This year, many sports events have been cancelled due to COVID-19. Under these circumstances, SAP searched for new ways to inspire and engage customers, partners, and sports fans.
SAP has created a new virtual sports showcase, featuring seven longtime sports partnerships: FC Bayern, TSG Hoffenheim, the Women’s Tennis Association, the NHL, Equestrian sports, esports, and sailing.
The new virtual sports showcase allows users to interact and experience a sports event through the eyes of a fan, coach, or athlete. Are you aware of the technology applications used in the background for athletes and coaches to prepare for a match? Or how data analytics helps to detect interesting insights for fans?
Here are a few examples of how SAP technology transforms sports:
Soccer: Supporting Match Analysts to Detect Relevant Match Scenes
Before a game, match analysts research opponents to support the coaching team in creating the most effective match plan. But instead of having to watch endless hours of matches to manually find relevant scenes that show the typical behaviors of opponents, clubs like TSG Hoffenheim rely on SAP technology to simplify this task.
Ice Hockey: Real-Time Decision Support for NHL Coaches
Ice hockey is an extremely fast-paced sport with players constantly moving around on the ice. It can be difficult for the coach to decide on player substitutions or who should be nominated for a faceoff or shootout. Gut feeling often plays a part in the coaches’ decision. But since the 2019 season, NHL coaches have been able to factor in real-time statistics and data about each player.
Equestrian: Allowing Spectators to Jump into the Judge’s Seat
There is more to watching sports than shouting and clapping that actively involves spectators. The audience at equestrian events such as CHIO Aachen can judge the artistic impression and difficulty of the rider’s dressage and compare their scores with those awarded by the official competition judges.
Tennis: Underpin Coaches’ Gut Feelings with Facts
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) allows coaches to use SAP Analytics solutions during match play to help inform coaching decisions. Coaches use the SAP application to analyze players’ on-court performance with serves, aces, break points, and ground strokes. To prepare a player in advance of a match, coaches can view insights into patterns in a player’s match play tendencies. In other words, they can view how a player may react in various match situations.
Esports: Supporting Team Liquid with Hero Selection
In the popular Esports game Dota 2, two teams of five players compete in real time against each other. Before the battle, each player chooses a unique hero out of over 110 options, with each hero possessing a unique set of abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Drafting the right hero is therefore a crucial part of the game. Team Liquid, a world-renowned professional gaming organization, uses SAP Analytics to help with hero selection – from 26.8 quadrillion unique combinations of heroes per match.
Sailing: Creating Digital Representations of Sailing Regattas
Often, those attending sailing competitions cannot tell which boat is in the lead because the action takes place offshore, miles away from spectators. Now, however, sensor-based tracking and wind measurement systems enable fans to experience digital 3D and 2D visualizations of sailing regattas, even if the competitors are out of sight. In addition, fans can analyze boat maneuvers, relive great performances, and view live race results.
While these examples highlight sports, there are many parallels between sports and business. Both face similar challenges – from creating digital representations and using advanced analytics to support decision-making, to identifying patterns and making predictions to continuously adapt to changing environments.