Eric Davis of Panama tries to play the ball wide against DeAndre Yedlin of the USA (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
The U.S. Soccer Federation announced a three-year partnership on Thursday with Opta, a sports analytics company, to give the league access to detailed player data that could be used to enhance fan engagement, develop athlete performance and aid in scouting players.
On the player development side, Opta will provide performance analysis for both the Men’s and Women’s National Teams, including player data from every game, and provide tools that aid in the development and scouting of youth players in the U.S. through the Development Academy, the Federation’s youth league.
Opta will collect and manage data for all Under-16/17 and Under-18/19 U.S. Soccer Development Academy matches, and Youth National Team matches, which it says will provide it with an “objective, data-grounded” pathway to identifying top youth players in the country.
US Men’s National Team celebrates a goal. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
“Not only does this significantly improve our analytical capacity at the senior international and professional levels, but for the first time we will create timely and relevant data, on an ongoing basis, around our youth environments,” said U.S. Soccer spokesman, Neil Buethe.
The national teams and youth league will also have access to ProVision, an Opta software that meshes a data feed with gameday or practice video to analyze performance and make predictions about a variety of metrics, including expected goals and expected assists.
On the fan engagement side, Opta’s live statistics about player performance will be used to create data-driven digital content that enhances the viewing experience. U.S. Soccer will gradually integrate Opta’s data feeds and widgets across its digital properties and social feeds.
Opta is a part of the Perform Group, a sports media company that provides data to sports broadcasters, media outlets, leagues and sponsors to enhance content.
The relationship between Opta and U.S. Soccer officially kicked-off at the start of the year. Opta said it believes the elevated media exposure around the nation’s players and matches will attract more attention to U.S. soccer from both fans and sponsors.
