SAP, DFB builds big data solution to improve football players’ performance

SAP AG and the German Football Association (DFB) has re-emphasised their mutual commitment to take football to the next level using the SAP Match Insights solution for football, built under a co-innovation project between SAP and DFB.

This solution running on the SAP HANA platform is intended to facilitate the analysis of training, preparation and tournaments. It also intends to enable coaches and scouts to process vast amounts of data to find and assess key situations in each match to improve player and team performance.

The goal of the co-innovation project between SAP and the German national football team coaches was to build an innovative solution that enhanced the on-field performance leading up to the World Cup.

SAP Match Insights is envisioned to feature a simple user interface that can be used by players and coaches to facilitate a more interactive dialogue to debrief the team and to prepare for future matches.

“SAP’s involvement has transformed the football experience for coaches, players, fans, and the media,” said Oliver Bierhoff, SAP brand ambassador and German national football team manager.  “Imagine this: In just 10 minutes, 10 players with three balls can produce over seven million data points. SAP HANA can process these in real time.  With SAP, our team can analyze this huge amount of data to customize training and prepare for the next match.”

The German National Team will use SAP Match Insights in an early adoption phase for preparation and post analyses of the matches during the World Cup in Brazil.

Enhancing SAP’s industry product portfolio for sports and entertainment, SAP Match Insights is intended to be offered to other clubs and football federations as well.

The insights are also aimed to be beneficial for the media, enabling them to deliver a better informed commentary.

“Big data is an incredible resource for coaches and players to contextualise information and draw well-informed conclusions to optimise training and tactics,” said Fadi Naoum, Senior Vice President, Application and Innovation Head – Sports and Entertainment, SAP AG. “It’s high time to make this type of information accessible to sports journalism and the fans as well.”

Besides, SAP has also provided its player analytics solution to one of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during this  auctioning of players early this year before the start of the tourney.