Tag Archives: kitman labs

Kitman Labs Strikes Deal With Top Club In J1 And WE League, Tokyo Verdy

Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in Sports, today agreed to launch its advanced operating system with Tokyo Verdy. The deal will include the immediate deployment of iP: Intelligence Platform across the Academy Teams (M’s U9-U18; W’s U15, U18) and is ultimately expected to expand to include the Men’s First Team (J1 League) and Women’s First Team,Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza (WE League – Japan Women’s Empowerment Professional Football League).

The Academy will be utilizing the Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization and Coaching & Development Solutions in iP – combining medical, performance and talent development data into a centralized, interactive data and analytics system to unlock player performance outcomes and inform talent development strategy. iP will ultimately enable the Club to integrate and unify all data and analytics from the Academy to the men’s and women’s first teams in one platform.

This “whole club data solution” will serve to drive cross-departmental collaboration, eliminate data and information silos, and provide internal stakeholders with a complete, real-time view of each athlete for the purposes of unlocking performance potential and systemizing a talent development pipeline.

“The analytics capabilities enabled by The Intelligence Platform will allow us to support our coaches, practitioners and athletes with the information necessary to make objective, evidence-based decisions across every aspect of the Club and more specifically, across the areas of player health, performance and development,” said Takaaki Nakamura, President of Tokyo Verdy. “From a player and pathway development perspective, we can now combine the unique approach and philosophy of the Verdy Method with the data science of the platform to create a more informed, repeatable strategy for success across all teams.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with Tokyo Verdy as they look to integrate a robust data and analytics infrastructure into the Organization – informing both tactical and strategic decision-making and ultimately, leveraging that intelligence to accelerate the advancement of the clubs within their respective leagues,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder of Kitman Labs.

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top teams and leagues across a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology has been used by some of the world’s most elite soccer organizations, including Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Sporting Lisbon. Kitman Labs recently announced the launch and deployment of The Football Intelligence Platform across all Premier League Academies, MLS Next and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The company represents the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (2000+), creating the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

UFL Launches Performance Medicine Solution From Kitman Labs As Advanced EMR

The United Football League (UFL) and Kitman Labs, the sports technology and analytics company setting the industry standard for how elite sports organizations use data, today announced the deployment of the Kitman Labs Intelligence Platform (iP) as the new EMR of record for the League, inclusive of the 8 member teams.

The Performance Medicine Solution – one of four Solutions offered as part of Kitman Labs’ iP: Intelligence Platform – will provide the centralized technology and infrastructure to automate and power accurate, league-wide medical data collection and analysis, drive collaboration among all relevant league and team stakeholders, yield actionable intelligence to support specific performance outcomes and enable data-led decision-making and research.  

Each Team in the UFL will operate from a distinct, configurable system designed to support their respective operating philosophy and will aggregate and mobilize all player medical data in one integrated platform – providing an accurate, real-time view of each player from a health, injury and readiness perspective.

iP: Intelligence Platform will enable the UFL and Teams to:
• Unify, consolidate and standardize league-wide medical documentation and data collection – eliminating data gaps, inconsistencies and inaccuracy and facilitate club-level compliance
• Collaborate and align relevant internal stakeholders across both the Medical and Performance Teams to support evidence-based decision-making around player health, care and wellness
• Enable practitioners to spend less time dedicated to data collection, analytics and administrative oversight and more time with athletes
• Establish a solid and complete data set to support ongoing and future league-wide research initiatives and innovation 
• Establish a data and analytics infrastructure that can scale, adapt and grow as the League continues to evolve
 
“The UFL needed to ensure that we unify data, people, and processes around shared infrastructure and technology to support the continued improvement and evolution of both the League and teams,” said Phil Hedrick, Director of Athletic Training, UFL. “Kitman Labs’ iP and Performance Medicine Solution allows us to provide best-in-class technology and tools to empower our medical teams, practitioners, and players while leveraging medical data to advance player health, wellness, and performance outcomes across the League.”
 
“It’s clear that the UFL is laying the foundation for sustainable growth and innovation at the League and Club-level.  By deploying a league-wide medical solution, the UFL is providing a platform not only capable of aggregating and analyzing disparate data sets and ensuring data integrity, but powering the advanced analytics and actionable intelligence necessary to maximize player health and performance outcomes,” said Stephen Smith, Founder & CEO Kitman Labs. “Each team within the UFL will have a configurable operating system, designed to support the unique needs of their particular club and operating style, providing each with the insights necessary to support data-led decision-making at every level of the organization ”
 
Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top governing bodies, leagues, teams and athletes across a variety of sports, including soccer/global football, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology has been used by teams in some of the world’s most elite sports organizations and universities including the NFL, NBA, Premier League, MLS, NWSL and NCAA.
The company represents the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (2000+) and iP: Intelligence Platform represents the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle..
 
