Area: Tecnology

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Sevilla FC and Gangwon FC join forces in a new international strategic alliance.

​Sevilla FC and Gangwon FC have entered into a strategic alliance agreement through which both clubs intend to advance their respective development plans. Under the ‘World Club Alliance Program’ model offered by Sevilla FC’s Innovation Center, the Korean club will receive advice for the development and improvement of all its football departments, benefiting from the experience and knowledge that Sevilla FC possesses. Sevilla FC, through this alliance, will strengthen the strategic positioning of its brand in a country of high interest such as South Korea, which is key to its ambitious Internationalisation Plan. 

​Gangwon FC’s intention is to make a leap in quality at all levels and this strategic plan fits perfectly with Sevilla FC’s commitment to share with third parties, who are not direct competitors, all its knowledge, experience and wisdom acquired during its 134-year history, and more recently after years of developing a clear training methodology for the academy, educating players and coaches and applying technological tools. 

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​Sevilla FC President, José María del Nido Carrasco, values the importance of this strategic step: “It is an honour to be able to work hand in hand with Gangwon FC. I am sure that this agreement will allow both entities, who share a firm commitment to growth based on technological development and young talent, to grow. We are talking about a club, Sevilla FC, which is a technological reference in the world of football, and a country, South Korea, which according to the latest studies is a world leader in innovation and digital technologies. This is a decisive step in our Internationalisation Plan”. 

​The ‘World Club Alliance Program’ format, already implemented with Bengaluru United FC of India, perfectly fulfils this proposal. In this way, Gangwon FC will benefit from the knowledge accumulated by Sevilla FC, mainly in its R+D+i and technology projects developed in recent years, which have made the club an international reference in this field. In this sense, the agreement will allow the establishment of partnerships to promote mutual development in terms of technological innovation applied to football in a country that is a world leader in technology. 

​Gangwon FC President Byung Ji Kim highlighted the impact of this partnership for the Asian club: “Sevilla FC is one of the most important clubs in Europe and the world and has been able to develop on its own, using its own strategy and philosophy. It has grown through the development of star players to become the Kings of the Europa League. It is the inspiration for what Gangwon FC intends to do, I am sure that this agreement will allow it and I hope that this cooperation will be long-lasting.” 

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​Sevilla FC and South Korea 

​Sevilla FC will help the Asian club to learn how to spot young talent in South Korea, provide intensive training programmes both in Sevilla and Gangwon for Korean footballers looking to improve their skills and abilities, as well as coaches for different age groups at the club, and will advise them on the creation and development of an R+D+i department applied to football, following the successful model of Sevilla FC. 

​This is not the first time that Korean football and Sevilla FC have joined forces. Just a few months ago, 25 coaches from the Korean Football Association (KFA) spent ten days attending conferences, training days and youth training sessions at the Ciudad Deportiva José Ramón Cisneros Palacios to learn from Sevilla FC’s methodology and technological development.​ 

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How Sevilla’s data-driven methodology can help Saudi and regional clubs punch above their weight

In a landscape that includes arguably the world’s two biggest clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as the likes of Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Athletic Club, Sevilla have managed to achieve remarkable success since promotion to La Liga from the Segunda Division in 2000/2001.

The Cope del Rey, Spain’s premier cup competition, was won twice in 2007 and 2010, while the Supercopa de Espana was also claimed in 2007.

Where Seville have achieved astonishing success, however, is in the UEFA Europe League, and its predecessor, the UEFA Cup.

The Andalusian club have won the trophy a record seven times, and are the current holders after defeating Roma on penalties in last year’s final.

At the heart of this success has been a scouting network that for long was the envy of the rest of Europe, and the world.

Speaking at the recent World Football Summit – Asia held in Jeddah, Sevilla’s Deputy General Manager Jesus Arroyo revealed how the club went from identifying some of the finest global talent via an intricate scouting system, to incorporating a new data-driven AI methodology in recent years.

It is strategy that he believes can help small- and medium-sized clubs in Saudi Arabia and the region compete with the big boys.

