms are sources for fan engagement analytics. If you skip these and focus only on social media platforms, you’re not getting actual fan data insights. Many sports teams with a dedicated mobile app saw increased ticket sales due to it.</p><p>So, if you’re <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/analytics">measuring metrics</a> like retention rate or fan lifetime value, &nbsp;and it doesn’t include sports analytics data from your app, you’re not getting the actual picture.&nbsp;</p><h2>How to Benchmark Fan Engagement the Right Way</h2><p>Benchmarking fan engagement effectively is important to get useful insights from metrics. You must compare the right metrics, in the right context, to see what your fan engagement analytics mean. Fan engagement benchmarking should be done like this:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>You need a starting point that you can use to compare performance. Measure your metrics, such as monthly active users, retention rate, and churn rate, and use them as a baseline. For example, if your baseline for monthly active users was 15% and now it’s 24%, it shows growth even if the number still seems small.</li><li>Overall averages don’t provide useful insights. You should compare things like new fans vs returning fans, season-ticket holders vs casual viewers, and active vs inactive users.</li><li>Proper benchmarking uses multiple metrics to get meaningful fan engagement analytics. For example, if you’re measuring participation, use metrics like comments, shares, and votes.</li><li>Research industry benchmarks thoroughly before comparing your metrics to them. Also, take into account season timing (peak vs off-season), match frequency, and audience size differences.</li><li>Connect your metrics to business impact and revenue.&nbsp;</li></ul><h2>How to Turn Metrics Into a Practical KPI System</h2><p>Measuring metrics doesn’t matter much if you can’t connect them to your business goals. You need to measure metrics in a way that they influence decision-making and revenue.&nbsp;</p><p>To get the most value out of your measured metrics, create a practical KPI system. It could include a few key performance indicators that directly tie to your goals. For instance, if your goal is to increase ticket sales, you must measure repeat visits and conversion rates from both the app and website.&nbsp;</p><p>If you want to improve fan retention, measure monthly active users, subscriptions, and ticket purchases to see the trend and create engagement strategies accordingly.&nbsp;</p><p>To make sense of your KPIs, combine and analyse them collectively. Compare your views and retention rate. High views and low retention show your content is attractive but not meeting the needs of your fans. &nbsp;Compare retention rate with long-term user value. When both are high, you have a strong long-term fan base.</p><h2>Why Community Matters So Much in Sports</h2><p>Fans' demands today have changed so much from what they were two decades ago. Passive viewing alone doesn’t build fan engagement anymore. Fans now want more interactive experiences and a shared space where they can talk, react, and celebrate together. An in-platform community provides that space.&nbsp;</p><p>Clubs and brands with active communities, that are built with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/community-chats">community chats</a>, podcasts, live streaming, and second-screen features, have high retention rates and improved revenue through tickets and merchandise sales. It even gives them rich data to measure metrics.&nbsp;</p><h2>Bring Fan Conversations Back to Your Platform&nbsp;</h2><p>Reaching fans through social media is now easier than ever, but retaining them still requires correct strategies. Clubs and brands shouldn’t just focus on measuring reach but measure metrics that reflect actual fan engagement.</p><p>Ready to increase fan engagement and user retention and build communities on your own digital platforms? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your?month=2025-09">Book a demo with Watchers</a> to start building the community strategy that works.</p><h2>FAQs About Fan Engagement Metrics</h2><h3>What are the most important fan engagement metrics?</h3><p>These include repeat visits, frequency of interaction, depth of content consumption, community activity, retention, churn, and long-term value.</p><h3>How do you measure fan engagement in sports?</h3><p>Measuring fan engagement requires you to track the right metrics and KPIs, such as repeat visits, watch time, participation, and community activity.</p><h3>What is the difference between reach and engagement?</h3><p>Reach just shows you how many people view your content, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are your club’s loyal fans. Engagement shows how connected your fans are to your club and how they interact with it.</p><h3>What is a good fan engagement benchmark?</h3><p>It depends on the platform, sport, and audience size. It’s recommended to research industry benchmarks properly before comparing your metrics.</p><p>***</p><p>Turn matchday attention into in-app conversations. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatadmin.watchers.io/register">Try Watchers</a>, and see how your sports platform can keep fan reactions, discussions, and community activity inside their own product.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Explore the new 2026 World Cup™ format, including 48 teams, 12 groups, and learn how these changes affect the fan experience.

Explore the new 2026 World Cup format, including 48 teams, 12 groups, and the Round of 32, and learn how the expanded tournament could affect fan experience and engagement.


