Sevilla Fútbol Club continues to demonstrate its commitment to its internationalization strategy and was present at the World Football Summit Africa 2025, held in Rabat, Morocco, on April 9th and 10th.
The club’s Head of International Sports Projects, José Collado, took part in one of the conference panels focused on the differences and similarities between European and African clubs. During the session, he was able to share key elements of the club’s internationalization plan and the strong results achieved in this process, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, with Morocco being one of the key countries in this growing development. He also highlighted cooperation agreements with the NPFL of Nigeria and the Future Falcons project in Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, Sevilla FC’s participation in the WFS in Rabat reinforces the club’s commitment to knowledge exchange and global collaboration within the football industry, strengthening institutional relationships and gaining first-hand insights into the new realities and opportunities emerging across the global football landscape.
The Master’s in Innovation and Digital Transformation in Sports Entities at the Sevilla FC Innovation Center, organized in partnership with Sport Data Campus, has concluded a March full of interesting presentations from various experts.
Javier Gil, Head of AI Implementation and Development at LaLiga, delivered the talk “An Honest Approach to Generative AI and the Future of Work.” Meanwhile, Juan Esteban Gómez Llamas, a member of the Sevilla FC Innovation Center, conducted a live class titled “Understanding Processes in a Sports Entity.”
On March 11, 12, and 13, students had the opportunity to attend 3 Master Classes presented by Carlos González Graña, founding partner and CEO of BHI Capital; once again, Juan Esteban Gómez Llamas; and Miguel Angel Loor, President of the Liga Pro in Ecuador. The first spoke about investment and entrepreneurship in the sports industry, the second about digital leadership and operational transformation in sports organizations, and the third presented the business model of the Ecuadorian Liga Pro.
Also featured were Conrado Sandoval, Director of Competition Development at La Liga MX, and Débora Saldanha, Head of Innovation at Club Atlético Mineiro in Brazil. The training sessions were completed with additional staff from Sevilla FC, such as the club’s General Director, José González-Dans, the Director of Human Resources, Raquel Frías, and the person responsible for Sustainability and the Sevilla FC Foundation, Santiago González. Additionally, Mamen Blanco, an executive specialist in talent development and AI, gave a presentation on this topic to the students.
Sevilla FC continues to strengthen its position as a technological leader in sports and was present at one of the industry’s key international events, the Mobile World Congress, which took place in Barcelona during the first week of March.
In collaboration with IBM, Sevilla FC participated in the event’s exhibition area, offering an immersive experience that allowed attendees to explore the use of the Scout Advisor tool. Developed by the club together with IBM and its Generative AI platform, WatsonX, this tool provides player performance reports similar to those generated by the club’s scouts. Congress visitors were able to interact with a foosball table powered by generative AI to create these reports, optimizing the collected information and reducing the time required to consult and access data.
Elías Zamora, the club’s head of data, participated in a roundtable discussion about the transformation of football scouting through Generative AI, where he presented the club’s technological projects to industry-leading companies and specialized media, both national and international.
Sevilla FC’s participation in the Mobile World Congress also served to announce that the club has become the first entity in the world to join the AI Alliance, an organization founded by IBM and Meta, which already has over 150 members from companies and academic institutions. The goal is to promote the ethical and open use of Artificial Intelligence. Additionally, both Scout Advisor and Sevilla FC were featured in a blog post by Meta, highlighting the successful use of its Llama 3 model.
Sevilla Fútbol Club has made history once again by becoming the first sports entity in the world to be invited to join the AI Alliance, a prominent international community that promotes the responsible, ethical, and collaborative development of artificial intelligence (AI), setting global standards for technological innovation. With over 150 member organizations, Sevilla FC positions itself as the first sports entity, solidifying its strong commitment to advancing technology applied to sports.
The AI Alliance was co-founded by IBM and Meta, and includes other major tech players such as Intel, AMD, Oracle, Red Hat, and Sony. Additionally, prestigious universities and academic institutions, such as CERN, EPFL, ETH Zurich, Yale, Cornell, Tokyo, Imperial College London, and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, are part of this initiative.
On a national level, Sevilla FC becomes the fourth Spanish institution to join the AI Alliance, along with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, MLOps Community, and Esade, marking a milestone in the history of sports and technology in Spain. Over the years, Sevilla FC has solidified its leadership in integrating cutting-edge technologies in both sports and business. In sports, the club has developed solutions for player identification and analysis, based on the evaluations of its scouts expressed in natural language.
In the commercial sector, Sevilla FC has incorporated AI into its ticket sales, sponsorship, and Fan 360 tools, with a special focus on attendance prediction solutions, which have optimized the management of the secondary ticket market. Sevilla FC president José María del Nido Carrasco expressed his satisfaction with this recognition: “It is an honor for Sevilla FC to be the first sports entity to join the AI Alliance. We are fully committed to its principles for the safe, ethical, and collaborative development of AI. This recognition from the technology industry and academic institutions reinforces our commitment to applying technological innovation to sports and our various business areas to provide our professionals with the best tools to achieve success both on and off the field.”
