Statistics Investment Paying Off In Major League Soccer

Now in its 16th season, Major League Soccer is continuing to show growth and stability as a major American sports league. The current season features two new teams (Portland Timbers and Vancouver FC), a revamped playoff format, and more sponsorship dollars coming in than ever before. Last week, Visa extended its partnership with the league, and will continue to have exclusive promotional rights at events like the MLS All-Star Game and MLS Cup.

Adrian Melville of Forbes magazine writes of the growth of Major League Soccer.

In addition to sponsorship dollars, MLS has also made strides in providing comprehensive coverage for their fans. In March, the league entered a partnership agreement with leading European sports data company Opta Sports. The partnership with Opta demonstrates an awareness that American sports leagues must become increasingly interactive with their fans in order to keep a core base. This is particularly true in American soccer, where many casual fans are still learning the nuances of the game, and at the same time the next generation of die-hard fans are hungry for more in-depth analysis. All of this led to MLS contracting Opta, and so far the partnership has proven to be an overwhelming success.

With its Head office in London, Opta has developed a database of sports statistics that is used by virtually all industry facets (media, teams, betting companies and soccer scouts). Customers include News International, BBC, BSkyB on a broad basis, while major clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City come to Opta for advanced scouting tools. Of course, there is also the indirect value of Opta’s advanced statistics for gaming as well. Online gambling sites in the United Kingdom saw a 40% increase in visitors over the past year, growing faster than social networking sites such as Facebook. Although this increase includes poker sites as well as sports betting, Sport England estimates the value of spending on sport-related gambling in England grew from £1.7bn in 1985 to £2.8bn in 2008. And that figure is likely to continue growing, with an estimated £1bn bet on the 2010 World Cup alone in the UK last summer.

Now, Opta is expanding its reach to the United States and have set up office in New York. So far the partnership with MLS has been vital in producing quality content to fans, and has allowed writers to cover more angles within the league. Opta is currently the driving force behind Matchday Live, a free mobile application that allows fans to track game statistics in real time. From there, MLS is planning on not only listing statistics through Matchday Live, but also presenting a visual effect with Opta’s ‘chalkboard’ feature. The chalkboard allows fans to see an actual heat map of a player’s activity throughout the course of a game, and provides insight on where a player is getting his touches, winning fouls, committing turnovers, etc. In short, you see where a player spent most of the game, and in what locations he had the biggest impact.

Finally, Opta’s advanced match analysis software provides the data for the Castrol Index rankings. Similar to ESPN’s new QB rating system for football, the Castrol Index tracks every player’s move on the field and assesses whether it has a positive or negative impact on a team’s ability to score or concede a goal.

To supplement the advanced content, Opta is also using social media to get fans more involved. Opta’s American twitter handle, @OptaJack, has already gained nearly 8,000 followers since the beginning of the 2011 MLS season, and gives fans statistical snapshots of their favorite players and teams. The enhanced stats that Opta provides also open up a window into fantasy gaming opportunities, which MLS has linked directly to Facebook to create a more engaging experience. The three games — MLS Fantasy Challenge, Salary Cap game, and Pro Soccer picks, are designed through Facebook, and allow players to score points with a myriad of categories as opposed to simply goals, assists, wins, and saves. This naturally leads to more brand affinity for players and teams, which is a main priority for MLS.

Overall, the numbers seem to prove that the investment MLS has made is an overwhelming success, and a blueprint for other sports looking to gain market share in the American sports landscape. In July alone, the MLSsoccer.com staff posted close to 700 original stories, a 33 percent increase from July 2010. And in response to the content, the website recorded just over 3 million unique visitors. The flagship website, MLSsoccer.com, also increased its video production by 33% in July, and reached 1 million videos viewed, which doubled numbers from 2010. As MLS and Opta move forward together, they are continuing to seek out and understand the needs of their online soccer fans, and tailor their work to delivering the best possible experience for their youthful fan base.

James Dennis, CEO of Opta US is very pleased with the progress made so far. He asserts that “The relationship with MLS has been excellent in terms of the proactive interest taken to fully utilize all aspects of the Opta analysis. We look forward to expanding our services throughout the league and forming an integral part of the development of MLS and the sport in general in the US.” If they can successfully continue to innovate in the digital landscape with new features and sponsors, there is no doubt that the league will continue to draw interest (and major rights fees) from major networks like NBC and ESPN.