World Cup 2026 Format Explained: What Changes for Fans

<p>Many countries have official broadcasters and media covering the tournaments and everything around football this summer. These platforms can grow user loyalty and increase metrics significantly. However, their challenge comes after the World Cup™ ends and fans leave. To keep them on the platform and grow retention, turn them into your audience, not just the World Cup™ audience. You need to create community environments that offer a unique experience and let users feel part of something bigger, sharing emotions, cheering, excitement, and disappointments.</p><h2>How the 2026 World Cup™ Format Could Change Fan Experience</h2><p>Since this year, the main global football tournament has adopted a new expanded format: more games, more countries, higher speed. This influences not just the leagues—it changes the interactions between athletes, the sports industry, audiences, and football fans. People are no longer able to watch all the games of the tournament, even if they are the most loyal fans or experts. They need to seek out information and community more actively to keep the context.</p><p>But not just that: more countries mean more fans. And because many national teams don’t have much experience in participation, their fans have little knowledge about the tournament, but they have their own habits and traditions of supporting their teams, so it is an opportunity for the sports industry to attract new national fans with their various cultures into the game.<br>The 2026 World Cup™ Format Explained</p><p>With the expansion to 48 teams and a multi-country host format, the FIFA World Cup 2026™ marks a turning point for international football, becoming broader in participation, more diverse in reach, and more connected to audiences worldwide—ultimately evolving into a more inclusive global platform.</p><h3>48 Teams, 12 Groups, 104 Matches</h3><p>Once again: the World Cup 2026™ introduces a major structural change, almost a revolution, expanding to 48 teams divided into 12 groups and increasing the total number of matches to 104.&nbsp;</p><p>This new format gives more nations the opportunity to compete on the world stage, while also extending the tournament’s duration. At the same time, it reshapes the competitive dynamics, with a revised group stage and knockout pathway which maintains fans’ excitement for longer.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/1200;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/4bab2824-af7d-41a7-b46d-173ed8560da4.jpeg" alt="World cup 2026 group stage" width="1500" height="1200"><figcaption>Group stage scheme (from Roadtrips.com)</figcaption></figure><p>Of course, more countries mean more teams, more traditions, stories, languages, fan bases, and even anecdotes. For instance, the 48th place in the tournament graph went to the Qatar national team, which <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/2026-world-cup-power-rankings-alexi-lalas">obtains</a> "the worst Elo ranking." &nbsp;However, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/48361967/2026-world-cup-squads-ranked-all-48-national-teams-win-tournament">as ESPN notices</a>, there has been one even worse team than Qatar—Togo in 2006. But at the same time, Togo had Emmanuel Adebayor, the active Arsenal player, when Qatar's best player is Akram Afif, who is playing for Al Sadd SC. Among teams which are placed on the lowest numbers, you can find Curaçao (47), Cape Verde (46); we can see on the list Iraq in 44th place and Haiti in 42nd. The 39th and 38th places went to Jordan and Iran, respectively. Curious, that if Iran finishes second in their group and the United States does the same, they will play each other in the round of 32. Climbing higher on the table, we see more expected teams, but we all should remember—we love football because sometimes (not often, but still) it surprises us. So, let’s hope to be surprised this summer!</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/sports-industry-trends"><strong>Read more about the main sports industry trends 2026</strong></a></p><p>The group stage this year is structured in a way that each team plays three matches within its group, facing every other team once. At the end of this stage, the top two teams from each of the 12 groups automatically join the knockout rounds. They are joined by the eight best-performing third-placed teams, creating a 32-team playoff, ensuring broader chances of progression across the tournament.&nbsp;</p><p>The introduction of a new—the 32nd round—adds an additional knockout stage at the start of the playoffs, also expanding the elimination phase. This increases the total number of high-stakes games, widens the tournament’s duration and gives fans more extreme win-or-go-home moments.</p><h2>Time and nerve saving</h2><p>At the 140th Annual General Meeting (AGM), the International Football Association Board (IFAB) introduced a package of measures aimed at increasing match tempo and reducing time-wasting. The reasoning becomes clear to anyone who has watched a game where a winning team deliberately slows play to protect the score. While these measures may seem like an attempt to optimise time for broadcasting or advertising, they in fact help ensure fairer play and allow both teams to make full use of the time available.<br>The measures include:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>substitutions must take no more than 10 seconds;</li><li>a five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal kicks;</li><li>injured players must leave the field for at least one minute.</li></ul><p>Another set of changes concerns VAR. Previously, it was used only for four scenarios: goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards, and cases of mistaken identity. Now, referees can also use VAR in additional situations, including red cards resulting from a clearly incorrect second yellow card, cases of mistaken identity where the wrong player is penalised, and clearly incorrect corner-kick decisions.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/1136;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/818051ee-2c31-4111-a697-0598f2aa5a54.jpeg" alt="Playoff World Cup 2026 scheme with dates" width="1500" height="1136"><figcaption>Playoff scheme (from Roadtrip.com)</figcaption></figure><h2>Football fan base population</h2><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://emw-global.com/insight/fifa-world-cup-2026-report/">According to the EMW Report</a>, football audiences are mostly presented by millennials, followed by Gen X. Younger fans (13–34) are also present and especially active while fueling engagement through digital platforms, discussions, and merchandise consumption.