Key takeaways:
- Archive content is evolving from a historical repository into a strategic asset for storytelling, fan engagement, and commercial growth.
- Younger audiences spend significantly more time with non-live sports content, increasing the value of heritage-driven formats
- AI-powered tools are helping sports properties transform decades of footage into discoverable, platform-native content for new generations of fans.
In 2012, the Bundesliga made an important decision regarding its past – and, in many ways, also its future. The league entered into a partnership with the global sports marketing agency IMG, which became responsible for the distribution of archive content from Germany’s top football competitions.
Building on the long-standing relationship, the German top flight recently extended the partnership in a multi-year agreement. As part of the agreement, IMG will continue to license archive content from the Deutsche Fußball Liga’s (DFL) extensive historical database, also known as the DFL Media Hub.
One of the world’s largest digital football archives of its kind, the DFL Media Hub contains close to 250,000 hours of content, covering over 60 years of German football history, dating back to the inaugural 1963/64 Bundesliga season. More than 12,000 hours of video material are added to the DFL Media Hub each season, providing an ever-growing resource for international media companies, brands, and partners.
“IMG’s expertise and commitment have been instrumental in bringing the rich history of the Bundesliga to audiences around the world,” said Robin Austermann, head of European audio-visual rights at Bundesliga Media, the league’s sales and digital unit. “This not only preserves our heritage, but also continues to unlock new opportunities for innovation and storytelling for future generations of fans.”
The Growing Appeal of Archive Content
This forward-looking approach addresses a broader shift in how fans, particularly younger generations, consume sports content today. According to Altman Solon’s latest Global Sports Survey, 18-34-year-olds spend nearly 3x as much time on non-live formats as on live sport. In this environment, the ability to repackage and surface archive content has become a key part of modern content strategies.
Recent data supports this premise. A study by data analytics firm ROAR, which analyzed the social media activity of five major sports franchises, found that “heritage-themed” content – e.g., an “On this day…” post that shares a legendary moment from the past – generated 50% to 125% higher engagement than non-heritage content.
Still, for many rights holders, archive content remains an underutilized resource.
“The sports industry, by DNA, is focused on whatever is tomorrow or next week – never yesterday and never in five years’ time,” said Paola Marinone, CEO of BuzzMyVideos, a company that helps sports properties grow their YouTube channels. “The first thing I would tell any rights holder is, ‘explore whatever you have in your archive, because that’s valuable.’ It’s a good entry point for funnelling the audience and being discovered by fans.”
Putting History to Work
Other properties focus on introducing young fans to iconic players and moments from the past in their preferred format: vertical video. LALIGA and Borussia Dortmund, for example, use AI to ingest their extensive video archives and automatically generate –through a tool that converts horizontal video into vertical clips – highlights from a fully indexed library of historic footage.
“Legacy and tradition are definitely strengths. But the way you tell the story of that tradition has to evolve,” explained Alexander Mühl, director of marketing and digitalization at Borussia Dortmund. “You have to make it relevant for younger target groups. It’s not just about what we post, it’s how we present it, where we share it, and who we’re speaking to.”
Technology Meets Tradition
As organizations like Borussia Dortmund and LALIGA have discovered, the value of an archive extends far beyond preservation. Historical footage can strengthen fan affinity, introduce new audiences to defining moments, support commercial partnerships, and create fresh storytelling opportunities. In an era defined by content demand, the past is increasingly becoming one of sport’s most productive sources of new engagement.
The challenge is making decades of footage accessible and relevant to audiences raised on social media and short-form video. AI-powered content creation platforms help rights holders meet that challenge by automatically creating, reformatting, and distributing archive content across platforms at scale. Done well, archive activation becomes more than a nostalgia play; it becomes a way to connect the past to the future.
Actionable insights:
- Audit your archive regularly and identify historic moments, players, and anniversaries that can be repurposed into short-form content.
- Reformat legacy footage into vertical, mobile-first assets designed for today’s social platforms and consumption habits.
- Combine archive content with current storylines to create context, deepen fan connection, and extend engagement beyond live events.
