Major League Soccer team San Jose Earthquakes has joined forces with Second Spectrum in an effort to use artificial intelligence to enhance the experience of players and fans at its Avaya Stadium.
The club will work with the company to combine player tracking data, machine learning and football expertise in a wide-ranging initiative that will include providing new content and experiences for supporters.
Second Spectrum uses artificial intelligence to build systems that are able to see a football match through the eyes of a professional coach, with the ability to also extract insights from tracking data.
The system will enable the club to automatically understand and evaluate how the team should play, including information such as breaking down specific tactics and developing a measure of expected goals that takes into account all action on the field of play.
Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli said: “We are excited to have the first fully implemented system of its kind in football right here at Avaya Stadium. This is an investment our club felt strongly about and underlines our commitment towards the long-term development of our game.
“What the technology allows us to do is teach a machine how to read the game the way a coach does and helps players and coaches identify the game objectives that we want to stand for, in real-time.
“It is a groundbreaking technology that has already made an impact in basketball and I’m sure will do the same in football, initially for the first team, and in due time also for our youth academy.”
Michael D’Auria, vice-president of business development, sports performance at Second Spectrum, added: “Second Spectrum is thrilled to partner with a club as forward thinking as the Earthquakes. We are excited for the impact that this state of the art technology will have across the entire organisation.”
Image: Jbburgess0
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