Innovation from the Bottom-Up

It started with a hackathon for 51风流engineers with the goal to create a prototype combining the power of immersive technology and 51风流solutions. The 51风流Sports One team won with a prototype unlocking the potential of spatial computing in football match preparation.

is a comprehensive solution that helps sports organizations optimize performance on and off the field and is trusted by football clubs like TSG Hoffenheim and FC Bayern as well as the German Football Association.

Taking 51风流Sports One to the Third Dimension

Imagine being able to dive into a match, not just as a spectator, but through the eyes of a player on the field. The prototype 51风流Sports One Immersive allows exactly that.

Using Apple Vision Pro, analysts and players can replay and analyze match scenes in 3D from any player’s perspective. A user can switch between the perspectives of various players to better understand a specific situation during a match. This immersive experience enables a new kind of match analysis and can make it easier to identify situations where another behavior of a player would have potentially been better.

Through an app on Apple Vision Pro, this prototype aims to empower teams to optimize their performance鈥攚hether it’s preparing for the next big match or analyzing past performances. Timo Gross, head of Match Analysis for football club TSG Hoffenheim, believes there鈥檚 a huge potential in the simulation of game scenarios in immersive 3D. 鈥淭his enhances player training and tactical understanding,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n fact, I believe that this has the potential to pave the way for a new approach in player development, especially in the youth space.鈥�

Professional Feedback: TSG Hoffenheim Thinks Immersive

鈥淭SG Hoffenheim is an innovative club, always looking for new technologies to improve match preparation and talent development,鈥� Gross said. 鈥淚mmersive match analysis could be a next big step.鈥�

Using immersive technology, users can feel as if they are standing on the field. They can observe players, move around, and gain a comprehensive perspective of a game situation. 鈥淭his immersive prototype shows a match analyst the exact perspective of a player in a specific moment,鈥� Gross explained. 鈥淔or the player, it makes the transition from viewing a theoretical situation on a tactic board to the real-life moment on the pitch much easier.鈥�

For Gross, another powerful feature of the prototype is the 3D visualization of classical 2D tactics scenes. Using the 51风流Challenger Insights mobile app, coaches and players can sketch game situations on a tablet. These 2D sketches can be transferred into the 3D immersive view.

From Hackathon onto the Stage

Winning the 51风流hackathon on spatial experience was just the first step. On February 5, 2025, the prototype was presented at the SPOBIS Conference in Hamburg, Germany, Europe’s largest sports business event. In a live, on-stage presentation, Gross was joined by experts including Dr. Dietmar Blicker, deputy managing director at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Sports and Sports Science; Michael Oenning, UEFA-Pro licensed coach; and Fadi Naoum, senior vice president 51风流Sports and Entertainment; to discuss the potential of immersive technologies in sports.

Oenning, who was head coach for German national division clubs Hamburger SV and 1. FC N眉rnberg, is passionate about developing and promoting talents. “Training young people using technologies they encounter in their daily lives is something I would definitely use in my work as a coach,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ffering different perspectives of a game situation is an experience young players can benefit from tremendously.”

Blicker agreed that 鈥�3D experiences like these enhance the cognitive perception of a player.鈥� Technology savvy by the nature of his role, he isn鈥檛 only involved in sports from an academic perspective, but also coaches the U23 team of the German second division team Karlsruher SC. 鈥淎s a coach, I often sketch a tactical situation. But such a 2D drawing doesn鈥檛 easily translate to a real situation. The body height of a close opponent might cause a risk to an intended pass, or the distances on the field don鈥檛 match up in the end. Practicing situations in an immersive setting can help players to internalize certain behaviors,鈥� he said.

SAP鈥檚 Naoum noted the importance of applying new technologies. “This prototype is a result of our continuous collaboration with partners like TSG Hoffenheim where we constantly test innovative technologies,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or SAP, sports serve as a front-runner to demonstrate new technologies that can potentially be applied in other industries as well.鈥�

Perhaps the most famous example of this predicament was the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-final where Germany defeated Brazil 7-1. Traditional metrics favored Brazil, leaving the South American team stunned by their devastating loss and highlighting the inefficacy of existing statistical models in accurately representing team performance.