</p><p>At the same time, sports media consumption in North America (which is especially important for this year) is changing. Streaming has become as important as traditional linear TV, with a majority of fans, especially younger ones, watching live sports on subscription platforms. At the same time, this leads to consumption fragmentation, as fans often need several services to follow teams, which means higher prices and more access issues (like geo restrictions). Despite this, traditional broadcasting remains general for major events, while social media, used by over 90% of younger fans, has become central for highlights, news, and ongoing communication.</p><p>But these statistics are generic; when we are talking about the World Cup 2026, we need to focus on bilingual viewing, and approach—<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://nexxenus.docsend.com/view/w7aaavpyqusjyy7b?submissionGuid=7cb620e4-88a8-4d55-83ce-562c3abadb16">more countries, more fandoms</a>. When it comes to languages, we should remember that in three host countries, people speak three languages. And imagine how many languages we will get, if we count all those used in all participating countries.</p><p><i>Curious facts provided by Nexxon Media:</i></p><ul><li>14% of the audience will watch games both in English and Spanish</li><li>63% of the US audience will watch the tournament mainly because of the host countries</li></ul><h2>Social media usage: In retrospect and perspective</h2><p>During the World Cup 2022™, in Qatar, traditional TV viewership decreased by 11.9% compared to 2018, which was caused by a shift toward multi-screen consumption. Fans were complementing live matches with digital content, and platforms like TikTok got a central role—serving both as a “second screen” for 85% of users, and a discovery engine that boosts match viewership. FIFA adopted this fans’ love for TikTok and made them the official partner last time, and the official social hub this year, which already demonstrates quite exceptional results. Last year, 1.4 million posts were placed on TikTok with the hashtag #FIFAWorldCup. It is not a secret that Gen Zers use TikTok as a search engine and a source of information and news, and throughout the tournament, it can help to grow the best metrics of the platform even more: more games, more results and news should be found.</p><p>The replacement of the linear TV with content creators can be presented with an example of the podcast “The Rest Is Football,” made by former football players Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer. This podcast <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://marketing4ecommerce.net/en/how-the-2026-world-cup-will-affect-global-advertising/">reached</a> 20 million views on YouTube during Euro 2024, which led to its being bought by Netflix. The streaming giant, rather than spending billions on broadcasting rights to games,<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/37655980/gary-lineker-netflix-world-cup-deal-podcast/"> invested 14 million pounds </a>to stream this podcast daily during the 2026 World Cup.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/1448;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/54584069-9bdc-4cab-ad33-e4cbeeb1f3b4.jpeg" width="1500" height="1448" alt="World cup scheduling"><figcaption>Time availability of the games for different time zones</figcaption></figure><p>In general, FIFA’s official social media accounts attracted six million new followers by the end of the Round of 16. They created a channel on WhatsApp dedicated to the tournament, which gained a total of 4.4 million followers already (the tournament hasn’t even started yet).</p><h2>Protection or security</h2><p>Ahead of recent tournaments, FIFA has placed <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/fifa-social-media-tool-aims-protect-womens-world-cup-players-abuse-2023-06-18/">increasing</a> emphasis on protecting both fans and participants from online abuse (we <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://watchers.io/post/moderation-sportsonline_communities">covered this</a> before the last World Cup). Their Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), developed with FIFPRO, moderates hate speech and other digital violence and has already filtered millions of harmful comments on various platforms and services. It reflects the scale of the issue, which is greatly proven by the fact that one in five players at the 2023 Women’s World Cup <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/one-five-players-2023-womens-world-cup-got-abusive-messages-fifa-2023-12-11/">received</a> abusive messages.&nbsp;</p><p>At the same time, FIFA’s digital ecosystem continues to expand rapidly, with millions of new social media followers, strong adoption of messaging channels like WhatsApp, and significant app downloads, underscoring the growing importance of safe and engaged online fan communities.</p><h2>Community engagement on all online stadiums&nbsp;</h2><p>Many countries have official broadcasters and media covering the tournaments and everything around football this summer. These platforms can grow user loyalty and increase metrics significantly. However, their challenge comes after the World Cup™ ends and fans leave. To keep them on the platform and grow retention, turn them into your audience, not just the World Cup™ audience. You need to create community environments that offer a unique experience and let users feel part of something bigger, sharing emotions, cheering, excitement, and disappointments.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/case-study-worldcup-matchtv-2022"><strong>Learn more about community chats integrated with the official broadcaster of the Qatar World Cup™&nbsp;</strong></a></p><p>The expanded 2026 World Cup format will give fans more reasons to follow the tournament every day. Watchers helps sports, media and streaming platforms keep that conversation inside their own product with in-app community features built for live events. Even if you represent the national league or team, don’t send your fans into WhatsApp groups when you can gather them together on your own platform and stay connected.&nbsp;</p><h2>FAQs About World Cup 2026 Format</h2><h3>How many teams will play in the 2026 World Cup?</h3><p>48 teams will participate, making it the largest World Cup in history.</p><h3>How do teams qualify from the group stage in the 2026 World Cup?</h3><p>The top two teams from each group qualify, along with the eight best third-placed teams.</p><h3>How does the Round of 32 work in the 2026 World Cup?</h3><p>It’s a new knockout stage where 32 teams compete in single-elimination matches to advance to the Round of 16.</p><h3>How could the new format change the fan experience?</h3><p>More matches and teams mean greater global representation and content, but also a more complex and fragmented viewing experience.</p>

