The National Women’s Soccer League became the fourth U.S. professional soccer league to ink a partnership with sports data provider Opta. The three-year deal announced Tuesday will begin with the 2017 season on April 15 and see Opta become the Official Data Partner for the NWSL.
Opta will manage statistics for all NWSL matches — regular season and playoffs — while making them available to teams, fans and media through the new league website and app. Additionally, the entire suite of data will be made available to press via Opta’s LiveMonitor platform in addition to the NWSL’s broadcast partners and Opta-curated content.
As part of the new relationship, Opta will support all NWSL teams with advanced data and video analysis from a new tool called ProVision. The availability of advanced metrics would be a first-of-its-kind offering for women’s soccer in North America.
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“The evolution of data analytics has been crucial to the development of the modern game, we are thrilled to be partnering with Opta to provide our players, coaches and teams the data insights that will give our league an elevated platform,” NWSL Managing Director of Operations Amanda Duffy said in a statement. “Our fans will also experience enhanced engagement with statistics to support their favorite players and teams throughout the season.”
Added Oliver Miller-Farrell, Business Development Director of Content in N.A. for Perform Group (Opta): “We are delighted to be announcing our official partnership with NWSL, a league which has pioneered the women’s game and one which we have been eager to work alongside. This is a historic time for the league, and this partnership will only further energize that momentum and support its continued growth. As leaders in data-driven content, Opta will give NWSL fans and supporters the ability to dive deeper than ever before into their favorite teams and players, shinning a bright light on the league’s action.”
Opta currently has partnerships with Major League Soccer, United Soccer League and North American Soccer League along with the Premier League, among others.