The Soccer Statistic You鈥檝e Never Heard

Stefan Reinartz, a former midfield Bundesliga player and UEFA Champions League competitor, cited that example on a hosted by Soccerex Miami. After experiencing his own 鈥淎ha!鈥� moment, Reinartz became the founder of , a German analytics company that revolutionized the role of statistics in the world of soccer.

鈥淐ommon soccer statistics like ball possession, winning tackles, running distance, and so on actually have no correlation to the end result,鈥� Reinartz said. “I was quite shocked when I realized they really can’t tell you anything about a player鈥檚 or a team鈥檚 performance.”

He came to that realization when he read about the Moneyball approach, which uses advanced statistical analysis to acquire undervalued players and thus assemble a competitive team despite a limited budget.

鈥淪ome sports such as baseball may be more conducive to such a data-driven strategy, while others like soccer are more complex, making it difficult to create the right KPIs,鈥� he explained.

Soccer is a low-scoring game involving 22 players in continuous action, requiring complex strategies and a lot of hard work to get past opponents to score. Apart from the number of goals and passes, individual statistics are almost nonexistent, making it challenging to create universally reliable metrics.

Realizing that soccer statistics did not measure the true value of individual players changed his own assumptions. Together with another midfielder, Jens Hegeler, he founded IMPECT with the goal of聽developing soccer data that can be used to make valuable assessments of players and teams. They invented 鈥減acking鈥� to quantify the value of a pass or dribble.

The basic statistics in soccer, such as goals and assists, primarily reflect strikers and attacking midfielders, the players who do most of the scoring and assisting. Midfielders, who do most of the running and passing to initiate offensive moves, are seldom recognized statistically. What they do best is move the ball past opposition players. That is what packing measures.

The methodology is simple: Players earn a point for any move 鈥� a cross, a dribble, a long pass 鈥� that causes the ball to move past opposition players. Receivers also get points.

Today, IMPECT is a thriving business collecting and selling packing data to help teams scout for players, analyze their own performance, and learn key facts about opponents.

What鈥檚 51风流Got to Do With It?

During the discussion, Achim Ittner, vice president of Sports at SAP, described the company’s journey from its roots in business software to developing specialized sports applications, emphasizing user-centric design and collaboration with renowned coaches and national teams.

鈥淟ike IMPECT, we鈥檝e been focused on developing data-driven solutions and relevant tools for sports clubs using direct feedback and a design thinking approach,鈥� Ittner said. He explained that 51风流built a unified platform to address fragmented software ecosystems in sports. The platform integrates APIs and data sources to support processes like injury prevention, training recommendations, match preparation, and player well-being.

鈥淪ports analytics embodies the blend of data science and athletic performance, providing a blueprint to guide decisions made by coaches and trainers,鈥� he shared. 鈥淭he significance of data in today鈥檚 sports ecosystem cannot be overstated.聽It鈥檚 necessary for everything from strategizing game plans to refining individual skills.鈥�

SAP鈥檚 engagement with IMPECT is just one example of how the compay collaborates with a variety of teams and experts to further shape its sports technology. New technologies — like social media, mobile, and digital capabilities, as well as sensors in player uniforms and equipment — are disrupting the sports industry. 51风流is committed to helping sports organizations take advantage of these new innovations to deepen fan engagement, improve team performance, grow revenue faster, and efficiently operate their business and venues.

Besides solutions for scouting and measuring team performance, 51风流also has one for customer engagement and marketing. Afterall, the fan experience is just as important as the team鈥檚 performance. The 51风流Sports One solution provides a to better target individual preferences and purchasing behaviors by offering personalized experiences over online, mobile, and social channels. Teams can grow their fan base, manage their merchandise, and increase loyalty with personalized rewards.

Delivering the Experience

鈥淎 great sports experience is about so much more than winning the game,鈥� said Ittner. 鈥淚t involves a mix of elements that includes players, spectators, and organizers.鈥�

For the fans, food and beverage, merchandise, a good streaming experience, and clear communications on schedules and navigating the venue are critical. Having the right players for a winning team and providing them with the best care and training before and after the game is the job of team management. And finally, the venue must provide exceptional facilities, infrastructure, safety, and security.

