Benfica fans standout online experiences

Article posted by Coliseum, June 19^th, 2025

Image: Infinite Reality

Infinite Reality™ (iR), a global leader in immersive digital experiences, recently announced a landmark partnership with the professional football club from Lisbon (Portugal) S.L. Benfica, one of Europe’s most storied football clubs, to launch the Benfica Immersive Store.

‘globenewswire.com’ stated that this immersive Web experience allows the fans to engage with the club’s content and shop the latest merchandise all with a dynamic, lifelike multilingual artificial intelligence (AI) concierge that assists the customers in real-time helping them find products inside a Benfica-branded 3D locker room.

Boca Raton (US)-based Infinite Reality (iR)™ is an innovation company powering the next generation of digital media and ecommerce through spatial computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and other immersive technologies. The iR’s suite of cutting-edge software, production, marketing services, and other capabilities empower the brands and the creators to craft inventive digital experiences that uplevel audience engagement, data ownership, monetization, and brand health metrics.

The S.L. Benfica, commonly known as the Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of Portuguese football.

Founded in 1904, Benfica is the most decorated club in Portugal and one of the most decorated in Europe with 83 official trophies and 38 national titles. It is the Portuguese club with the most members (+400 thousand) and more than 50 million fans worldwide. The club is largely connected with the Portuguese communities all over the globe, particularly in Europe, the Americas and the Portuguese-speaking African countries.

The 64,642-capacity Estádio da Luz is a multipurpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches hosting the home games of the Portuguese club Benfica, its owner.

‘globenewswire.com’ further stated that available now on the team’s website at slbenfica.pt and built using Infinite Reality’s proprietary software the Benfica Immersive Store launch is the first time a professional football club has leveraged a virtual experience to power their official merch store. The innovative experience raises the bar for digital fan engagement launching at a time when 76 percent of the Gen Z customers say they’d recommend brands that deliver standout online experiences.

Said Sam Huber, head honcho of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Global President of Enterprise at Infinite Reality, “The sports fans today crave deeper connections with their favorite clubs beyond the traditional media. Benfica is redefining the online fan experience –combining immersive 3D environments, seamless commerce and AI-powered personalization to deliver engagement at a global scale. This model allows any team, club, athlete, or major sporting event to meet the fans where they are and elevate fandom beyond the field through interactive, gamified experiences.”

The fans can explore this experience on Benfica’s current website, no additional download or special headset required. The key features include:

Agentic AI Shopping Concierge: A smart AI agent that helps the fans explore the site using voice commands available in multiple languages;
Interactive 3D Merchandise Store: A virtual locker room showcasing team merch – directly integrated into Benfica’s existing store;
FIFA Club World Cup™ Content: Behind-the-scenes content from Benfica’s historic journey in the tournament; and
User-Friendly Navigation: Intuitive design with seamless scrolling so that fans of all tech levels can explore easily.

Averred José Gandarez, Vice-President, S.L. Benfica, “At Sport Lisboa e Benfica we’re constantly seeking innovative ways to connect with our global fanbase. This immersive platform developed with Infinite Reality Enterprise represents the future of digital fan engagement. As we prepare for our FIFA Club World Cup™ debut we’re proud to offer the supporters a new and exciting way to experience our club, access content and feel closer to the team regardless of their physical location.”

The Benfica Immersive Store was built leveraging Infinite Reality’s full stack of immersive software and services to drive revenue and brand engagement including strategy and concepting, 3D design, AI agent training, engineering, hosting, analytics, and more. To date, Infinite Reality has facilitated over 150 million user interactions within shoppable virtual experiences for leading global brands including Crate & Barrel (furniture retail company), J. Crew (American multibrand, multichannel specialty retailer), Laura Mercier (a French-American cosmetics and skincare brand), Swarovski (an Austrian company known for its high-quality leaded glass crystal products particularly in jewelry and decorative items), and more.

The Benfica Immersive Store also leverages Infinite Reality’s new generative Web and agentic AI product suite which powers real-time video chat with lifelike AI agents that greet and help the customers.

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