Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew nearly met its demise when its former owner, Precourt Sports Ventures, announced a plan to move the MLS team to Austin, Texas. However, a groundswell of support from fans in Ohio led to a nationwide #SaveTheCrew social media movement that ultimately kept the franchise in place. Two local families took over operating rights in January, and they’ve since announced a new stadium with an estimated price tag of $230 million. The team also announced IBM as its technology partner. IBM will bring in its experience from other venues (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta) and sporting events (Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) to help the Crew strategize, design and build a state-of-the-art “fan-first” arena that will include multiple technology touchpoints for fans.
Manchester City
Manchester City became the first English men’s club to win the treble of domestic championships—the Premier League, EFL Cup and FA Cup—all while embracing technology in its tactical preparations, business operations and fan engagement. Man City has used the SAP Challenger Insights platform for video and analytics for a couple seasons but, following a FIFA rule change to allow in-game access to technology, the club deployed an adapted, bespoke Challenger Insights product to glean real-time insights about its opponents’ tendencies and formations. Manchester City is one of the three EPL clubs to have installed Intel True View’s volumetric replay system and the very first to give fans the ability to control the viewpoint from an app. The parent company, City Football Group, has been aggressive in using its Cityzens digital platform to reach global fans and use SAP technologies throughout its collection of pro clubs. Recent investment from private equity firm Silver Lake, which is best known for its stakes in Alibaba and Dell, suggests the tech-friendly trend may only accelerate.
Tennis Australia
While most of professional tennis is catching on to a major analytics boon, Tennis Australia was an early pioneer. The national federation and its data-minded subsidiary, the Game Insight Group, have incorporated performance data, tracking metrics and video into a first-rate support system for the country’s players. Ashleigh Barty won the French Open and finished 2019 as the world’s No. 1-ranked women’s player. The top men’s player, Alex de Minaur, won three ATP titles and is ranked No. 18 in the world, a career best (and higher than any current American player). Countryman Nick Kyrgios won a pair of tournaments and ranks 30th. Australia’s next highest-rated woman’s player, Ajla Tomljanovic, reached her highest ranking, No. 39, in April 2019.
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors dethroned the Golden State Warriors in 2019, winning Canada’s first-ever NBA championship title. The team’s success was aided, in part, by deploying technology platforms that helped the franchise scout talent and players hone their shooting skills. The Raptors trained all season with Noah Basketball to improve their frequency of high-value three pointers. The program not only tracks baskets and misses, it can also tell how far to the right or left a player missed so that they can make corrections and try again in real time. For the 2019-20 season, the Raptors have a 3-point percentage of 40.2%, best in the league. In recent years, the team also built a data war room powered by IBM to scout talent.
U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team
The U.S. women’s national team was already an elite team, but recently retired head coach Jill Ellis embraced new technologies and analytics in its most recent run to winning the France 2019 World Cup. In between its 2015 and 2019 championships, U.S. Soccer signed a landmark deal with GPS wearable company STATSports, began a new partnership with analytics provider OptaPro, bolstered the high performance department with new hires and added customized mental training protocols from Headspace. U.S. Soccer analytics and research director Ross Moses described Ellis as “one of the leaders in terms of taking this data and using it.”