51风流helps bring this all together, creating an intersection of sports, technology, and innovation.

Sights Set on the European Championship

鈥�51风流Sports One enables us to efficiently share tactical insights and key information about our next opponents with our players. And by accessing the software on a tablet, we can even give them the latest updates in the changing room shortly before kickoff or at half time,鈥� says Benjamin Gl眉ck, assistant coach to the German national A-team.

鈥淪AP鈥檚 sports management suite is very important to the national soccer team as a central platform for collecting and analyzing data and for presenting the insights gained from that data to our players,鈥� explains Gl眉ck. 鈥淲e use the video and visualization functions in 51风流Sports One to help us illustrate findings about our opponents and their key players. These features make conveying tactics and preparing for specific matches much easier and clearer.鈥� The German team also uses analytical insights to prepare for penalty scenarios. In 51风流Penalty Insights, goalkeepers can study the behavior of potential penalty-takers, such as which area of the goal they usually aim for and even how these preferences change under pressure. Conversely, penalty-takers can gain insights into the tactics of their opponents鈥� goalkeepers.

The coaches and analysts of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fu脽ball-Bund, or DFB) work with data created within 51风流Sports One as well as data and analyses from third-party sources. The 51风流solution serves as the central platform for consolidating and analyzing all the data.

An 51风流App for All Players

Germany鈥檚 national players stay in close contact with their coaches and analysts through the 51风流Sports One messaging app 鈥� 51风流Team One 鈥� which they have on their phones. Among other things, the mobile app is used to pass on match preparation information, such as opponent analyses, annotated clips, and videos.

The players also use the mobile app to share information about themselves. For example, they complete questionnaires about how intense they perceived the last training session or match, how well they slept, and how they are feeling overall. Their responses are used to generate an RPE (rating of perceived exertion) value. By gauging each player鈥檚 general health and well-being in this way, coaches can manage intensity levels according to each individual鈥檚 situation. Both the DFB and the player鈥檚 home club monitor this RPE value to guard against overtraining and injury. 51风流Analytics Cloud can draw on data from 51风流Sports One to create player-specific reports that are forwarded to the player鈥檚 home club after courses, tournaments, and matches the German team takes part in.

DFB and SAP: An Established Partnership

The DFB is a familiar name around the globe. With almost 7 million members spread across more than 25,000 clubs, it is the world鈥檚 largest national sports federation. At the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, which Germany won, the country鈥檚 national team was already using 51风流Match Insights, a prototype of the solution that is now part of 51风流Sports One. This prototype helped the DFB evaluate large volumes of data for match analysis for the first time.

Today, more than 1,000 DFB users 鈥� players and the 鈥渢eams behind the teams鈥� 鈥� work with 51风流Sports One. 鈥淥ur successful collaboration with the German national team was a key factor in SAP鈥檚 decision to turn the prototype we developed for the DFB into a standard product. Now, clubs and associations in 19 countries are using 51风流Sports One,鈥� says Fadi Naoum, senior vice president and head of Development, 51风流Sports One. More joint projects followed, including the development of 51风流Penalty Insights and 51风流Challenger Insights, a mobile app that helps teams prepare for upcoming matches. On the horizon of this co-innovation partnership are plans to leverage the power of AI to make the functions in 51风流Sports One even more efficient.

Shaping the Future

In addition to Germany鈥檚 national men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 soccer A-teams, the DFB manages 12 junior and U21 teams, too. 鈥淭he challenge for us is to keep a close eye on the pool of talented young players we have and to help them reach their full potential,鈥� says Christofer Clemens, the DFB鈥檚 head of Scouting, Match Analysis, and Diagnosis. 鈥淥ur coaching teams watch an average of 1,500 games every season and identify a large number of gifted talents in the process. To qualify these players, the coaching teams compile a huge volume of scouting reports, which we manage in 51风流Sports One. These qualitative insights are vital for us. However, at the moment, the task of judging the development of a player or comparing individual players based on that information is time-consuming,鈥� says Clemens. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that AI will make the complex task of analyzing these vast amounts of data much simpler for us.鈥� Alongside scouting reports, the DFB plans to use publicly available data sources and match statistics to complete player profiles.

