Footballers to be given way to sell their data by player union Fifpro
Footballers are being given a new way to manage, protect and, if they wish, monetise all of their data via a single platform provided by global union Fifpro.
The project is designed to bring together personal information, tracking data, medical records and statistics currently siloed in different organisations and give players access to it all.
They will also be able to manage their consent for the data to be sold to third parties on both an anonymised or identifiable basis.
Not-for-profit Fifpro, which already manages player image rights on behalf of its national unions, will also be able to monetise the platform but insists that all revenue will go back into the game.
“We are delighted to enter this long-term partnership with Sports Data Labs and embark on an important initiative that will change the landscape of data usage and distribution,” said Fifpro commercial director Andrew Orsatti.
“Our platform will allow players to regain control of their personal data, while safeguarding and managing this information throughout their careers and creating new value across the entire ecosystem around professional football.”
The unnamed product is a partnership between subsidiary Fifpro Technologies and Sports Data Labs, a tech company with offices in London and San Francisco. As part of the agreement, Fifpro has joined its NFL counterpart as a shareholder in Sports Data Labs.
“We are proud to partner with Fifpro and empower footballers globally with the technology-based tools to collect, control, and unlock new value with their data,” said Sports Data Labs CEO Mark Gorski.
“By democratising player data in ways that build larger longitudinal data sets and puts the individual athlete at the epicentre of how their data gets used and shared, we will ultimately enable significantly more value to be created in the football ecosystem.
“This includes powering an entirely new understanding of the principal biological drivers of human performance in football at all levels, including youth and amateur, as well as new use cases that will support players in achieving their data-driven goals.”