It is already the second quarter of 2026, so let’s check how the sports industry is going right now, what is crucial to do now after the Olympics and before the World Cup, to be on top.

Global overview of sports industry trends and sports technology trends in 2026 – how AI, fan engagement, digital communities and women’s sports reshape revenue and audiences.

Sports Industry & Technology Trends 2026

Viewers are no longer satisfied being a passive audience while consuming video content, and streaming platforms are responding to the challenge. Those platforms are replacing singular viewing experiences with social viewing communities. And they’re doing that by incorporating second-screen features, live stream chat, and watch party viewing, all of which encourage engagement, interaction, and connection alongside main screen content consumption.

Learn what watch party apps and live stream chat are, how social viewing turns streams into in-app communities, and when platforms should build, buy or embed watch party solutions.

Watch Party Apps & Live Stream Chat for Streaming Platforms

Keep players talking without leaving the game. Learn what in-game chat is, must-have text and voice features, moderation basics, and how you can implement it for better retention.

Learn what in-game chat is, which text and voice features players expect, and how to build it into your game with SDKs or WebView to keep communication in-house.

In-Game Chat: Key Features, Text vs Voice & How to Build It

<p>Ask any multiplayer team why they “fell off” a game and you’ll hear a fairly familiar theme: it became harder to play together, often because someone had to jump to Discord mid-session.</p><p>A group of friends just wanted to get on the game after work, but now they’re explaining to each other how to make an account on a third-party app and fiddle around with it mid-game. An in-game chat keeps communication attached to the match and party, inside your product.</p><p>This article should give you a feature checklist and a build/SDK/WebView decision guide. Let's get going.</p><h2>What Is In-Game Chat?</h2><p>In-game chat is the communication layer built inside the game client (and backed by servers) so players can actually talk while they’re in the lobby, matchmaking, spectating, or just actively playing.</p><p>Now, this can be in text or voice (even both!), but the defining trait here is context: the game knows who’s speaking and what session they’re in.</p><p>That’s different from “chatting about the game” in third-party chat apps like Discord, especially when the players will be bouncing between two chat apps for different friend groups. Those tools can be great for the community, but they’re usually pretty disconnected from in-session events unless you build deep integrations.</p><p>For example, in a friend group, two players might be on PC, and the other is on console. The PC players can log into Discord, but the guy on console can’t (directly from their console). They’d then have to use another device like a phone or laptop, but now they won’t be able to hear the game audio and their friends at the same time.</p><h2>In-Game Chat Types</h2><p>We can see a few patterns show up over and over in successful titles</p><p><strong>Team Chat: </strong>More of a match-scoped channel to help the players stay coordinated—it’s typically just a small overlay.</p><p><strong>Party Chat:</strong> A persistent channel for a pre-made group for them to chat in, whether about the game or more candidly.</p><p><strong>Clan/Guild Chat: </strong>These are long-lived channels where the players all have roles. A lot more holistic than just a lobby chat.</p><p><strong>Lobby/Matchmaking Chat: </strong>Temporary chat that they use while they’re in a queue.</p><p><strong>Private Messages:</strong> 1:1 messages that persist between sessions.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/Talking-Teaming-and-Thriving-How-In-Game-Chats-Affect-Players-Experience"><strong>Read about the best in-game chat examples</strong></a></p><h2>Why You Need to Keep Communication In-House</h2><p>The business case for you to focus on here isn’t “players like chat.” It’s that communication is literally a multiplier for time spent together, and multiplayer games are increasingly social at scale. For example:</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.theesa.com/resources/essential-facts-about-the-us-video-game-industry/2024-data/">The Entertainment Software Association reports </a>190.6 million Americans play games; 61% play weekly, 74% play with others, and 88% have played online.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://newzoo.com/resources/trend-reports/newzoo-global-games-market-report-2025">Newzoo estimates</a> 3.6 billion players and $188.8 billion in 2025 game revenues worldwide.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/854;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/c7fc7f09-f02d-4176-8d69-3c0bf415a46a.jpeg" alt="in-game chat example in LoL" width="1500" height="854"></figure><h3>The Downside of Relying on External Chat</h3><p>Even though Discord is widely used (reporting puts its monthly active user count at around <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/discord-statistics/#:~:text=Discord%20had%20200%20million%20active%20monthly%20users%20in%202023%20and%20560%20million%20registered%20accounts">200 million</a>), it still presents a separate identity and settings surface. On new-gen consoles, it’s more convenient than it used to be, but it’s still a workflow (for example, how PS5 users start Discord voice chats from the control center).</p><p>But when players communicate off-platform:</p><ul><li>Your Retention Takes a Hit: Session flow breaks when people leave to manage comms, invites, or roles. It’s a hassle for players to fiddle with audio levels so they can hear the game and their friends at clear levels.</li><li>You Lose First-Party Data: You can’t tie conversation to in-game context for personalisation or offers without building a complicated bridge.</li></ul><p>If your co-op loop depends on coordination, and the fastest way to coordinate is outside your game, your core loop is renting critical UX from someone else. And that’s a key problem.</p><h2>In-Game Chat Features: Text, Voice, and Moderation</h2><p>Any good modern stack is doing three things at once: communication, social state, and safety. Here’s what matters most.</p><h3>Real-Time In-Game Text Chat &amp; Multimedia</h3><p>Text is the default for many players: it works in noisy environments, and it’s accessible (not everyone has a mic or feels comfortable speaking). At minimum, ship:</p><p>Channels (team/party/guild) and private messages<br>Reactions/GIFs and lightweight media<br>Sensible limits and safe rendering</p><p>Now, the hard part here is not UI—it’s latency and delivery. For in-game text chat, even small delays add up fast when players are coordinating in seconds. They don’t care how it works, just that it does work. Their messages need to arrive fast and reliably across shaky networks.</p><p>A tip here would be to treat text channels like “lightweight chat rooms” with explicit lifetimes (match-scoped vs persistent). You’d even do the same for social hubs by separating “global” chat rooms from high-signal team channels.</p><h3>Text vs Voice: When Each Works Best</h3><p>Ideally, you’re looking to match communication to player context, so it’s not about choosing between text and voice and doing away with the other.</p><p>Text chat is ideal when players can’t use a mic (shared spaces, noisy environments, etc.), and it’s a lot easier to moderate and archive. It’s also a lot better in terms of coordination - a quick “gg” or “defuse A” that stays around after a match.</p><p>Voice chat, on the other hand, shines more in fast-paced moments where typing is too slow (tactical shooters or battle royals, for example), and it’s better for social bonding because of the whole tone and timing that comes with the emotion involved.</p><p>So, the best approach is to offer both, then let the players control the experience with per-mode settings like push-to-talk or party-only voice.</p><h3>In-Game Voice Chat &amp; Video Chat Integration</h3><p>Voice is why co-op feels like hanging out instead of sending pings. For quality, delay targets matter. For example, ITU-T’s G.114 guidance is to keep the “mouth-to-ear” delay below about 150 ms, because that’s what makes interactivity essentially transparent for most applications.</p><p>In a game, that would translate to a rule like: if their voice lags behind what’s happening on screen, players will stop trusting it. So, if you’re adding in-game voice chat on mobile, plan for some aggressive jitter buffering and fast reconnects when networks switch.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/795;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/c145be65-d3ba-4c17-9e36-55beba1b56c4.jpeg" alt="in-game chat implementation - example of Minecraft" width="1500" height="795"></figure><p>Where does video chat belong? It’s not for every title, but video chat can work for:</p><p>Gaming watch parties / co-viewing inside a game hub<br>Creator-led lobbies and spectator experiences</p><h3>In-Game Chat Moderation</h3><p>You can’t bolt safety on later. Even the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.adl.org/resources/report/hate-no-game-hate-and-harassment-online-games-2023">Anti-Defamation League (ADL)</a> talks about how voice is a major venue for hate and harassment, and its surveys show that harassment is common. That’s especially because it’s seen as anonymous on the offender’s end. If you played games like Call of Duty: MW2 back in the day, you know that first-hand.