Manchester City player Kyle Walker runs with the ball during the Premier League match against Everton FC at Etihad Stadium. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Manchester City has expanded its partnership with SAP to bring technology to the pitch so that coaches, analysts, and players can access real-time data from the sidelines during games for the first time.
The two organizations have been co-innovating on-field technology since the Premier League changed its rules in March to allow coaches to use handheld technology devices with live data on the sidelines during matches. The International Football Association Board also approved a similar use of data ahead of the World Cup, allowing ChyronHego’s TRACAB optical tracking system to be deployed across the month-long tournament.
On Tuesday, Man City announced that it had adopted a custom tool called SAP Challenger Insights to gain a competitive edge during games. The mobile app, which will run through a tablet, provides coaches and analysts with data and insights about an opponent’s tactics, such as their offensive and defensive tendencies and formations. It can be used before, during and after games, helping the team build and plan strategies to best tackle their opponents and communicate in-game tactical changes.
During Man City’s championship season last year, when it clinched its third EPL title, the club used SAP Challenger Insights prior to matches to build game plans, in the locker room during halftime to make adjustments, and afterwards to review post-game data and prep for future matches. Manchester City’s women’s team has also been using the technology this season.
“As one of the first teams in the English Premier League to bring data onto the touchlines, the club can now access the most complete view of an opponent’s setup during a match to optimize training, preparation and performance,” said Bernd Leukert, an executive board member of SAP products and innovation, in a statement.
Man City analysts can load up tactical plans and opposition insights onto tablets ahead of games and practice, which players can then consult while training or playing. The system is specifically designed to help the club build and plan set-pieces, communicate in-game tactical changes and deliver real-time insights on its opposition. Coaches can also use the platform as a prompt to swap players around and introduce substitutes. The platform is a part of the broader SAP Sports One software that Man City uses on its business side.
“For me, maximizing performance is all about preparation and doing everything I can so that when I walk onto the pitch I can anticipate as much as possible,” said Aymeric Laporte, a defender for Man City who joined the club last January. “SAP Challenger Insights is an amazing way to help me do that.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Man City’s adoption of live data on the pitch will help to provide the club with an edge. But due to relaxed rules across the sport, other large clubs are likely to soon also deploy on-field tech to make tactical decisions in real time. SAP provides technology solutions across the sports world, including providing a “video cockpit” for the German National Football team during the 2018 World Cup.
In other sports, SAP has provided on-court coaching analytics software for the Women’s Tennis Association and biometric technology for Sailing Team AkzoNobel during the Volvo Ocean Race.