By joining the AI Alliance, Sevilla FC adopts the fundamental principles of the community, which include:
Global collaboration to advance AI development.
Definition and development of AI use cases in the sports industry.
Promotion of open-source technology to foster equitable access to AI.
This achievement strengthens Sevilla FC’s commitment to digital transformation and positions it as a key player in the development of a more innovative, ethical, and sustainable sports ecosystem, paving the way for other sports entities to follow its example.
Recently, Meta highlighted the success of Scout Advisor in its blog, a tool based on Generative AI using Meta’s Llama 3 technology and IBM’s WatsonX, showcasing its effectiveness in the sports field.
Sevilla FC has strengthened its position as a leader in technological innovation in football during the SPOBIS Conference 2025, held in Hamburg on February 5 and 6. Elías Zamora, the club’s Head of Data, presented the “Scout Advisor” tool, developed in collaboration with IBM. This application uses generative artificial intelligence to process scout reports, combining qualitative and quantitative data, significantly reducing the time needed to identify suitable talents.
Additionally, Sevilla FC has been recognized for its commitment to digitalization, being nominated for the Best Digitalization Project in a Medium-Sized Company at the Disruptores Innovation Awards 2024. This nomination highlights the club’s dedication to developing proprietary technological tools that enhance its daily operations across all areas.
Participation in international events, such as LALIGA Extratime in China, has allowed the club to share its technological advancements and internationalization strategies, further consolidating its global presence and reputation as a leader in innovation within the football industry.
These initiatives underscore Sevilla FC’s commitment to integrating technology and artificial intelligence into its processes, both in sports and business, positioning the club as a leader in digital transformation in European football.
Sevilla FC continues to expand its international presence and has played a prominent role in LALIGA Extratime in China, an event focused on the impact of new technologies in football. During this edition, Elías Zamora, the club’s data chief, presented Sevilla FC’s technological projects to various key players in the Chinese football industry and local media.
This event has once again highlighted the club’s strong commitment to technological innovation, integrating artificial intelligence and data analysis both in the sports field and across its different business areas.
Furthermore, Sevilla FC has taken the opportunity to showcase the progress of its expansion strategy in China, where it has established itself as the fourth most-followed Spanish team on social media, behind only Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atlético de Madrid. The club continues its work at the Shenzhen football academy in collaboration with ISS and has secured three regional sponsors in China: 1717, Kubet, and GD Bet. Additionally, the partnership with Midea, a leading brand in the country, has strengthened, with Midea becoming the club’s main sponsor last November.
Sevilla FC remains actively involved in numerous conferences, meetings, and events related to technological development, an area in which the club is an international reference. One of the greatest technological advancements in recent decades has been Artificial Intelligence, and Sevilla FC is at the forefront of its application in football. In this context, the club was invited to participate last week in the 2nd Andalusian Artificial Intelligence Congress, held at the Granada Conference Center.
Sevilla FC played a leading role in one of the panel discussions, which focused on the application of AI in football. Representing the club was David López Carrascal, Head of Software Development, who presented the club’s main strategies in this field. AI is revolutionizing the football industry, and Sevilla FC has developed numerous applications in recent years across various business areas to optimize its performance. David López Carrascal shared the stage with Ming Zhao, Director of Digital Analytics at Manchester City, and Pau Madrero, Head of Sports Analysis at FC Barcelona.
Sevilla FC, represented by its Head of Data, Elías Zamora, made a notable appearance at the recent edition of the AI 2024 Forum, held on November 12 in Zurich. This forum, organized by the Finanz und Wirtschaft Forum, brought together economic leaders and experts in AI adoption across the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), with the aim of exploring AI applications across various industries, from entertainment to the corporate sector.
In his presentation, Elías Zamora showcased Sevilla FC’s data and artificial intelligence strategy, detailing how the club has implemented a comprehensive AI vision that spans both the sports and business domains. He highlighted the key capabilities developed through this strategy, such as the creation of innovative solutions that enhance operational efficiency and decision-making across multiple areas of the club.
One of the standout applications is Scout Advisor, an advanced platform that leverages AI to optimize the player scouting and recruitment process, developed in collaboration with IBM. This tool enables the club to analyze large volumes of unstructured data, allowing for a more precise and strategic identification of talent.
Sevilla FC was one of the highlights this Thursday at the ‘Disruptores Innovation Awards 2024’ gala, which took place at the Palacio Neptuno in Madrid. The club was nominated for one of the most prestigious awards, Best Digitalization Project in a Medium-Sized Business, thanks to the launch of the ‘Scout Advisor’ tool, which the club developed in collaboration with IBM. At the gala, organized by the media outlet El Español and its technology portal Disruptores e Innovadores, it was highlighted that this innovative tool uses generative artificial intelligence to assist in the management and extraction of information from scouts’ reports. ‘Scout Advisor’ simplifies the search and analysis of players by processing both qualitative and quantitative data, reducing the time needed to find suitable talent from hours to minutes.
