Sounders FC today announced the final addition to its Soccer Analytics Conference presented by Zulily, as Billy Beane, Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Oakland A’s, joins the expert lineup. Kicking off tomorrow, the conference series takes place over three consecutive Wednesdays in May – May 6, May 13 and May 20 – and is dedicated to one of the biggest growing trends in sports over recent years: data analytics. Given the current best practices in combatting COVID-19, the Soccer Analytics Conference is being held virtually in 2020, with all registration fees being donated to support the Seattle Sounders FC Relief Fund, which supports individuals, nonprofits and small businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding CenturyLink Field.
Registrants will have the opportunity to hear from a variety of leaders in data analytics from across the globe each week, including Beane, who is scheduled to take questions at the conference on May 20. 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. Under Beane, the A’s adopted an organizational philosophy that stresses plate discipline and pitchers who command the strike zone. 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 are able to 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 event kicks off Wednesday, May 6, and continues Wednesday, May 13 and Wednesday, May 20, running from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT each session.
In addition to hearing from experts in each session, Sounders FC is also offering a new data analytics competition this year. The contest is open to all current full-time students or any analytics enthusiasts that are not employed professionally in the field, with groups of up to two participants maximum. Judging the competition will be: Olly Downs, VP Data & Machine Learning, Zulily; Chris Anderson, Professor in Politics and Policy, London School of Economics; and Sam Gregory, Data Analyst, Sportlogiq. More information regarding the competition rules and eligibility can be found at SoundersFC.com/SoccerAnalytics. The deadline for submission is May 10 at 10:00 p.m. PT.
Each conference session consists of a keynote speaker, followed by presentations from practitioners and a roundtable of experts. In later sessions, the analytics competition judges will also discuss the top entries and announce the competition winner.
This year, headline participants include the following leaders in their fields:
- 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 Gopaldesikan, 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
- Tom Worville, The Athletic Football Analytics Journalist
Additionally, special guests joining these experts for the roundtable portions of the event include 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 being 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.
