Sounders FC hosts the last of its three Soccer Analytics Conference presented by Zulily sessions tomorrow, concluding the seminar series that has brought together experts and attendees from around the world to discuss data analytics and how soccer clubs can successfully integrate analytics into a decision-making workflow. Registration is still open for tomorrow’s final session, with allregistration fees being donated to support the Seattle Sounders FC Relief Fund, which supports individuals, nonprofits and small businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding CenturyLink Field. Overall, the Soccer Analytics Conference and the earlier Sports Science Seminar series held by Sounders FC have raised nearly $100,000 in additional resources for the Relief Fund.
This final week of the conference begins at 10:00 a.m. PT tomorrow, with a new and exciting slate of experts. Participants in the conference this week will hear from John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times, London, Senior Data Visualization Journalist and Bruno Dagnino, Metrica Sports Chief Technical Officer. Additionally, at 10:45 a.m. PT, Oakland A’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Billy Beane is taking part in a Q&A session. Widely recognized for bringing about a cultural shift in professional baseball with his data-driven approach to building a team, Beane’s unorthodox strategic methodology took the Oakland A’s from one of the worst teams in the American League to a perennial postseason contender. Bestselling author Michael Lewis chronicled the team’s journey in his 2003 book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.” The book’s film adaptation, starring Brad Pitt as Beane, garnered six Academy Award nominations in 2012. Over 16 seasons with Beane at the helm as general manager, the A’s won six American League West titles (2000, 2002-03, 2006, 2012, 2013), while, in 2012, doing so with the smallest payroll in the American League, and, in 2013, with the third-smallest AL payroll.
MEDIA NOTE: Working members of the press can attend the 2020 Sounders FC Soccer Analytics Conference. Interested media should contact Kelly Schutz of Sounders FC Communications [KellyS@SoundersFC.com] to reserve a place.
The conference also offered a data analytics competition this year, open to all current full-time students or any analytics enthusiasts that are not employed professionally in the field. During tomorrow’s session the competition’s judging panel will share top entries and announce the overall winner. The panel consists of Olly Downs, VP Data & Machine Learning, Zulily; Chris Anderson, Professor in Politics and Policy, London School of Economics; and Sam Gregory, Data Analyst, Sportlogiq.
Closing out the afternoon is a roundtable discussion consisting of Chris Anderson, London School of Economics Professor in Politics and Policy; Bruno Dagnino, Metrica Sports Chief Technical Officer; and Garth Lagerwey, Sounders FC General Manager & President of Soccer. The roundtable is being moderated by Rory Smith, New York Times Chief Soccer Correspondent.
Interested parties can register at SoundersFC.com/SoccerAnalytics. Registration is rolling and remains open throughout the three-week conference period, but participants must be registered no later than 10:00 a.m. PT on a given conference day in order to take part. The $50 registration fee covers all three weeks of presentations and is not prorated by session. Registrants will receive a recorded version of the entire three weeks of presentations following the third and final session.
The full list of experts taking part in the 2020 Sounders FC Soccer Analytics Conference over the entirety of the series is as follows:
- Billy Beane, Oakland A’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations
- Gregg Berhalter, U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team Head Coach
- John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times, London, Senior Data Visualization Journalist
- Bruno Dagnino, Metrica Sports CTO
- Marcel Daum, Bayer Leverkusen Assistant Coach – Analytics
- Francisco Javier Garcia Cabrera, former goalkeeper coach, Arsenal, Sevilla, PSG, Swansea and RCD Espanyol
- Sudarshan Gopaladesikan, SL Benfica Head of Sports Data Science
- Joe Mulberry, Right to Dream and FC Nordsjaelland Director of Recruitment
- Gonzalo Pineda, Sounders FC Assistant Coach
- Ravi Ramineni, Sounders FC Director of Soccer Analytics
- Karun Singh, Software Engineer in Applied Artificial Intelligence
- Tom Worville, The Athletic Football Analytics Journalist
Additionally, special guests also joined these experts for the roundtable portions of the event, including London School of Economics Professor in Politics and Policy Chris Anderson, former NBA executive and current owner of Cleaning the Glass Ben Falk, OL Reign Midfielder Jess Fishlock, Co-Founder and CEO of Statsbomb Ted Knutson, Sounders FC General Manager & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey and Sounders FC Academy Director Gary Lewis. Each session is hosted by a moderator, including ESPN Senior Writer Gabriele Marcotti, Arsenal FC Vice President of Software and Analytics Sarah Rudd and New York Times Chief Soccer Correspondent Rory Smith.
Those interested in viewing the full event schedule, learning more or registering for the 2020 Sounders FC Soccer Analytics Conference presented by Zulily may do so via SoundersFC.com/SoccerAnalytics.
