19 July 2024

The role of data in sport continues to grow, and has changed the way we understand and improve sporting performance. Today, thanks to advances in technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), startups like Deeptimize are at the forefront of transforming sports analytics. They offer advanced tools that help to better understand performances, engage fans, and uncover new business opportunities for sports stakeholders.

According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the sports analytics sector was estimated to be worth $1.05 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 30% to reach $5.11 billion by 2026. Struggling with complex and poorly structured data, the big names in the sector are struggling to keep pace. But recent technological innovations point to a new era in the analysis and exploitation of sports data…

AI to democratise sports data

Sport now transcends mere physical performance, generating an impressive amount of data that needs to be deciphered… This information, however precious, is often disorganised and difficult to analyse using traditional methods. The challenge is great, especially when it comes to the traditional analysis of sports data, which mainly involves processing huge volumes of data, managing its complexity and variability, and analysing the results.

Using data to improve performance is nothing new in sport. But with recent technological advances, first and foremost AI, this field is seeing a real acceleration. Deeptimize, for example, offers a solution built entirely around AI, capable of identifying all actions of interest (such as a touch or a corner in football, a try in rugby, etc.) with unprecedented precision. All this information can be analysed in real time from a simple video capture, whether live or recorded. This revolution paves the way for much more advanced, accurate and rapidly accessible analyses. It is a powerful decision-support tool, including for sports that until now have not had access to such possibilities. And with good reason: traditional operators entrust video analysts with the task of coding live, often at the scene of events, the various actions in the game. It’s not hard to imagine the progress made by AI, both in terms of accuracy and speed and in economic terms. 

In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) offer unprecedented opportunities for processing and analysing data rapidly. These technologies can reveal trends and patterns that even experts might miss. In this respect, the technologies developed by these start-ups provide answers to the most pressing questions.

 

Why is data analysis useful in sport? 

 The analysis of sports data using artificial intelligence is profoundly changing the game. It allows athletes to optimise their performance and helps to prevent injury by providing a better understanding of how the body works. Training methods are now more targeted and tailored to the specific needs of each athlete, making them more effective and personalised. For spectators, this new technological era means an enriched and immersive experience. It strengthens the emotional bond with the teams and increases interaction. 
 
And so we can see that this technological breakthrough goes far beyond the strict confines of sport: it has a positive influence on fan engagement and, in turn, on sponsorship investment and therefore on the revenues of clubs and other sporting organisations. The strategic exploitation of data is also opening up new horizons for the sports media in terms of creating ever more captivating content.