Sevilla FC was nominated by the Disruptores editorial team alongside 50 other companies that have been featured in notable stories about technological innovation over the past 12 months. The article about ‘Scout Advisor’ and Sevilla FC’s commitment to technology was published on January 23rd and will now be included in print in the prestigious annual edition, The 50 Most Disruptive. This award marks another milestone and recognition of Sevilla FC’s commitment to developing its own technological tools to improve the club’s day-to-day operations across all areas, solidifying its position as an international technological leader in the football world.
El Sevilla FC fue uno de los protagonistas este jueves en la gala de los ‘Disruptores Innovation Awards 2024’ que tuvo lugar en el Palacio Neptuno de Madrid. El club estaba nominado a uno de los premios más destacados, el de mejor proyecto de digitalización en una empresa mediana gracias al lanzamiento de la herramienta ‘Scout Advisor’, que la entidad ha desarrollado junto a IBM. En la gala, organizada por el medio de comunicación ‘El Español’ y su portal de tecnología ‘Disruptores e Innovadores’, se destacó que esta novedosa herramienta utiliza la inteligencia artificial generativa para ayudar en la labor de gestión y extracción de información de los informes de los ojeadores. ‘Scout Advisor’ simplifica la búsqueda y análisis de futbolistas mediante el procesamiento de datos cualitativos y cuantitativos, reduciendo de horas a minutos el tiempo necesario para encontrar talentos adecuados.
El Sevilla FC estaba nominado por la redacción de ‘Disruptores’ junto a otras 50 empresas que han protagonizado historias destacadas sobre innovación tecnológica en los últimos 12 meses. El artículo sobre ‘Scout Advisor’ y la apuesta del Sevilla FC por la tecnología fue publicado el pasado 23 de enero y ahora será editado en versión impresa en el prestigioso anuario ‘Los 50 más disruptores’. Este premio supone un nuevo hito y reconocimiento a la apuesta del Sevilla FC por desarrollar sus propias herramientas tecnológicas que mejoren el día a día del club en todas sus áreas. Una estrategia que ha consolidado al club como referencia tecnológica internacional dentro del mundo del fútbol.
Sevilla Fútbol Club has been nominated for the Disruptores Innovation Awards 2024, presented on October 10 by El Español and its technology portal, Disruptores e Innovadores. The club is competing for the award in the category of Best Digitization Project in a Medium-Sized Company due to the launch of the Scout Advisor tool, which the club developed together with IBM.
In its nomination, El Español highlights that this tool uses “generative artificial intelligence with the goal of assisting scouts in their work” and notes that it automates “the process of extracting information from various reports” and “simplifies the search and analysis of players by processing qualitative and quantitative data, reducing the time needed to find suitable talents from hours to minutes.”
Sevilla FC has been nominated by the Disruptores editorial team at El Español, along with 50 other companies that have been featured in stories about technological innovation published over the last 12 months. The article about Scout Advisor and Sevilla FC’s commitment to technology was published on January 23 and will now be edited in print in the prestigious yearbook “The Top 50 Disruptors”.
This nomination marks a new milestone and recognition of Sevilla FC’s commitment to developing its own technological tools to improve the club’s daily operations. Notably, the launch of Scout Advisor had a huge media impact worldwide, leading to the club being invited as a success story at various forums.
Sevilla Football Club, through its Innovation Center, continues to promote the dissemination of its knowledge and its educational offerings on the use of technology applied to sports. In this regard, the club received a visit at the José Ramón Cisneros Palacios Sports City from various members of the Danish Olympic Committee for a training session on how the club applies its proprietary technological tools specifically in the sporting arena.
The Vice President of the Danish Olympic Committee, Frans Hammer, highly praised the experience and also highlighted the quality of the club’s facilities: “It has been an incredible experience to come here. First of all, the sports and training facilities, and of course, also all the effort they put into innovation and the way they work with an open-minded approach, inviting external people, not as a competitor in the football industry, but more like an Olympic Committee. It inspired us a lot to take some of the things they are working on to a different level in all sports, with the combination of using special data for performance and more.”
“We are quite impressed with what we’ve heard. Sevilla FC is ahead of many other clubs. And, it seems they are also approaching new technologies, developing their own tools, but even better, they are also collaborating with startups to grow. That’s why I think we could collaborate in the future, because, yes, Scandinavia has a lot of technological potential that could also be very beneficial,” added Niels Henrik, a member of the Danish Olympic Committee’s Innovation Lab.
The delegation was accompanied by the LALIGA delegate in Nordic countries, Juan Fuentes, who highlighted the prestige that Sevilla FC enjoys in this region: “There is a view that Sevilla FC is a great club. It’s a historic club. There is no other club that has won the Europa League seven times. So it is in the minds of all European football, not just in Scandinavia.”
