If you’re an aspiring pro athlete, being careful about what you tweet, or like, or share has never been more important. Not only is Big Brother watching, but soon he might be passing along tips to your potential employers.
Canadian startup Avrij Analytics plans to analyze online photos, text, and videos to gain insights into an athlete off the field. As well as simply tracking and monitoring online conversations and interactions, Avrij believes it can predict behavior. The goal of this is to help protect brands, whether those of the athletes themselves, or the teams that hire and fire them.
How do athletes react when then they lose a game? Are they optimistic, or pessimistic? Are they team players? Are they leaders?
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Avrij announced last week that it had raised $1.2 million in venture funding from investors that include the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation. As well as statisticians, data scientists, and software developers, Avrij’s team includes Don Purdy, a 27-year veteran of the Buffalo Bills front office, where he worked as director of football administration.
SportTechie Takeaway
Teams already seek out an athlete’s content in order to make employment decisions. Ahead of this year’s NFL draft, the Browns were rumored to be considering taking Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen with the top pick. Then, less than a day before that decision needed to be made, a couple of racially insensitive tweets written by Allen in 2012 surfaced. He rushed to apologize on ESPN, and ultimately only slipped as far as No. 7.