SAN JOSE, Calif.
– The San Jose Earthquakes and Second Spectrum, Inc. (“2S”) are entering a first-of-its-kind partnership to use artificial intelligence to revolutionize the future of soccer for the Quakes’ front office, coaches, players and fans. With its state-of-the-art soccer tracking system at Avaya Stadium, Second Spectrum and the Earthquakes will work together to combine player tracking data, machine learning and deep soccer expertise to transform the club on and off the field, while providing new content and experiences for Quakes fans.
“Working with Second Spectrum is a great opportunity for our club, because we are opening a new chapter in video analysis and machine learning,” said Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli. “We are excited to have the first fully implemented system of its kind in football right here at Avaya Stadium. This is an investment our club felt strongly about and underlines our commitment towards the long-term development of our game. What the technology allows us to do is teach a machine how to read the game the way a coach does and helps players and coaches identify the game objectives that we want to stand for, in real-time. It is a groundbreaking technology that has already made an impact in basketball and I’m sure will do the same in football, initially for the first team, and in due time also for our youth academy.”
Second Spectrum uses artificial intelligence to build systems that can see the game of soccer with the eyes of a professional coach, and extract insights from tracking data that go beyond what a human can observe. From understanding the space created by a particular off-ball run, to breaking down specific offensive and defensive tactics, to developing a measure of expected goals that takes into account every action occurring on the pitch, the Earthquakes will have the power to automatically understand and evaluate the way they play the game.
"Second Spectrum is thrilled to partner with a club as forward thinking as the Earthquakes,” said Michael D'Auria, Vice President of Business Development, Sports Performance at Second Spectrum. “We are excited for the impact that this state of the art technology will have across the entire organization."
Second Spectrum’s technology is currently being used within several professional sports leagues around the world, including multiple top-tier European football leagues and the National Basketball Association. The Golden State Warriors have utilized the technology since 2014-15 to learn how to get their players in the best position to succeed and have won two NBA Championships since. In fact, more than three quarters of NBA teams rely on Second Spectrum’s software and services.
The Los Angeles-based company is led by a team of executives educated at Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Columbia and other top universities, as well as the former President and CEO of ESPN.
The partnership with Second Spectrum is a product of the Quakes’ Innovation Advisory Board, which was introduced in December.
“The players will get game footage and data pushed to their mobile devices immediately after the game, so they can see what worked and what they need to work on for the next match,” explained Jeff Ota, member of the Innovation Advisory Board. “The videos themselves will include data, overlays and performance indicators that will give both players and coaches a deeper understanding of the match that was just played.”
About Second Spectrum
Second Spectrum is the world leader in building machines that understand sports. We leverage this machine understanding to provide a full suite of products and solutions for sports leagues, coaches, front offices, traditional and digital media, and content owners – constantly innovating to create new forms of information, interaction, immersion, and personalization. We are at the forefront of computer vision, machine learning, big data, augmented reality, and product design. Second Spectrum is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in New York, Switzerland and China. For more information, please visit www.secondspectrum.com.
