Eredivisie clubs will collectively gather and share sports data

This season, Eredivisie CV and the 18 Eredivisie (Dutch Premier League) clubs will start collectively gathering and sharing sports data on all matches in the Eredivisie. The Eredivisie stadiums are equipped with ultra-modern cameras that register the movements of all the players and the ball, automatically converting these images into data. The statistics are used to analyse and develop the players' and the team's performance.

The Eredivisie uses the TRACAB tracking system from ChyronHego to capture all movements. Every second, an average of 25 movements is captured of each player and of the ball, which results in 3.5 million data points per match. This system is used on a structural basis for all matches in the Eredivisie and will be used for the first time on Friday night at PEC Zwolle - sc Heerenveen. The English Premier League, the German Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA World Cup and Major League Baseball (MLB), amongst others, are already using the TRACAB tracking system.

All of the collected sports data, like physical-, positional-, and tactical data, are accessible to the Eredivisie Clubs. This way, the trainers, technical directors and data analysts can use the sports data generated by their own team, but also that of other Eredivisie matches. This enables them to carefully analyse, monitor and compare the performances of the players against other clubs. This joint approach contributes to a higher quality level amongst the Dutch soccer clubs and matches in the Eredivisie.

More than half of the Eredivisie clubs use new wearable tracking technology during training, and the data is entirely consistent with the data derived from the matches. The Eredivisie Clubs are the first clubs in the world that will be using this wearable technology of ChyronHego.

In addition, the data being obtained by the tracking system will be enriched by a data stream from Opta Sports in which so-called event data is being captured. Besides the well-known variables such as goals, assists, attempts and possession all the other actions on the pitch are being logged as well such as tackles, passes, dribbles and recoveries. Opta Sports has been involved with the Eredivisie for the past five years as ‘Official Match Data Supplier’ and from this point forward will also directly support the clubs with their data analysis through the professional branch of the business known as OptaPro

The fans will also benefit from this innovation, since more data will become visible in the live broadcasts relating to the Eredivisie and because applications will be developed for use in the stadiums. Also, the collected data can be used for new (analysis) applications, like FOX Sports currently does by offering highlights in virtual reality.

After the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the introduction of the tracking system is the second largest innovation of the season at the Eredivisie.