Since the Iowa-based Krause Group took ownership of Parma Calcio 1913 in September 2020, the Italian football club has sought ways to transform and improve its use of data and analytics in its bid for promotion to the Serie A men’s top-flight club competition.
The ownership group retained N3XT Sports’ services in early 2021 to develop Parma Calcio’s digital transformation strategy, with a strong focus on data and analytics. This included the conceptualization and implementation of the club’s very own Performance and Analytics (P&A) Department. A major milestone in recent years, the department has experimented with new ways of leveraging athlete data to inform its decision-making across team strategy and recruitment, and presents a competitive edge off the football pitch, too, in the way athlete-performance data informs its internal communications.
Speaking in November 2022, Krause Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kyle Krause said: “Data is absolutely crucial and we plan to invest more resources in this area. Our chief performance and analytics officer, Mathieu Lacome, who joined us from Paris Saint-Germain, is doing an excellent job leading it.
“Analytics is a way to help us to do our jobs better […} The goal is for data to assist our scouts’ search for players on a larger scale, and to reduce time spent on players’ injuries and help with performance – not make decisions for them.”
With the club confirming its promotion back to Serie A for the 2024/25 season, Parma Calcio is reaping the rewards of its innovative approach to P&A. “Using data to optimize style of play before recruiting staff and players helps to ensure we have alignment with our system. The data can also highlight players that scouts might not have thought about,” he added in May 2024.
“Secondly, we use analytics to develop and grow youth talent, ensuring they can be ready to perform and play in Serie A in future years. And, finally, we use analytics to track and report talent development, reviewing player progress and developing action plans and training for them – from mental health and nutrition support to injury prehab and prevention guidance.”
Working hand-in-hand with Parma Calcio and Krause Group, the N3XT Sports team has helped the club on multiple fronts, including steps to define its P&A objectives, organizational structure, and support on its P&A operations.
“Performance analytics is a powerful asset for improving an organization’s on-field success and can be utilized to drive off-field productivity and efficiencies,” explains Mounir Zok, N3XT Sports Chief Executive Officer (CEO). “In addition to its impact on the field of play, it has also helped the club improve its data management off the pitch, including the development of strategic technology partnerships across the football sector, while highlighting interesting investment opportunities that broaden the club’s overall approach to innovation.
“N3XT Sports is delighted to support Parma Calcio’s digital transformation at such a pivotal moment in the club’s history,” Mounir continues. “By re-imagining how the club uses performance data, Parma Calcio is showcasing, first hand, why an athlete-centric approach to innovation can be instrumental to driving excellence for years to come.”
WHAT’S N3XT?
Data is becoming a fundamental part of the modern sports business and spans multiple verticals within a sports entity, and not only its on-field performance. Athlete data, in particular, is being used to augment content production and the digital fan experience, while it is also helping build relationships between athletes and their club’s ownership group, for whom performance metrics can be used to grow their mutual commercial appeal, and further advocates for investment in P&A.
“As part of the digitization of performance, innovation and investment are key to remaining competitive,” explains Francesco Bruni, N3XT Sports Co-Founder and Senior Consultant. “Understanding how to implement performance analytics tools into your wider ecosystem – and which technologies you need to invest in – are the first steps to achieving your team’s ambitions and supporting the organization’s corporate objectives. One of the best ways to invest is in people and finding the right combination of expertise to break down and leverage data.”
Our team at N3XT Sports works tirelessly to develop and implement data and digital transformation strategies across a multitude of sports properties at federation level, competition level, and club level. To find out more about how N3XT Sports can serve your organization, fill out the form below, and we’ll be in touch. Our goal is to drive the digitalization of the sports industry and our clients.