DFB & SAP Turn Big Data Into Smart Football Decisions

SAP AG and the German Football Association (DFB) reemphasized their mutual commitment to taking football to the next level by showcasing the SAP Match Insights solution for football, the result of 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 coaches of the German national football team 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 manager of the German national football team.  “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.

“Today each sports team is looking for innovative ways to gain a competitive edge over its rivals,” said Bierhoff. “We are representing one of the most successful teams in the world. The DFB is committed to providing the German national team with the best technology to maximize their performance. SAP meets this demanding criterion,”

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 contextualize information and draw well-informed conclusions to optimize training and tactics,” said Fadi Naoum, senior vice president, Application and Innovation Head of Sports and Entertainment, SAP AG. “It’s high time to make this type of information accessible to sports journalism and the fans as well.”

In 2013, SAP and the DFB announced a partnership to improve the business processes of the federation. Recently, this partnership has been extended to also co-innovate on software-based solutions to enhance on-field performance of Germany’s National Team. SAP Match Insights is the first project with this intent. Previously, the DFB had successfully implemented the SAP CRM rapid-deployment solution powered by SAP HANA, as well as the SAP Event Ticketing software, both running in the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud.

“The world of sports is changing, with technology innovating every area: the fan experience, player performance monitoring, team management, ticketing, and venue operations,” said Stefan Wagner, managing director,  SAP Labs in Brazil. “The DFB is keen to spearhead this industry transformation. With solutions provided by SAP, together we are perfectly poised for this transformation and a successful World Cup.”