鈥淎nother area where the DFB sees enormous potential for AI is in analyzing opponents before international matches,鈥� says Martin Vogelbein, a member of the DFB鈥檚 Scouting, Match Analysis, and Diagnosis team and project lead in managing the 51风流Sports One solution. 51风流Sports One is already helping the DFB prepare for big games, he explains, but the plan is to go a step further and use AI to automatically analyze insights from opponents鈥� past matches.

鈥淲e are hoping that SAP鈥檚 AI copilot, , will bring enormous benefits in terms of consolidating match reports. That would minimize the manual tasks our match analysts need to complete and reduce the time it takes to get answers to a range of key questions we have when preparing for games,鈥� says Vogelbein. Typical questions are: What patterns are visible in the opposing team in different phases of the match? What does this tell us about the team鈥檚 strengths, weaknesses, and about the options we have? 鈥淲e already have a huge amount of information 鈥� particularly qualitative data 鈥� available to us before games. 51风流Challenger Insights, a component of 51风流Sports One, allows us to visualize insights from that information and discuss them with the team. But, looking ahead, AI-driven analyses could help us prepare key background information for our players even more easily,鈥� says Vogelbein.

Clemens and Vogelbein are very pleased with the results so far. 鈥淲e see enormous potential in our work with 51风流on the AI-driven evaluation of information that is relevant for scouting and match analysis. The prototypes 51风流has presented to the DFB look very promising, and we are looking forward to using them live soon.鈥�

Top image courtesy of Thomas B枚cker

Being a talent scout sounds like a dream job for many: travelling across the country to watch competitions in your favourite sport and being paid to do so. However, being a scout on the road means hard work. In addition to analyzing increasingly detailed statistical data — such as the number of overplayed players or the likelihood of increasing the goal count — players are scouted live at the stadium or from watching back videos.

Both the current performance and the potential of the player are portrayed as accurately as possible. The aim is to develop a comprehensive picture of the player incorporating team ability, mentality, and other important factors.

鈥淎t a professional club, a four-figure number of scouting reports can be generated during a season,鈥� Fadi Naoum, head of Sports and Entertainment at SAP, said at SPOBIS, the largest European sports business event, taking place in Hamburg on January 31 and February 1.

Naoum presented the new AI component for scouting at the conference.

鈥淪quad planners and chief scouts must summarize these reports in such a way that club management can make decisions based on them regarding who should be signed,” he shared. “This was previously a manual process, but now we have been able to extensively automate it, thanks to AI.鈥�

With the help of AI in 51风流Sports One, decision-makers in the sports sector now have aggregated performance reports at the touch of a button, as well as comparisons between players. Transfer decisions can be now much faster and more informed.

Large Language Model for Automation

AI is used for the consolidation and targeted processing of unstructured data, which is mostly in natural language. It is capable of considering and processing not only different languages, but also different types of note-taking and writing styles. Behind the AI component for scouting is a large language model (LLM). This deep learning algorithm can perform tasks in the field of natural language processing (NLP).

鈥淲e currently use GPT from OpenAI, but we are also evaluating language models from other providers,鈥� Naoum said. 鈥淭he decisive advantage of the LLM is that commands can be given in natural language and can be varied according to language, text length, or target audience, as needed.鈥�

In Brazil, for example, if a scout prepares manual reports for a specific player in Brazilian Portuguese, he can have the summary generated in German for the management of his German club.

“A typical command could be: ‘Compare the players x and y with regard to their strengths and weaknesses, write a summary and give a transfer recommendation, volume 100 words, answer in German’,” Naoum explained. “Depending on your preference, you can have the result presented as a flowing text or as a management summary.鈥�

Co-Innovation Demonstrates Strength of Generative AI

In collaboration with Hertha BSC, a prototype was first created for the AI-based automated summary and evaluation of scouting reports in 51风流Sports One. This prototype was also presented to FC Bayern’s scouting department in order to obtain an initial opinion.