“One of our pillars in our strategic plan is innovation and knowledge,” he said. “Sevilla has the responsibility and commitment to try to share our knowledge, our experience with the rest of the football industry. Based on this vision, we have developed a (software) program where we try and achieve three main goals.”

“The first one is to try to develop the players,” said Arroyo. “We want to share our methodology with the players, with foreign players in order that they may grow with the methodology of Sevilla FC. We are talking about a club with tradition of more than 130 years.”

“The intention is to try and grow players with our methodology,” he said. “We have different programs. One program is to host players from other associations, for example, from Saudi Arabia. Come to Seville for a period of time, and we will provide a holistic service of training methodology, and some experience with first team to smell how important (being) a profession is.”

Arroyo revealed Sevilla’s intention to put together a team made up entirely of young foreign players, or trialists, next season.

“Of course we follow the rules of transfer of minors under 20,” he said. “But it’s not a matter of transfers, it’s not a matter of money. It’s a matter of sharing our knowledge with the players.”

The second pillar, according to Arroyo, provides training programs for coaches from around the world in the processes set in place at Sevilla, from the youth teams all the way up to the first team.

“Finally, the third pillar is to try and engage clubs and federations, where we can have a consultancy program partnership to grow in knowledge, in business, in sport.”

“If I had to highlight it on one sentence, it is a clear commitment of the club to share our innovation and to share our knowledge with the football industry,” said Arroyo.

From the early years of the 21st century, Sevilla established one of world football’s finest scouting systems, identifying young talent in Spain and from around the world, and developing them into world class players at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. The big clubs would then come calling for the likes of Danny Alves and Sergio Ramos, and the club would repeat the cycle all over again.

However, as wide-ranging technical scouting departments for clubs became the norm, Sevilla had to innovate again to differentiate themselves from the pack.

“Five years ago, we asked internally how can we grow?” said Arroyo. “And we have a very clear (answer) that we had to do something else, something different. The answer was, we have to use the technology. We have to use the technology to do the same process, and the new process, in a very efficient way.”

“That means that, for instance, we apply technology on the ticketing side, or we apply the technology in order to mix the objective data provided by the performance of the players on the field, but also the subjective information that our scouts provide through the players.”

Elias Zamora, Sevilla’s chief data officer, does not have a football background — in true “Moneyball” tradition. He comes from “science, physics and mathematics” and before football, was involved in the stock market, where he developed financial algorithms.

In 2019, Zamora met with Arroyo, CEO Jose Maria Cruz, and Sevilla’s board of directors to map out the club’s transition into the tech age, and then in 2021, he was named chief data officer.

“So the question is, if we don’t do anything, if we just do the same as other people, we are going to get the same result of other people,” he said.

“And the results are typically dependent on money. The more money you have, the better results you’ll get, if you don’t do anything special. So because we don’t have more money than others, we have to do things in different ways in order to try to get a competitive advantage.”

“This was the idea. When I speak about data, let us speak about information. Information is directly under Jesus (Arroyo), and under the CEO, which means that we use information not just for business, not just for a sport, but we try to use data, that is information, for all the key areas of the club.”

That includes the fundamental areas of ticketing, sponsorships, marketing and retail.

With a team of more than 25 professionals dedicated to research and development, Sevilla have the biggest data department in continental European football, says Zamora. Using the software “AI Football,” they have one of the most advanced in the world as well.

“We have the capacity of developing our own technology. So we are the first club in Spain, for example, that was able to provide technology to La Liga, and not the (other way round).”

If embraced, Sevilla’s methodology can have a wide-ranging impact for clubs in the Middle East and Asia.

The revolution that swept through Saudi Arabian football over the last year has brought some of the world’s best players to the Kingdom’s elite clubs. However, those outside the “Big Four” of Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad, must find other ways to compete.

Zamora reiterates Arroyo’s belief that Sevilla’s strategy could be the answer.

“This because we have our own team that is developing software and technology for our internal questions. And sometimes our internal questions are also the same questions as a club in Saudi Arabia, a club in Morocco, a club in Asia can have.”

