Tech Workers in Football is a research project led by Rafael Grohmann about the workers behind the data and artificial intelligence in the game: who they are, what they do, where they work, and how they understand their own work and the future of data and AI in football. Over the past decade, data have moved into the core of football, into hiring, tactical preparation, physical conditioning, among others. The data, systems and dashboards clubs now depend on are run by a workforce that is little known beyond the clubs and companies it works for. The project covers seven countries, Brazil, England, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Argentina, and looks at three dimensions of this workforce and respective data value chains.
(1) In-house tech workers: the analysts and data scientists clubs employ directly, working alongside coaches and sporting staff.
(2) Data vendors: the companies that build the feeds, models, video systems, scouting databases and analytics tools clubs and leagues depend on, and the data scientists, engineers and product managers, among other tech workers, who work inside them.
(3) Data workers: the annotators who watch matches and record actions on the pitch, whether in the stadiums or through remote work.
The project involves interviews, visits to clubs and other companies, attendance at industry events, and desk research.
Photo by Abigail Keenan on Unsplash