</p><p>So, your most effective approach is a layered one, and a good chat moderation program documents what you enforce and why.</p><p><strong>Player Controls (Must-Have)</strong></p><ol><li>Mute, block, report</li><li>Per-channel settings (team vs party vs guild)</li><li>“Safe defaults” for new players and minors</li></ol><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/online-community-moderation"><strong>Read more about community moderation tools</strong></a></p><p><strong>Automation</strong> &nbsp;</p><ol><li>Profanity + spam filters for text</li><li>Rate limits and anomaly detection (flooding, copy-paste spam)</li><li>Voice analysis when appropriate (with clear disclosure and opt-outs)</li></ol><p>As we mentioned, Call of Duty used to (and still sometimes does) have a real problem with this, so Activision rolled out <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.callofduty.com/uk/en/blog/2023/08/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-warzone-anti-toxicity-progress-report">AI-supported voice moderation</a> in Call of Duty, publishing progress updates and explaining how players can disable voice in settings. &nbsp;</p><p><strong>Human Tools &nbsp;</strong></p><ol><li>Review queues, audit logs, and consistent enforcement rules</li><li>Appeals and escalation paths for your more edge cases</li></ol><p>Compliance matters too! <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule-coppa">The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s COPPA rule covers</a> online services directed to children under 13 (or with actual knowledge they collect personal info from a child under 13).</p><p>It’s also worth noting that platforms with massive youth audiences publish their safety approaches. Roblox, for example, shares transparency resources and safety system updates, including voice safety work. &nbsp;</p><h3>Presence, Status, and Social Layer</h3><p>Messaging alone doesn’t create community. The “social layer” is what turns a channel into a place players return to, so you’ll want to prioritise:</p><p>Presence (online/offline, in match/in lobby)<br>Friends list, invites, and parties<br>Roles and lightweight activity (LFG, joinable states)</p><h3>Performance and Reliability</h3><p>Players only care that the chat works. It makes your job a bit easier, since you know what your requirements are:</p><p>No lost messages (with retries and sensible ordering)<br>Minimal latency under normal load<br>Spike tolerance for launches and events<br>Consistent behaviour across platforms</p><h2>How to Implement In-Game Chat: Build vs SDK vs WebView</h2><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/579;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/ad6331b7-bf41-424c-9529-46c25bad5629.jpeg" width="1500" height="579"></figure><p>1. The Traditional Route: Building from Scratch<br>Pros: Full control of UX, data, and customisation.</p><p>Cons: You own everything that makes chat hard, including things like scaling, security, and abuse response. If you’re going to go down this route, you’ll want to budget for ongoing operations and a dedicated safety roadmap, not just “version 1.2.</p><p>2. Using Chat SDKs</p><p>This is the common “ship fast” path: integrate a service so you can focus your engineering effort on game-specific UX (controller input, overlay behaviour, identity). &nbsp;However, it can be an illusion of the speed: SDK required constant releases synchronisation for all platforms.</p><p>3. WebView/API/iFrame</p><p>The quickest option: chat integration requires time for UX architecting. Still, social tools released do not depend on main product releases, and users on all devices get updates simultaneously.</p><p>The basic idea here is that you can embed a full chat UI inside the client and drive it with tokens from your backend. The risk is edge cases (keyboard, controller focus, safe areas, reconnect logic).</p><h3>Performance &amp; Overlay UX</h3><p>A chat UI should never feel like it’s fighting the game, so you ideally want:</p><ul><li>One-button toggle and quick reply or shortcuts for commands</li><li>Clear “reconnecting” states instead of silent failures that annoy your users</li><li>Audio controls that are reachable in two steps</li><li>Minimal HUD footprint</li><li>Cross-Platform Support</li><li>Cross-platform groups are pretty common nowadays: touch, keyboard, and controller. Fortunately, WebView-style UI can unify the presentation across mobile and web clients, so you’re actually maximising the number of people playing.</li></ul><h2>Beyond Messaging: Turning Chat into a Community</h2><p>Once you’ve got the bulk of the work out of the way and you’ve made the chat layer stable, you can now think about building up into community features: events, discussions, clip sharing, and creator-led spaces. Gaming communities are the most sticky, and tie your users to the games even after finishing. Communities allow you to attract new users due to word of mouth and retain users not just when they play, but when they communicate and observe their mates' gaming experience. Thus, at the end, social tools allow you to have your own Twitch inside your game, with all of this engagement.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/in-app-community-guide">Read our guide on how to build in-app and in-game community</a></p><h2>Key Takeaways on In-Game Chat</h2><p>Before we wrap up, take a look at some of the key points we talked about:</p><ol><li>Keeping communication inside your product reduces friction and supports retention.</li><li>Must-haves: reliable text, voice where it fits, and layered safety (player controls + automation + human review).</li><li>Presence is your bridge between messaging and community.</li><li>Choose architecture based on constraints: build, SDK/API, or embedded UI, and plan for long-term operations either way.</li></ol><h2>Build Your In-Game Community with Watchers</h2><p>Please get in touch with us if you'd like to integrate in-app community chats with the high-level moderation system into your website, app, or game. We'll be happy to help you find the best solution.</p><h2>FAQs About In-Game Chat</h2><h3>What does in-game chat mean?</h3><p>In-game chat is communication that’s been built into the game so players can message or talk without leaving the client.</p><h3>What is the in-game chat feature?</h3><p>The in-game chat feature refers to a set of tools - channels, private messaging, voice, presence, and safety controls - that support real-time game communication for all players.</p><h3>How to build in-game chat?</h3><p>Build in-game chat by defining your channel model (team/party/guild), integrating identity/auth, and then designing moderation workflows. Lastly, pick an implementation path (build, SDK/API, or embedded UI).</p><h3>What is the best voice quality for in-game chat?</h3><p>Prioritise low delay and stability for high in-game chat voice quality. You’re ideally keeping mouth-to-ear latency under ~150 ms for natural conversation.</p><h2>References</h2><ul><li>Essential Facts 2024 | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.theesa.com/resources/essential-facts-about-the-us-video-game-industry/2024-data/">ESA</a></li><li>Global Games Market Report 2025 | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://newzoo.com/resources/trend-reports/newzoo-global-games-market-report-2025">Newzoo</a></li><li>Business of Apps - Discord monthly users | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/discord-statistics/#:~:text=Discord%20had%20200%20million%20active%20monthly%20users%20in%202023%20and%20560%20million%20registered%20accounts">Business of Apps</a></li><li>ADL - research on harassment in online games. | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.adl.org/resources/report/hate-no-game-hate-and-harassment-online-games-2023">ADL</a></li><li>ITU-T - Recommendation G.114 (voice delay guidance) | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.itu.int/rec/dologin_pub.asp?lang=e&amp;id=T-REC-G.114-200305-I!!PDF-E&amp;type=items">ITU</a></li><li>FTC COPPA Review Guidelines | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule-coppa">Federal Trade Commission</a></li><li>Call of Duty - voice moderation rollout (progress report + FAQ + coverage) | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.callofduty.com/uk/en/blog/2023/08/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-warzone-anti-toxicity-progress-report">callofduty.com</a></li><li>Roblox - transparency and safety updates | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://about.roblox.com/transparency">Roblox</a></li><li>Talking, Teaming, and Thriving: How In-Game Chats Affect Players’ Experience | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/Talking-Teaming-and-Thriving-How-In-Game-Chats-Affect-Players-Experience">Watchers blog</a></li></ul>

