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After their original provider failed to deliver, AS Roma chose Glide CMS to unify a fragmented digital presence, freeing their editorial team to focus on content and delivering an elevated website and app for fans.
Like most sports teams, internal digital back-end for Italian professional football club, AS Roma, is a diverse collection of specialised systems. A constant challenge for sports organisations is to present a unified digital presence to fans, despite the inevitable atomisation of the back end.
At the point Jim Whittle joined Roma as a Digital Project Manager, fans were still being presented with multiple online front-ends and apps depending on their requirements, which led to confusion and even brand erosion.
The club was six months into a digital transformation project spanning their website and app that attempted to bring some order to this landscape, but it soon became clear that the project’s ambition far outstripped the ability of Roma’s current digital content management and website tech provider to deliver. Whittle advised the company to make the tough decision to pull the plug on the original provider, while simultaneously searching for a viable replacement.
At the same time, the deadline didn’t move. Roma had a fixed go-live date three months away, the old platform was facing a shutdown, a fanbase of over 70,000 matchday supporters at the Stadio Olimpico, and tens of millions worldwide still being served a fragmented digital experience. Roma needed an alternative solution that could deliver on the original schedule
“It became clear from the moment we spoke to Glide that their approach was very different from the others,” said Whittle “They were instantly collaborative, immensely supportive, and at this critical stage of the project incredibly reassuring.”
“They also presented a working prototype at our first in-person meeting, a gesture which turned many senior heads, and ultimately showcased their positive attitude and willingness to go the extra mile. After the initial consultations there was no question that we would choose Glide as our digital experience partner, and I'm pleased to say that they have more than fulfilled the promise of our early briefings.”
Glide's project management team took immediate stock of the position that Roma was in, taking a comprehensive evaluation of Roma’s needs, transforming the existing initial design concepts into a fully operational, user-centric digital experience. Glide proposed an agile, iterative approach that would deliver a coherent front end, while interfacing with existing specialised systems - multiple CRMs, a data lake, sports data feeds, online shop, ticketing portal, microsites, SSO, etc. into a solid technological foundation that would allow the company to deliver improved fan experiences and seamlessly expand their website and app offerings as requirements, ambitions, and budgets grew.
The scope was substantial. Glide carried out a full information architecture assessment, migrated existing content - including over 36,000 articles plus nearly 100,000 images and galleries - ensuring no data was lost in transition, and built a front-end experience tailored to match Roma’s dynamic brand, engaging fans with a visually appealing and responsive design.
Integrations played a key role in Roma’s transition, starting with the incorporation of critical ticketing operations and data. This improved the overall user experience for fans while hugely streamlining the process for the AS Roma ticketing team, reducing manual intervention and enhancing ticket management. Other integrations included fine control over Google Ad Manager, Google Tag Manager, the introduction of a data layer, and a bespoke SSO platform. Multiple CRMs, a data lake, the online shop, ticketing portal, and microsites all needed to feed into a single, coherent platform.
The cornerstone of Roma’s digital experience was Glide’s low-code/no-code backend, which significantly cut down the project timeline and ensured Roma would migrate within the critical deadlines without compromising the vision.
Glide was also able to fit into Roma’s existing funding allocation: not by undercutting the competition, but by making laser-precise use of existing budgets, and proposing a mutually agreeable long-term licensing and support arrangement.
Glide’s automation capabilities freed Roma’s editorial team from the technical complexities of content management, giving staff more time to create unique, engaging content for the fanbases of both their men’s and women’s teams. For the ticketing team, the integration with Roma’s data provider brought a more streamlined and efficient operation, reducing manual intervention and enhancing ticket management across the board.
The platform also brought about a more agile, flexible approach to fan engagement. New ideas can be pivoted towards quickly without need to build new back-end functionality or plugins, which means the digital team can respond to what’s happening on and off the pitch without waiting on development cycles.
Where the previous vendor couldn’t meet Roma’s needs, Glide delivered. With the launch onto Glide CMS, the editorial team was freed from technical complexity, ticketing operations were streamlined, and the club gained an agile approach to fan engagement.
For fans, the redesigned site delivered:
“Working with Glide is a rare pleasure,” said Whittle. “Unlike some of the transactional relationships one may have with an external tech provider, Glide is more like an extremely supportive technical partner that shares Roma’s vision - almost another department of the company - working alongside us rather than for us.”
Is your organisation navigating a complex digital transformation, or recovering from one that hasn't gone to plan? Talk to us about how Glide can deliver on an ambitious timeline without compromising scope. Submit your request to speak to a Glide product specialist.
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