“We are completely open to share this knowledge and to help (all clubs).”

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The technological future of refereeing continues to develop at Sevilla FC’s facilities.

Football is facing a crucial stage for its future. Technological advancements have long been opening up new horizons in both the sports management of clubs and in such crucial aspects as refereeing. FIFA, the world’s governing body in football, has been pursuing a tool for some time that simplifies and automates decision-making, thus helping to make this sport as fair as possible. The international body has found the perfect allies in the company Kinexon and Sevilla FC to develop the desired technologies.

If last summer the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán served as a testing ground for the semi-automatic offside system, in recent weeks, the Ciudad Deportiva José Ramón Cisneros Palacios has been the stage for new tests with geolocation-chipped balls. This technology allows for a detailed analysis of all possible data related to a footballer and the ball, which will help automate decisions such as offside or last-player situations, two of the most controversial and challenging from a human perspective. Technologies like this smart ball, coupled with intelligent image and data capture systems, assist in the day-to-day internal management of a club, allowing for the analysis of individual players as well as the more tactical aspects of the game.

Sevilla FC, through its Data and R&D&I departments and its Innovation Center, is the European club leading technological development, as demonstrated by the creation of its own tools for resource optimization in most of its areas. Even one of them, Transfer Tracker, aimed at claiming economic rights through the solidarity mechanism – for players developed in its academy – has already been commercialized by LaLiga for the rest of the clubs worldwide. Hence, it is one of the few clubs, if not the only one, that possesses the necessary infrastructure – scientific personnel, equipment, facilities, experience, etc. – to implement all the advancements being designed.

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The year of Sevilla FC’s confirmation of technological leadership

The year 2022 has been the year of confirmation of Sevilla FC’s leadership in technological development within Spanish football. The Club became the first to provide LaLiga with its own technology with the launch of Transfer Tracker, the tool that will allow clubs around the world to activate important economic income through the so-called solidarity mechanism. The success story of Sevilla FC, which, thanks to this technology created and developed by its Data Department, earned more than one million euros in the last four years in transfer fees from players who passed through its teams at training age, is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sevilla FC understood many years ago that there is only one way to fight against the big budgets of its sporting rivals, both in Spain and in Europe: differentiation. Just as under Monchi, the most prestigious sporting director in the world, the Club revolutionised the world of transfers with a different scouting system that created a school of thought, today the key lies in innovation and technological development. Sevilla FC has been able to provide itself with new added value, promoting the most efficient use of data possible, not only in the sporting sphere but in all the Club’s business areas.

Thus, in the summer of 2020 an important investment was made with the creation of a Research and Development Department that started with three professionals and today has 17. This works hand in hand with the Data Department, created in February 2021 and made up of another four employees. A total of 21 professionals dedicated to the research and development of technologies that has so far resulted in the creation of proprietary applications such as ‘AiFootball’, for the work of sports management; ‘AiScouting’, to optimise scouting work; ‘AiRadar’, a tool for the early detection of talent; or ‘AiTracking’, for the registration of training rights on transfers of former players and from which the commercialisation of Transfer Tracker has been derived together with LaLiga Tech

Sevilla FC is developing identical applications for the rest of the Club’s business lines, such as ‘AiTicketing’, to optimise the profitability of seats on match days. “With these applications we achieve greater efficiency in the processes, but above all we make a difference with respect to the majority of clubs, which do not have their own infrastructure and work with suppliers. All of this provides added value in management that will give a key boost to our growth. The alliance with LaLiga Tech to launch Transfer Tracker has been a milestone, which positions Sevilla FC as a leading club in technologies associated with data and the development of its own applications and demonstrates that a firm commitment to technology is capable of generating a net return for the club”, explains Elías Zamora, Chief Data Officer of Sevilla FC.

An international bet

Technological development at Sevilla FC has only just begun. It is said that ambition has no limits, let alone borders. In this way, and also as part of its Strategic Internationalisation Plan, the Club has forged an alliance with none other than India. A country that, with more than 1.38 billion inhabitants, represents an immense market, also for sport. According to a study by the consultancy firm Nielsen, there are 92 million fans really interested in football in India and 37 million with a special interest in LaLiga. Sevilla FC understands that it has a lot to offer in terms of the development of Indian football and the result of this is the collaboration agreement it has signed with FC Bengaluru United.