Looking for Sendbird alternatives to build thriving communities in your app or website? Read our guide to find the most suitable option for your goals, budget, and timing.

Looking for Sendbird alternatives in 2026? Compare 7 platforms by features, pricing and real-world use cases to choose the right solution for your product.

7 Best Alternatives to Sendbird in 2026

<p>If you’re searching for Sendbird alternatives in 2026, you’re probably in one of two situations:</p><p>- your product already runs on a chat or community stack and the Sendbird pricing / limits no longer work for you</p><p>- you’re starting from scratch, comparing SDK and API-based options that will power in-app chat, communities, and live experiences for years ahead.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/engagement-and-marketing-widgets">In-app community tools</a> can help you grow engagement, retention, and revenue, especially if your product is built around content, events, or multiplayer experiences. Sendbird is a well-known communication platform with strong capabilities and a growing AI product line. At the same time, many teams are now evaluating alternatives that are either more community-focused, more transparent in pricing, or easier to integrate with small engineering teams.</p><p>This guide walks through what Sendbird is today, why teams look for alternatives, and seven options worth considering in 2026, including Watchers, which focuses specifically on live communities around content and events.</p><h2>What is Sendbird©?</h2><p>Founded in 2013, Sendbird is an API communication platform that integrates with various platforms. It offers chats, calls, and business messaging, with features like an AI concierge and an AI voice agent. Sendbird serves industries such as digital health, e-commerce, and entertainment, with clients including Hyundai, Noom, and Redfin.</p><p>Sendbird provides APIs and SDKs for mobile and web, uses WebSocket connections, and offers UI kits and backend integrations.</p><p>Sendbird serves clients from various industries but is best suited for enterprises or high-growth startups with large product or engineering teams. While seamless and highly customisable, it requires skilled developers. The company has refocused on AI agents and support, making it less suitable for community-building tools.</p><h2>Best Sendbird Alternatives in 2026</h2><h3><span style="font-size:140%;">Watchers</span></h3><p>Watchers is a SaaS solution offering social tools based <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/community-chats">on live chat.</a> It integrates with iFrame or webview for a simple and fast setup, while allowing customisation. Watchers chats include widgets for engagement, both community-driven and platform-driven. To handle high loads and keep low latency, they have clusters on all continents that support thousands of users at once. For AI moderation, they use their own model and several ML models based on Google Gemini, which supports various languages.</p><p><strong>Key Features</strong></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/922;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/f44d05ac-d21d-4189-93b2-2a84d8dc4c7f.jpeg" alt="Watchers" width="1500" height="922"></figure><ul><li>Community live chat</li><li>AI assistants</li><li>AI moderation, filters, user tools, manual tools</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/live-streaming">In-app audio and video live streaming</a></li><li>Semantic and sentimental analysis for deep insights</li><li>Social widgets that grow revenue</li><li>In-chat marketing widgets</li><li>Developed achievement system</li><li>Scope of APIs for seamless connection</li></ul><p><strong>Pros</strong></p><ul><li>Fast integration</li><li>Seamless experience for users</li><li>A lot of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/engagement-and-marketing-widgets">engagement</a> facilities</li><li>Convenient system for in-app live streaming</li><li>Excellent and fast support</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>Iframe and webview solution supports customisation but with limitations: clients can choose colours, icons, and many other things, but some structural peculiarities stay as it is</li><li>In-chat video live streaming can be costly</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:140%;">GetStream©</span></h3><p>GetStream is a scalable, efficient communication platform based on API and SDK, designed for developers to build real-time in-app chat, video calling, and activity feeds. It offers tools like AI moderation, typing indicators, and in-chat file uploads, with pre-built UI components for fast integration.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/921;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/a3b8926f-a6c9-4351-abc6-69076a47f392.jpeg" alt="GetStream" width="1500" height="921"></figure><p><strong>Key Features</strong></p><ul><li>Chat SDK</li><li>Activity Feed</li><li>AI moderation</li><li>Video and audio calls</li><li>Video and audio live streaming</li><li>UI Kits</li><li>Video and voice agents</li><li>Simple usage after implementation</li></ul><p><strong>Pros</strong></p><ul><li>Sophisticated solutions that provides overall experience</li><li>Various features that can enhance the experience</li><li>Suitable for many industries</li><li>Stable and scalable</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>Costly: considering reviews on G2, various clients notice that the price at the end is much higher than expected, and continues to grow. Also, customers have to pay not just for monthly usage but for peaks<br>Pretty complicated to request new features or changes due to the SDK architecture&nbsp;</li><li>Some users complain about audio and video quality</li><li>Absence of proactive guidance on how to use all of Stream's features; absence of a changelog</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:140%;">CometChat©</span></h3><p>CometChat is a cloud-based platform that helps businesses integrate real-time text, voice, and video chat with websites and mobile apps. They provide customisable UI Kits, SDKs, and APIs for development. CometChat typically serves health apps, ed tech, and marketplaces.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/921;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/0381e850-3112-4322-819a-8db289f9783b.jpeg" alt="Cometchat" width="1500" height="921"></figure><p><strong>Key features</strong></p><ul><li>Text messaging, voice, and video calling/conferencing.</li><li>No-code widgets for quick setup, UI Kits for front-end customisation, and flexible APIs for deep integration.</li><li>AI User Copilot for a summary of conversations, which analyses the latest 1000 messages.</li><li>Analytics provides insights into user behaviour, engagement patterns, retention, churn, and cohort analysis.