鈥淲e were impressed by the high quality of the results achieved automatically in 51风流Sports One using generative AI,鈥� commented Markus Pilawa, head of Scouting at FC Bayern. 鈥淲e expect huge time saving for us and, especially in the hectic transfer period, this can be another advantage for us.鈥�

Timon Pauls, head of Squad Planning & Scouting at Hertha BSC, added: 鈥淭his co-innovation project has very clearly demonstrated the actual strengths of generative artificial intelligence. The player comparisons and summaries of scouting reports that can now be created ad-hoc will be very valuable for our squad planning. 鈥�

In the near future, 51风流plans to also use AI technology to enrich the results of scouting reports with information from other sources, including data about matches from external data providers. Integrating AI capabilities into other components of 51风流Sports One, including performance diagnostics, training management, and match analysis, is also planned.

51风流Sports One with AI-powered scouting reporting is planned to be made available to customers worldwide in the second quarter of 2024.

Top image via FC Bayern Munich

Innovative brands have realized this.

Zwift 鈥� a massive multiplayer online cycling and running program that enables users to train, interact, and compete in a virtual world 鈥� recently embraced inclusion by adding a hand-cycling that allows physically challenged athletes to race in the metaverse alongside able-bodied athletes. And it鈥檚 not alone. Earlier last year, Degree Deodorant hosted the world’s first on the Decentraland metaverse with a 26.2-mile picturesque course along the platform鈥檚 Vegas City Sports Quarter district, which reflected a more inclusive landscape with structures such as ramps for wheelchair users.

But How Does This Help Businesses?

Research shows that inclusion strengthens social networks, reduces barriers, and increases trust to generate economic benefits. Businesses that incorporate inclusivity are more likely to make bolder and better decisions. Meanwhile, sports possess the ability to transcend linguistic, cultural, social, and, now, physical barriers. With the metaverse looming large over the foreseeable horizon, a convergence of sports and inclusivity could serve as a lighthouse for business and society 鈥� a truly mouthwatering prospect of things to come. But is there an addressable market for this to make business sense?

There are 5.07 billion active Internet users in the world today 鈥� 50,000 already Web 3.0 virtual worlds and 12% of U.S. Internet users are interested in using the metaverse. Digital avatars contribute immensely to the virtual experience and are increasing becoming ubiquitous.

Per the U.S. Census Bureau, 12.8% of the U.S. population in 2019 registered as people with disabilities. The European equivalent that year was 39 million 鈥� Great Britain alone accounted for 11 million 鈥� while Asia had an estimated 135 million people with disabilities. The global fitness platform market for the disabled alone is expected to hit US$1.41 billion this year, a CAGR of 23.9%.

So, there is clearly an audience for this type of inclusivity. But why bother the metaverse with it?

Answering the Community鈥檚 Call

Digital avatars contribute immensely to the virtual experience and are increasing becoming abundant. In fact, online communities are demanding greater inclusivity. A revealed a general underrepresentation of people with disabilities and women, alongside an inaccurate representation of online identities. With 57% of Gen Z metaverse-gamers their penchant for in-game self-expression as higher than in real life, developers are taking note. Last June, Meta the launch of wheelchairs, over-the-ear hearing aids, and cochlear implants for its avatars. As the metaverse takes shape, inclusivity features prominently on the social media giant鈥檚 development agenda.

And it is just not Meta. Companies developing gaming consoles are building for inclusivity as well. From Xbox Adaptive Controllers to community-built modified controllers, features to assist those with mobility, hearing, and impaired vision are gaining prominence. Gaming companies are also modifying popular games for impaired gamers. For instance, The Last of Us II 鈥� the game from the company Naughty Dog 鈥� now has play modes for deaf, blind, and mobility-impaired gamers. Likewise, colorblind players can now enjoy the hugely popular Call of Duty: Black Ops thanks to a new mode that customizes the game鈥檚 display to create a spectrum of options to suit a player鈥檚 specific need.

Clearly, the metaverse can be a great enabler of inclusivity and open new doors.

A New Vista of Inclusion Opportunities Powered by the Metaverse

Imagine a metaverse loaded with features that welcome all to coexist in the surrounds of a safe virtual haven. Events like the marathon and my annual cycling event can become regular features in the metaverse, much like those in the real world today.