Bengaluru is the capital of the Karnataka region, a region famous for its technology industry, which generated more than 52 billion euros in exports last year, according to government figures. The amount is similar to the sum of last year’s net profit of the companies in the Ibex 35, Spain’s main stock market index.

Bengaluru is a city known as the ‘Indian Silicon Valley’ for the potential of its technology companies. FC Bengaluru United shares Sevilla FC’s commitment to technology and the philosophy of ambition to achieve important sporting achievements. One of the key points of the agreement is to use Bengaluru’s vast technological expertise to jointly study and develop innovative projects in the world of football. Last summer, the two clubs organised a global hackathon on data-driven performance evaluation of football players. An online meeting point for technology scientists from around the world to exchange experiences and create predictive algorithms to help break down, understand and evaluate player performance.

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Transfer Tracker, a new tool for clubs developed by Sevilla FC and LaLiga TechTransfer Tracker, a new tool for clubs developed by Sevilla FC and LaLiga TechTransfer Tracker, a new tool for clubs developed by Sevilla FC and LaLiga Tech

LaLiga Tech and Sevilla FC have announced the launch of Transfer Tracker, a new legal and technological consultancy service for football teams, which will enable them to obtain unclaimed revenue from compensation payments derived from FIFA’s solidarity mechanism. The new solution will enable clubs around the world to claim solidarity payments for related transfers of players who have passed through their academies. The current rules recognise that when a player is transferred, the club that trained the player can claim up to 5% of the player’s value. Transfer Tracker is therefore the only solution available on the market to identify, check and claim the solidarity mechanism from transfers retroactively before the statute of limitations expires. According to latest estimates, there is more than USD 1.2 billion in unclaimed compensation that clubs are entitled to claim.

To start a complaint through Transfer Tracker, clubs only need to sign up for the service free of charge. From there, a specialised Transfer Tracker team will carefully analyse the transfer market using advanced Big Data tools to identify all transactions that could be claimed through the mechanism. Subsequently, various actions will be put in place to ensure payment, ranging from discussions between the clubs involved in the transfer to claims to FIFA bodies, if necessary. The system has been initially developed and operated over the last two years by the data and legal department of Sevilla FC in the context of its strategic innovation policy implemented transversally in both the sporting and business areas of the club. Thanks to this system, Sevilla FC has identified more than 700 movements of players trained at the club in 53 different competitions. As a result, the club has generated more than 1,000,000 euros in collections associated with the solidarity mechanism.

In recent weeks, we have worked hand in hand with entities in countries such as Argentina, Portugal, Chile and Brazil, closing the first agreements. Through these clubs, an average potential claim has been identified for 537 transfers with an average turnover of 117 million euros, which means an average potential claim of 3.4 million euros per club. According to FIFA’s current rules, clubs can claim any transfer for a period of two years after the last payment associated with it.

Marcos González Bertolín, Director of Value Proposition at LaLiga Tech, explains: “There are world-class academies that are producing and exporting incredible football talent, but they are not receiving the compensation they deserve. We created Transfer Tracker to help clubs of all sizes discover and receive this additional revenue, without the need to invest their own time and resources. Using a robust data system developed in conjunction with Sevilla FC, we offer the fastest possible way to negotiate the claims process and generate further growth to the football ecosystem”. José María Cruz, General Manager of Sevilla FC, adds: “The football industry is missing the opportunity to gain a new revenue stream that will add value to its knowledge and methodologies. It is a silent drama suffered by the vast majority of clubs and that affects to a greater extent the training clubs with fewer resources. We are proud to generate innovation together with LaLiga Tech to alleviate this competitive disadvantage that rewards buying clubs over training clubs. At Sevilla FC we firmly believe in technological development as a tool to improve both sporting and institutional competitiveness”. Any club can register their interest in Transfer Tracker through this link.