MUNICH — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced the upcoming launch of the SAP Sports One solution for soccer, planned for this summer. At the SAP Sports and Entertainment Forum held at the Allianz Arena in Munich, a first preview of key features and benefits of this new solution was unveiled in front of 500 guests from the sports and entertainment industry and the media.
Once launched, this will be the first sports-specific cloud solution powered by the SAP HANA platform. It aims to provide a single unified platform to manage teams and players efficiently as well as handle analytical insights for performance optimization. This is the next evolution of the SAP Match Insights solution, developed for the German Soccer Association for its preparation for the world cup in Brazil last year.
“Competition is growing increasingly fierce, while athletic performance is reaching a peak. Our customers are looking for new ways to go beyond these limits,” said Stefan Wagner, general manager, Media, Sports & Entertainment, SAP SE. “We believe that SAP technology can open up such untapped potential, providing entirely new insights for better performance. On a single platform, SAP Sports One helps teams and organizations make better decisions to bring the best out in their players – and win.”
The solution is planned to consist of components for team management, training planning, player fitness management and performance analysis. Aside from master data management for simpler administration, it is aimed to provide a simple-to-use collaboration platform to engage players and teams better on any device. The solution is intended to support detailed tracking of injuries, medication and performance diagnostics for a comprehensive health history of each player. For postmatch analysis, the platform is planned to support the integration of established content providers such as Opta Sport Daten AG and Prozone Sports Ltd, and is intended to be open for others in the future. Combined, these insights are expected to help customize training, prevent injury, adapt tactics and develop the entire team.
The target audience consists of team managers and sports directors, coaches, scouts, video analysts and medical staff. The first release of SAP Sports One is specifically designed for soccer, aiming mainly at the European market.
Releases for ice hockey are planned to follow, with the Czech national ice hockey team currently using an adapted version of SAP Match Insights for the Ice Hockey World Championship that starts in the Czech Republic May 1, 2015.
The solution is intended to be adapted for other sports over the next years.
For more information, visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.
Kamila Joanna Laures, +49 (30) 41092-252, firstname.lastname@example.org, CET