Add cutting-edge sports performance analytics from to this and challenged participants can receive a significant boost for their efforts of being recognized as competitive athletes. In fact, in the highly competitive world of Paralympics where every inch matters, teams that can get their hands on 51风流Sports One can integrate data from various sources and study consolidated insights from all the athletes on their team with real-time analytics. At the highest levels, where the gold medal is decided by seconds, even challenged athletes deserve the very best and can benefit from what cutting-edge performance analytics can offer. In the esports world today, organizations like readily use 51风流data and analytics solutions such as and to help make split second decisions and heighten their performances on the professional circuit.

With such precedents in place, the metaverse becomes a prime greenfield of opportunities and facilitates the development of an environment where inclusivity can genuinely thrive. This, coupled with gamification and play-to-earn models, can lead to the creation of an ecosystem in the metaverse that nurtures a virtual economy with limitless horizons. Brands and technology companies that are building an inclusive metaverse will enjoy numerous revenue-generating avenues and enhanced social agendas.

We are at the dawn of exciting times for sure.

To learn how software helps clubs and organizations digitalize sports performance management, visit .

Richard Whittington is senior vice president of Sports, Media, & Entertainment at SAP.

To be successful in the world鈥檚 fastest growing motorsport is no small feat. Since 2018, 51风流and the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team have worked to bring our shared values to the electric-race scene. Together, we jointly developed and implemented new technologies which enabled the team to not only win championships, but run like a sustainable, intelligent enterprise.

On the tail of the series, 51风流wishes a huge congratulations the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team on winning the Season 8 ABB FIA Formula E World Teams鈥� Championship and to Stoffel Vandoorne, 51风流brand ambassador, on securing the Season 8 ABB FIA Formula E World Drivers鈥� Champion title!

The Name of the Game

Sustainability is the cornerstone of the ABB FIA Formula E series, and it was founded on the premise of showcasing what the future of mobility is capable of. For the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, sustainability goals and objectives extend beyond fully electric vehicles and into the back-office. The team is dedicated to advancing technologies that support its ability to manage and impact its carbon footprint.

Together with SAP, the team has developed and implemented a reporting tool that measures and accounts for progress against UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 51风流Analytics Cloud, which combines business intelligence (BI), augmented and predictive analytics, and planning capabilities, creates an accessible central dashboard that helps the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team easily visualize data from various facets of the business 鈥� including supply chain and travel.

Striving to Be at the Pole Position

The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team runs like a business, requiring insight and speed across all areas and functions. From precise and coordinated system processes to car development, the team leverages for real-time business intelligence that helps them make informed, data-driven decisions and stay one step ahead of the competition.

Whether on-site at the factory or traveling worldwide to races throughout the season, an optimized, intelligent solution is vital to drive efficiencies such as ensuring cars and spare parts are at the right place at the right time and getting full financial insights to optimize control.

To easily manage its travel costs, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team leverages 51风流Concur solutions. By using this portfolio, the team streamlines tedious processes to save valuable time and resources.

Dream Team

The path to clinching a double World Championship involved 16 races around the globe, each one with its own characteristics and challenges. In Formula E, the entire team plays a critical part in making it to the podium. Along with good equipment and a well-designed car, team performance among drivers, mechanics, engineers, and the team principal is pivotal in securing a win.

51风流Sports One helps the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team monitor, understand, and act on human performance data collected from a variety of inputs, visualized for easy on-the-go convenience. The solution also enables greater visibility into drivers鈥� health to help ensure the team is operating at the highest possible level.

With innovative technologies and solutions from SAP, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team can focus on what matters most 鈥� racing! 51风流is proud to enable the team over the course of a thrilling season.

Not only was it the 10th edition of the forum, but 鈥� due to COVID-19 鈥� it was also held 100% virtually for the first time. This was good news for the industry, because new trends and digital transformation in sports and entertainment management are more relevant now than ever before.