</li></ul><p><strong>Pros</strong></p><ul><li>API support and webhooks</li><li>Responsive account managers</li><li>Regular new products</li><li>Easy integration</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>SDKs appear to have limitations, especially for customisation</li><li>Not too clear documentation, some integration methods are hard to find</li><li>High pricing, based on cost per visit instead of per user</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:140%;">PubNub©</span></h3><p>Pubnub is a real-time communication platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that offers APIs and SDKs to build instant applications. It supports real-time chat, IoT device signalling, GPS tracking, and live dashboards for many companies. Pubnub has one of the longest histories in this domain, having been founded in 2010. Last year, PubNub collaborated with DAZN to broadcast and provide interaction for fans during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/920;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/927d9069-d951-40ac-9809-ebea98a61a70.jpeg" alt="PubNub" width="1500" height="920"></figure><p><strong>Key features</strong></p><ul><li>Pub/Sub Messaging</li><li>Real-time messages</li><li>File exchange, and storage</li><li>True adaptive intelligence analytics platform to receive trends</li><li>BizOps Workspace dashboard</li></ul><p><strong>Pros</strong></p><ul><li>High reliability</li><li>Variety of functions</li><li>No latency</li><li>Relevant for various industry</li><li>Suitable for huge events</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>Unpredictably costly</li><li>Difficulties in the documentation navigation</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:140%;">Twilio©</span></h3><p>Customer Engagement Platform (CEP) was founded in the US in 2008 and offers a scalable platform to build communication channels, access contextual data, and use integrated AI-driven workflows. Unlike other companies presented here, Twilio focuses n customers rather than users, and on communication between a customer and a platform, such as SMS, phone calls, and emails. They also provide video API, conversation API, and engagement tools.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/921;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/5cde11c5-1e48-4e81-a894-e6bb90340b94.jpeg" alt="Twilio" width="1500" height="921"></figure><p><strong>Key features</strong></p><ul><li>Phone calls and video calls</li><li>Instant messaging, live chat</li><li>WhatsApp Messaging</li><li>WhatsApp Marketing</li><li>Screensharing</li></ul><p>Pros</p><ul><li>Reliability</li><li>Scalable CPaaS with excellent APIs</li><li>Detailed documentation</li><li>Customisable workflows</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>Complex initial configuration</li><li>Some of additional features require deep involvement of the client which can be irrelevant for small teams</li><li>Weak support on most of the plans</li><li>Pricing with hidden fees</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:140%;">Ably©</span></h3><p>Ably is a WebSocket platform that delivers a real-time layer for AI agents, real-time chat, notifications, live dashboards, and collaboration between users. They are known for great scalability and global availability. It is built primarily on Amazon's cloud infrastructure. Their core product is Ably Pub/Sub, Chat SDK, and Spaces SDK for building multiplayer collaborative components in apps. Users of Ably’s clients can collaborate synchronously.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/922;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/188b93f7-b489-4c79-90b4-197ea66e5c10.jpeg" alt="Ably" width="1500" height="922"></figure><p><strong>Key features</strong></p><ul><li>API chat features</li><li>AI agents</li><li>Notifications</li><li>Live dashboards</li><li>Campaign performance</li><li>Audience insights</li><li>History API</li><li>Push notifications</li></ul><p><strong>Pros</strong></p><ul><li>Low latency</li><li>Developer-friendly APIs and SDKs</li><li>Responsive customer service team</li><li>Precise SDK documentation</li><li>Excellent onboarding</li><li>Scalability</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>Complex initial configuration</li><li>Some of additional features require deep involvement of the client which can be irrelevant for small teams</li><li>Weak support on most of the plans</li><li>Pricing with hidden fees</li><li>Lack of enterprise dashboard to monitor</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:140%;">Social.Plus©</span></h3><p>Social.Plus was known as Amity, before this, as Eko. Initially, the company was founded in Thailand in 2012, but a year ago, they rebranded. In general, Social.Plus is a suite of pre-built white-label modules, SDKs and API that bring engagement features to clients’ apps or websites. They provide features like activity feeds, groups, profiles, live chat, and streaming. To improve community experience, they focus on AI-driven insights and moderation capabilities, also providing monetisation for their clients.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/920;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/aa6eb601-ca5c-414e-81a6-df2781205cfd.jpeg" alt="Social.plus" width="1500" height="920"></figure><p><strong>Key features</strong></p><ul><li>Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS)</li><li>Customer-to-Customer (C2C) Community Marketing</li><li>Live chat</li><li>Online community management</li></ul><p><strong>Pros</strong></p><ul><li>Quick set-up</li><li>Easy customisation</li><li>Large number of features</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>Incomplete and outdated documentation</li><li>Weak admin dashboards</li><li>Can be difficult to manage large communities</li></ul><h2>How to choose the best Sendbird alternative</h2><p>The table below compares each company’s main product focus, the industries they serve, and how long setup takes.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1500/1438;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/8526ec1b-d3af-4a62-9ffc-8f73c460b9aa.jpeg" alt="comparison of Sendbird alternatives" width="1500" height="1438"></figure><h2>Build Your In-App Community with Watchers</h2><p>If you have an app or website and want a community platform to bring people together around your service, product, or content, try Watchers. We integrate easily with a webview or iframe architecture, so you do not need to synchronise release cycles to access our new features. Book a demo call to start the integration process, or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatadmin.watchers.io/register">register directly</a> to explore our solution on your own.</p><h2>FAQs About Sendbird Alternatives</h2><h3>Who are the main Sendbird Competitors?</h3><p>For SDKs, the main Sendbird competitors are GetStream and Social.plus. For live chat functionality, Watchers is a strong competitor, offering a different architecture and a white-label solution with many in-chat features.</p><h3>Why do teams look for Sendbird Alternatives?</h3><p>Teams look for alternatives because of high pricing, an outdated approach to live chat and moderation, and the company's shift from community-building tools to AI support and agents.</p><h3>How to choose the right Alternative for your product?</h3><p>You need to understand your main goals and expectations, considering usage. Your goals help you choose a shortlist of solutions, and usage helps estimate the price. If your main goal is support chat, CometChat or Pubnub may be the best fit. If you want to build a community on your sports platform or VOD, Watchers or Getstream are top choices. Then, compare their pricing to decide which fits you best.</p>

