City Football Group, the controlling organization for Manchester City FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC and Yokohama F. Marinos, announced a partnership with SAP today that will see SAP become the official “Cloud Software Provider” for the four football clubs, in addition to being an adviser to City Football Group.
SAP, a German multinational software corporation, will offer cloud-based solutions in three primary areas—business operations, fan engagement and player and team performance.
As far as business operations goes, SAP has a variety of software that will help the front and back offices sift through their data, and analyze the most effective business strategy. This ranges from the SAP Jam social software program to the SAP Business Objects business intelligence solutions.
So, with SAP software, a team like New York City FC can look at how to improve its social media presence, all-the-while doing different tasks such as learning how to sell tickets with the utmost efficiency.
The VP of Global Sponsorship at SAP, Chris Burton, spoke at length of SAP’s desire to promote fan engagement with the use of their software.
“Our true dream is if there’s someone in the Philippines that cares deeply about City Football Group—either in Manchester or in Melbourne—we can unlock that opportunity to be a fan using our technology,” Burton said.
The only active plan that SAP has released in regards to fan experience is an interactive digital insights wall at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. With this, SAP will provide real-time analytics and insights to fans at the match. But, they have more planning to do before reaching those supporters in far away places, like the Philippines, with their data analytics.
SAP’s partnership with the NFL, similar to their deal with City Football Group, sees their attempts to engage fans primarily starting with social media, but they do other services for NFL fans, like a fantasy football player comparison tool.
For player and team performance analytics, you can expect all of City Football Group’s teams to be given similar treatment as the German National Team, starting with the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
SAP’s HANA platform takes the many stats that exist in soccer, and transfers them into useful information for coaches and players. This can help with tactics, player fitness, scouting, game preparation and in-game management.
Burton said that the first phase of this partnership will be the business operations, so coaches and players will not be expected to use the software this season. Neither City Football Group nor SAP has any plans for immediate implementation, apart from the insight wall in Manchester.
“The real work will begin now in the coming weeks,” said Tom Glick, president of New York City FC.