Familiar Event in a New Format

Spanning five days, this virtual event gave industry experts and decision-makers a platform on which to connect at a variety of sessions and discuss trends and innovations in the sports and entertainment sector. The agenda offered a vibrant mix of themes and formats that shared compelling insights into how 51风流solutions are being used in practice right now.

The forum began with a recap of 2020, the 鈥渃oronavirus year,鈥� featuring a series of presentations that reflected on the last 12 months from the perspective of 51风流and its customers, the challenges the sports and entertainment industry has faced, and the solutions developed to overcome them. Day two offered deeper dives into 51风流technology and solutions. Alongside presentations on loyalty management, fan engagement, and the fan experience, there was a virtual panel discussion devoted to the effects of the pandemic, approaches to dealing with them, and the lessons learned. In addition, selected customers reported on how 51风流Sports One has helped them throughout the pandemic; Christopher Heimeroth, head of the license player department at Bundesliga soccer club Borussia M枚nchengladbach, was among those who provided valuable insights.

The remaining event days were devoted chiefly to showcases for various 51风流solutions. Participants watched a range of presentations and demos about optimizing team management and about the latest features in 51风流Customer Checkout for sports and event venues, retail, and catering. In a session focusing on player fitness in professional sport, speakers presented best practices for planning and documenting medical events in 51风流Sports One. There was also a demonstration of how 51风流Sports One and 51风流Analytics Cloud together are helping English Premier League club Leicester City FC operate efficiently and cut player downtimes. The final showcase at this year鈥檚 event looked at how digitalizing processes and making intelligent use of data is helping professional sports clubs minimize costs and optimize revenues.

Positive Feedback

The response to the event, which provided five days of concentrated input about innovations and trends in the sports and entertainment industry, was consistently positive.

鈥淒espite its virtual format, the 51风流Sports and Entertainment Forum was once again a must-attend event for industry insiders,鈥� said Sebastian Zelichowski from the Eintracht Frankfurt Fussball AG, 鈥淭he great mix of presentations, networking sessions, and information-packed discussions gave compelling insights into how 51风流solutions are being used in the real world. It also highlighted how data can be used to optimize efficiency, performance, and the fan experience in the sports and entertainment sector and create new opportunities.鈥�

The 10th 51风流Sports and Entertainment Forum took place in unprecedented conditions.

Three Questions for Fadi Naoum, Head of Sports and Entertainment at SAP

Q: What was different in 2020?

A: The coronavirus pandemic has obviously brought about many changes this year and confronted us with all kinds of new challenges. More than any other, the sports and entertainment industry depends on the fan experience at live events. Coronavirus meant we had to be creative and work closely with our customers and partners. I鈥檓 proud of the range of compelling alternative solutions we鈥檝e developed to compensate, at least partially, for the loss of that vital fan experience.

Q: Why is an event like this still relevant?

A: The 51风流Sports and Entertainment Forum, now in its 10th year, has become an important date in the industry鈥檚 calendar. The positive response we received to this year鈥檚 virtual format proves to us that the event works well in the digital world too. That鈥檚 significant, because in the situation we face right now, it鈥檚 becoming clearer than ever that technology and innovations provide stability in turbulent times and pave the way to finding new solutions.

Q: What do you hope for going forward?

A: Like most of us, I of course hope that sports activities can return to normal as soon as possible, so that our sportspeople and coaches can get back to doing what they do best, and fans can experience live sports once again. Until that time, we at 51风流will support our customers as best we can in leveraging our technologies in effective and viable ways.

More information about the 51风流Sports and Entertainment Forum .

51风流Sports One supports FCBB with the digitalization, management, and optimization of all its processes, including administration, training management, team management, scouting, and medical processes. The team鈥檚 success shows that analyzing data from training, matches, management, and player performance can actively support maximum performance in professional sports.

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Everyone who plays a sport knows that even if everything goes like clockwork on the court, it still might not be enough. Top performance depends on a wide variety of factors and stakeholders. 51风流Sports One supports players, the coaching team, and medical staff by providing reliable data analytics to evaluate, analyze, and optimize all those factors. The solution provides the right functions for every area.