What does online community moderation mean, how do we measure its success, and what can we learn from Last of Us communities?

Learn how to moderate an online community. This playbook covers clear community guidelines, consistent report handling, and tactics to keep real-time chats respectful.

Online Community Moderation: Best Practices, Tools and Strategies

What are the most popular community engagement platforms, and what can you use as  the best alternative for them.

We reviewed the 10 best community engagement platforms for 2025 and show how Watchers lets you build your community inside your product without external apps.



10 Best Community Engagement Platforms in 2025 — Compare Top Tools

Community engagement, as a process of connection and collaboration, is crucial for any brand. It helps keep members supported and involved, and contributes to achieving common goals. Let’s dive deeper into  strategies, and how they should be applied.

Community engagement explained: definition, types, methods and real examples. Learn why it matters, best practices, and how brands build owned in-app communities.

What Is Community Engagement? Definition, Types & Real Examples

Collecting user insights is vital for providing a personalised user experience. Gathering information directly from your target audience will help improve the user journey and content strategy.

Learn how to collect first-party data with the right tools and why it matters.

First-Party Data: How to Operate With and Why Is It Crucial for Business

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc"><p>Continuous development, driven by customer feedback, is a crucial component of any successful business strategy. But when it comes to identifying these insights, where do you turn? The easy answer is providing cusdev interviews, constant focus groups, or just voluntary surveys or interactions, but there is a tricky point.</p><p>Firstly, people participating in such research can be, on the one hand, not sincere enough — trying to be polite or not to look critical; on the other hand, they try to be helpful and notice all potential problems and mistakes, while at the same time losing their real user impression. They can help to find some platform’s inconveniences, but being in an artificial situation, they can skip what is really important. Also, participants of any focus group or custdev present just a tiny part of your audience. But where to get insights from real users in satisfactory amounts?</p><p>Continuous improvement based on user feedback is key to a strong business strategy. But when it comes to understanding user needs, where should you look?</p><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2410/1378;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/6a57aca0-b2be-49b1-b5cd-6960f8d1311d.webp" width="2410" height="1378" alt="how to encrease user engagement: best practices"></figure><p>Obvious solutions include customer development interviews, focus groups, or voluntary surveys. Yet, these methods come with challenges. Participants might not be entirely candid, may overanalyse, or simply represent too small a portion of your audience. While these can uncover usability issues, they often miss the subtle behaviours that matter most. So, where do you get scalable, authentic insights from your actual users?</p><p>One of today’s strongest approaches involves deriving real-time insights directly through your platform interactions. As digital marketing moves toward deeper audience understanding and AI-powered analysis, accessing meaningful audience signals is more critical than ever. But how do you translate engagement into strategic insight? And what tools make it easier?</p><p>Focusing on users’ direct insights is one of the current digital marketing trends you can’t ignore, especially as the world heightens its focus on AI and datafication. However, many companies struggle to understand how to collect and utilise this information effectively. For example, why would you pick user insights over third-party data when the latter often comes cheaper? And what tools can you add to your platform to gather such primary insights?</p><h2 id="go-through-numbers"><strong>Going Through the Numbers</strong></h2><p>Brands can obtain data from various sources. The most accurate information is acquired directly and consensually from the customer through surveys, questionnaires, reviews, social media engagement, and website interactions.</p><p>Then you have second-party insights, which is very similar, except you’re using another company’s trusted first-party data. You interact with the company directly to obtain this information.</p><p>Third-party data is different still. This is information typically purchased through an external data aggregator that has no direct contact with the customers. Third-party cookies, tracking details like browser history and time spent online, were once common in search engines, although companies like Apple and Google are already beginning to phase them out.</p><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><a href="#go-through-numbers"><img style="aspect-ratio:1080/1080;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/c5d17a88-0299-418d-b5bc-b1f46e8cb28e.png" width="1080" height="1080" alt="semnatic analysis of ugc content is the key to first party data"></a></figure><p>And lastly, zero-party data is a relatively new data type that is almost identical to first-party. This involves information voluntarily and explicitly given by the customer, such as purchase intentions and communication preferences.</p><h2 id="why-direct-user-insights-matter">Why Direct User Insights Matter</h2><p>Data benefits your business by providing reliable information collected directly from your target audience. That’s invaluable in a world where <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2024/04/14/the-personalized-customer-experience-customers-want-you-to-know-them/">81% of consumers prefer </a>a tailored experience.<br>Brands must adapt their digital marketing strategies to offer more personalisation for their customers. From budgetary figures alone, we can see this trend taking shape. In 2023, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://admin.comviva.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-Global-Survey-Report-The-Business-Value-of-Real-Time-Personalization-1.pdf">around 22% of a digital marketing budget</a> was allocated to personalisation. In 2024, that figure jumped to 40%. This highlights the significant importance of personalisation for both consumers and marketers.</p><p>Direct users’ insights give you a deeper understanding of customer preferences and habits. You can identify which channels they prefer to interact with and learn about their browsing and purchasing behaviour in real time, what exact content they like and why. These insights then allow you to refine your marketing and content strategy to include personalised outreach and targeted ad campaigns, creating a more tailored approach and correcting the roadmap. And a more personalised approach brings additional benefits, such as brand loyalty and user engagement.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367128795_The_Impact_of_Personalization_on_Customer_Loyalty_and_Retention">In his recent publication,</a> “The Impact of Personalization on Customer Loyalty and Retention,” Shezan Ahmed notes that “customers are more likely to make additional purchases and remain loyal to a business that personalizes their experiences.”<br>Meanwhile, user engagement through first-party data is another benefit of increased personalisation. Customers are more likely to engage with your platform when you know exactly what they wish.</p><p>By contrast, third-party data offers limited scope for personalisation. It does not come directly from your target audience, which means it provides little insight into the genuine wants and needs of your customers. This is why gathering first-party data is crucial.</p><h2 id="making-the-most-from-first-party-data">Making the Most of User Insights</h2><p>All sorts of companies can benefit from gathering first-party data. For example, sports apps, due to such insights, establish and sustain a likeable brand reputation — an important metric for clubs looking to cater to a diverse customer network.</p><p>Another example? Fitness apps that use live streaming feeds for at-home personal training (like Peloton) can adjust staff schedules to accommodate busier times, thanks to insights on when users like to train and what kind of instructor they prefer.</p><p>It’s evident that all of this is vital for companies in the entertainment industry. However, obtaining user insights can be difficult without adequate channels for user engagement.</p><p>Collecting user insights helps companies identify the following user metrics:<br>· Engagement levels<br>· Busiest traffic times<br>· Preferred communication channels<br>· Most popular film and TV genres<br>· Favourite sports to watch and bet on<br>· Overall opinions</p><p>Entertainment businesses can then use these metrics to refine their offerings and enhance user engagement through the use of first-party data.</p><blockquote><p>User engagement is crucial for sports betting companies like Sky Bet and Paddy Power, where competition is fierce. If a sports betting app learns that its customers prefer to bet on tennis but have little interest in badminton, the site can then look to increase its coverage of tennis games (if it offers live streaming features) or broaden its betting markets for the most popular tournaments (like Wimbledon and the US Open). This data-driven marketing will likely increase customer retention and brand loyalty.</p></blockquote><h2 id="five-ways-to-collect-user-insights">How to Collect User Insights in Five Ways</h2><p>Implement a range of user insights collection strategies to gather a broad and varied scope of information from your customers.</p><h3>Use AI for Insights Collection and Tagging</h3><p>AI tools are on the rise. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/superagency-in-the-workplace-empowering-people-to-unlock-ais-full-potential-at-work">More than 92%</a> of businesses are looking to increase their AI spending over the next three years. Fortunately, AI and analytics combine well.<br>You can use AI tools to gather vast troves of data, including customer purchase history and frequency of communication, at once. Automated algorithms track these metrics and record each time a customer interacts with your brand. They then collate this first-party data to build a profile of every customer, allowing you to personalise the experience for each user.</p><blockquote><p>Tools like Bardeen use natural language to implement workflows that can scrape and enrich data in bulk. Other apps, such as Databricks, facilitate data analysis by learning your analysis habits and preferences.</p></blockquote><p>But you’ll need somewhere to store the masses of data you collect from AI tools. That’s where data lakes come in. An alternative to the rigid structures of data warehouses, data lakes are more fluid and flexible. They can house large amounts of data and allow analysts to compare and extract insights more easily.</p><h3>Send Out Surveys &amp; Questionnaires</h3><p>Of course, there are other manual methods of collecting first-party data. Surveys and questionnaires are classic examples of obtaining primary data right from the source. You can learn lots from your customers if they complete the form, helping you identify what aspects of your site are under and what are overperforming. Incentivise your users to complete the survey by offering a reward, such as a discount or a free in-app item.</p><h3>Integrate community in-app chats</h3><p>Chat rooms provide a unique setting for data collection. They allow app users to engage with your brand directly, offering unfiltered views on your services and voluntarily divulging preferences. Plus, the time stamps from each message tell you the busiest communication times.</p><h3>Add Comment Sections</h3><p>Similar to live chat rooms, companies can retrieve valuable information from comment sections. For example, a broadcaster could learn when users are most active via the number of comments over a given period. This would then allow them to show targeted ads at the most advantageous times.</p><h3>Second Screens</h3><p>Use the stunning experience of La Liga and use second screens<br>to offer a space where users can engage with others without leaving your platform. Instead of losing valuable data to messaging sites like X and WhatsApp, you can gain insights into customer behaviour by recording the interactions on your integrated second screen.</p><hr><p><br>You’ve learned how to collect first-party data and why this process is crucial for your business. This is not one of those digital marketing trends that will fade quickly. Start implementing it in your customer success strategies now.</p><hr><p><strong>Please fill out the </strong><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your?month=2025-08"><strong>Get in Touch form</strong></a><strong> if you'd like to integrate community chats and other tools for gathering user insights into your website or app. We'll be happy to help you find the best solution.</strong></p></div>

Discover why gaming is better with a community. Explore features like in-app live streaming and real-time communication to improve engagement and keep customers coming back

Learn how to enhance engagement on your site through innovative features like in-app live streaming, chat widgets, and real-time communication. Integrate these tools into your platform to build a gaming community hub full of happy customers.