The Residency

What The Residency does

The Residency (legally The Residency Sports Ltd) is a London-based sports media technology company founded in 2022 by Mathieu Golan. It operates a mobile application and complementary web platform that host live, real-time text-based chat sessions in which professional football players answer fan questions directly. The platform's core technology includes a live chat infrastructure with an archive and replay system, push notifications for upcoming sessions, and AI-powered real-time translation that enables multilingual participation between fans and athletes. The company has assembled a roster of high-profile European footballers including Pedri, Lautaro Martínez, Enzo Fernández, Alejandro Balde, Fermín López, João Félix, Rúben Dias, and Federico Valverde, and it is expanding beyond football into additional sports.

The Residency serves two distinct customer segments. The primary B2C segment is individual football fans, accessed through direct app downloads on iOS App Store and Google Play. The secondary B2B segment is broadcasters, streaming platforms, and sports publishers, served through a white-label module called "Fan Conferences" that integrates The Residency's interactive chat technology into third-party platforms; DAZN is the publicly disclosed flagship partner following a February 2026 integration into the DAZN mobile app.

Monetisation is built on three revenue streams: in-app purchases of virtual items and virtual currency, recurring auto-renewing subscriptions, and platform distribution and licensing partnerships with broadcasters. Pricing is regionalised and promotional, with no public disclosure of specific tiers. The company is privately held, venture-backed by Local Globe and other unnamed tech and sports industry investors, operates with 11-50 employees from its London headquarters, and has been featured in outlets including Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Equipe, and RMC Sport.

Name

The Residency

Legal name

The Residency Sports Ltd

Website

https://theresidency.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Residency is a London-based mobile and web platform that connects football fans directly with professional players through real-time text chats, using AI-powered translation to enable global participation and licensing the same technology to broadcasters such as DAZN.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Fan Engagement Platform

NAICS

Spectator Sports (7112)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Live Streaming Platforms (MPACACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Messaging-Led Community Platforms (Chat/Group Communities) (MPACAJAE), Virtual & Hybrid Event Platforms (Webinars, Virtual Venues, Event Hubs) (THAHAOAA)

Keywords

• Fan engagement platform
• Live athlete chat
• Sports fan interaction
• Real-time sports chat
• Athlete direct messaging

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. In-App Purchases & Virtual Items: Users can purchase virtual items, virtual currency, and virtual goods through the app. These purchases are final and non-refundable. The Residency manages, regulates, and can eliminate virtual items at its discretion.
2. Subscriptions: Auto-renewing subscriptions with initial commitment periods, charged at agreed-upon prices. European users entitled to 14-day refund period. Subscribers in Republic of Korea entitled to 7-day refund for unused virtual items.
3. Platform Distribution Partnerships: Revenue generated through integration partnerships with broadcasters and streaming platforms like DAZN, where exclusive live chats are made available within DAZN platforms

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Residency operates a mobile app and web platform that enables football fans to participate in live, real-time chat sessions with professional football players, where players answer fan questions directly via text and photos. The platform includes AI-powered real-time translation to support global fan participation across language barriers, archive/replay of past sessions, and a white-label B2B module (Fan Conferences) that embeds live athlete-fan interactions inside broadcaster and streaming platforms such as DAZN.

Product overview

The Residency is a single unified product platform consisting of a mobile app and web platform that connects football fans directly with professional players through real-time interactive chat sessions. The core product enables fans to ask players questions during live events, with AI-powered translation enabling global participation. The platform also offers a B2B module called 'Fan Conferences' — white-label interactive chat technology — for broadcasters and publishers seeking to integrate live athlete interactions into their own platforms and audiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Residency App and Web Platform Mobile application and accompanying web platform that enable football fans to join live, interactive chat sessions with professional players, ask questions in real time, receive text and photo responses, and revisit archived chats. AI-powered translation breaks language barriers for global participation. Targeted at individual football fans worldwide.
• Fan Conferences (White-label B2B Solution)

Quantifiable outcome

• Connected millions of football fans with their favorite footballers

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DAZNcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 February 2026DAZN integrated The Residency's interactive live chat feature into its mobile app, allowing fans to interact live with football superstars including Alejandro Balde, Lautaro Martínez, Enzo Fernández, and Fermín López. DAZN announced this as a new interactive feature powered by The Residency's technology, marking a significant evolution in sports consumption beyond traditional social media.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Twitch: Twitch is the dominant live streaming platform with built-in real-time chat. Athletes increasingly stream on Twitch for fan interaction, making it a broader incumbent competing for the same live engagement sessions The Residency facilitates.
• Instagram Live: Instagram Live lets athletes broadcast live video sessions to their followers with real-time comments. It is a free, incumbent alternative athletes use for direct fan engagement, competing with The Residency's chat format.
• Discord: Discord powers large-scale real-time community chat servers and is used by athletes and fan communities. It is a broader incumbent in live community chat, providing alternative infrastructure for athlete-fan interaction.
• X (Twitter) Spaces: X Spaces hosts live audio conversations widely used by athletes to interact with fans. As an incumbent social platform with massive reach, it overlaps with The Residency's live, real-time fan-athlete engagement model.
• TikTok Live: TikTok Live enables athletes to host live interactive sessions with massive built-in audiences. It represents a major free incumbent channel where athletes can engage fans without needing a third-party platform like The Residency.

Direct peers

• Overtime: Overtime is a sports media company producing short-form content and operating community-driven sports leagues aimed at younger fans. It overlaps with The Residency in targeting digital-native sports fans with non-traditional engagement formats.
• Cameo: Cameo enables fans to pay for personalized video messages from athletes and celebrities. It is a direct comparable for paid, intermediated fan-athlete engagement and shares The Residency's core value proposition of monetizing direct athlete access.

Others

• Geneva: Geneva is a group-chat and community platform used by fandoms and creator communities. It represents an adjacent community-infrastructure player that could host similar athlete-fan communities if the niche proves attractive.

Emerging players

• Whistle Sports: Whistle is a sports media network producing digital sports content for younger audiences across social platforms. It overlaps with The Residency in pursuing non-traditional, digitally native sports fan engagement.
• Buzzer: Buzzer delivers live sports notifications and micro-moments directly to fans. It targets a similar real-time, mobile-first sports fan engagement use case but focuses on alerting rather than interactive chat with athletes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theresidencyapp
• Instagraminstagram.com/theresidencyapp
• TikToktiktok.com/@theresidency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Residency