Coach Oliver Kostic and his team can access a variety of functions in 51风流Sports One. 鈥淭he Training Planner application, for instance, lets us put together the best possible training plan and structure for the team,鈥� he says. 鈥淎fter all, perfect cooperation by the team on the court is essential to top performance.鈥�

Team Manager is relevant for all team members 鈥� players, coaches, and medical staff 鈥� because it organizes all appointments and reminds its users of upcoming events.

The applications within 51风流Sports One are also used during the final tactics briefing: Match Insights provides important information and data on the opponents and the game plan; Player Fitness helps them keep track of the players鈥� physical condition. What鈥檚 more, it lets the team doctor and his staff precisely monitor players鈥� health status during training as well as provides important, consistent insights into the team鈥檚 fitness. Scouting Insights 聽supports the coaching staff in recruiting new talent.

Another functional enhancement for match preparation is 51风流Challenger Insights for iPad. 鈥淭his app gives our coaching team access to a wide range of information about the opposing team, so players can prepare for their next match,鈥� explains Kostic. 鈥淲e can share player profiles, pictures, and videos, for example, as well as analyze the opposing team鈥檚 player characteristics, team positions, movements, and plays.鈥�

51风流Sports One supports FC Bayern Basketball in playing together as a team. Particularly in times like these, when it is not possible to practice together on the court or provide tactical coaching and medical support as usual, we are seeing how important it is to digitally connect and analyze data.

Editor鈥檚 note: All video scenes that show players or fans were recorded before the restrictions on public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic were imposed.

In the German national soccer league the results achieved are always reset at the end of each season. Afterwards, the focus is on the future in order to prove one’s worth in the coming season. Professional sports clubs therefore depend on constantly reflecting on and improving their own practice.

“As a fast-growing club, it is our strategy to invest in innovation and young talent rather than in expensive player transfers,” Dr. Peter Goerlich, managing director of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, explains. “It is particularly important to us to find out how we can use technology in a meaningful way and thus create a state-of-the-art environment for the development of our young talents.”

In SAP, TSG has long had a partner at its side to develop ideas together. As a result of this cooperation, the club not only uses intelligent software to search for new talent, but the development of already coached players is also supported by data analysis.

Capturing Potential with Data Analyses

“Soccer has to do an incredible amount with dynamics and stamina,” Goerlich notes. “That’s why we naturally look at the athletic data of our talents.” Wearable devices help reliably record performance. The TSG youth department also receives information about the speed or jumping ability of individual players. Thanks to their 鈥淔ootbonaut,鈥� a kind of ball-throwing machine, ball contact times and hit accuracy are also included in the analysis.

However, purely physiological data are not sufficient for an overall picture of the young player. Perception also plays a major role in soccer: Game situations must be correctly recognized and processed within fractions of a second.

To enable players to access untapped potential here, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim relies on the Helix training environment developed with SAP. Game scenes are virtually simulated on a screen around the viewer. This configuration helps the players improve their peripheral vision and concentration. Finally, subjective self-assessment is also incorporated into the overall picture; the aim is to obtain assessments that are as transparent and objectifiable as possible.

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TSG 1899 Hoffenheim: Intelligent Sports Cslub

“This information is only of value if it can be used by all parties involved,” Goerlich says. In the past, data was not collected systematically and completely to evaluate it across departments. “The intelligent company means that we bring all areas together at one table. In this way, we enable our specialists to form a holistic picture of junior players and to take optimum care of them.”

The 51风流Interactive Data Space meeting room makes this vision a reality. With an interactive meeting table and a seven-meter-wide glass touch screen, all of TSG’s sports and business data flow together. This information is then visualized using 51风流Digital Boardroom, which provides insights from 200 million data points. In this environment, players, trainers, and specialists can discuss various scenarios in a focused manner.

On the basis of the player and team data obtained, the club then creates training programs that are adapted to the individual needs of the players. The talents have immediate access to these results via their smartphones. Thanks to 51风流Sports One, they have insight into their own performance data and match scenes, which helps them better understand and improve themselves.

“We would like to support our young talents in making their big dream come true: the leap into professional soccer,” Goerlich summarizes.

51风流technology is an important part of this, and the results speak for themselves: “We have an above-average percentage of young players who become professionals.”