For more information about Kitman Labs, visit www.kitmanlabs.com.

Kitman Labs Artificial Intelligence Platform Breaks Down Sleepers FOR NFL Draft

Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system today revealed its first-ever sleeper predictions for the NFL Draft, being held the next three days in Detroit Michigan.

For the 2024 NFL Draft, Kitman Labs  used their Artificial Intelligence models on NCAA and NFL datasets from 2010 to present to identify players that they think will be successful in the NFL. Kitman Labs staff also spent significant time on site at the NFL Combine again this year, looking at all data sets provided and using their own AI to help project results.

Below highlights five sleeper picks, the Kitman AI believes could have significant potential for NFL success.

Bo Nix – Oregon – QB  

NFL Draft Projection: 5th QB Selected

Kitman AI Projection: 73% chance of NFL Success – 1st QB

Looking like coming in at a 2nd round pick, Bo Nix ranks as the most likely Quarterback to be successful in this year’s NFL draft. Looking at his college stats it is easy to see why the model has this belief. 34 passing Touchdowns in your final college season are required by the model to have a significant increase in NFL success – Nix has 11 more. He also surpasses the threshold for Yards by nearly 700, his completion percentage is over 6% higher than required. While his rushing stats are not standout, the number of yards gained last season is high enough to show athletic ability, and his yards per carry is significantly over the threshold required by the model to increase his success rate.

Joe Milton III – Tennessee – QB  

NFL Draft Projection: 10th QB Selected

Kitman AI Projection: 31% chance of NFL Success – 3rd QB

Something that is apparent when investigating what our model values in a successful NFL QB, is that it believes that a Quarterback must possess either absolute elite arm talent, or have the explosive rushing ability to make splashy plays.  While the AI model highlights that Milton’s does not rank amongst the elite prospects in passing, and punishes him accordingly, it sees his rushing ability and gives him a significant chance of lasting several years in the league. Coaches and GMs may feel they can mould an athletic prospect, seeing future potential, and this phenomenon is something the AI may well be reaching back to.

Kendall Milton – Georgia – RB

NFL Draft Projection: 17th Drafted RB

Kitman AI Projection: 12% chance of NFL Success – 4th RB

The Kitman Labs AI model shows that an ability to get into the end zone in college is the number one indicator of future NFL success, far more so than yards, efficiency, or speed. With 14 rushing touchdowns in his final college season, Kendall Milton exceeded the required threshold for NFL success by 3 touchdowns. Our model also surprisingly rewards physical stature, with a taller running back being more likely to be successful. Perhaps this is due to a taller player’s greater ability to effectively carry mass, or their ability to participate in an NFL passing game. Whatever the cause, at over 6’1” Milton is one of the taller backs in the draft and the model rewards this accordingly. While Kendall Milton does have some drawbacks – the model penalizing him for lack of receiving ability, and him not hitting a required threshold in rushing yards – his ability to put points on the board see him nearly twice as likely to be a successful NFL running back than the average prospect at his position.

Malik Washington – Virginia – WR

NFL Draft Projection: 21st Drafted WR

Kitman AI Projection: 42% chance of NFL Success – 3rd WR

In a stacked 2024 WR draft class – our model rates this is by far the best class of the last decade and a half – it’s not surprising that some top tier talent is going to go in later draft rounds. However, our AI model surprisingly projects Malik Washington as being one of the top prospects in this year’s class. College receiving yards is the main indicator of future NFL success and longevity, and with 1426 yards in his final season Washington has approximately 40% more yards than the model believes necessary for a significant increase in NFL success probability. His 40 time of 4.47 seconds is also deemed fast enough to stand up in the NFL. Though this is right on the threshold our model has identified, in combination with his receiving yards and other statistics it significantly increases his chances of success. Interesting nugget; Washington did not participate in the 20-yard shuttle in the combine, but the AI has inferred from his other statistics he would have excelled at this.

Tahj Washington – USC – WR

NFL Draft Projection: 29th Drafted WR

Kitman AI Projection: 22% chance of NFL success – 15th WR

Tahj Washington is a curious case for our AI model. Not having participated in the 20-yard shuttle, the 3 cone drill, or the 40-yard dash at the combine, there are a lot of unknowns about this player. However, given his receiving yards, and his strong showing in both the broad jump and vertical leap, the model has inferred that he would have competed well, particularly in the 20-yard shuttle. Having completed these tests at his pro day, a dataset the AI had no access to, we can see he is potentially slightly below average in the 40 and 20 yards drills, but elite in the 3 cone drill. How this information would have influenced the models is unclear; however, overall the 3 cone drill ranks as the third most important feature for projecting success, so while the exact inference was wrong the model has seemingly correctly identified some possible elite athletic behavior from other available statistics. Washington still only ranks as 15th in our list of receivers, but given he is projected to be a day 3 pick and his success probability is twice that of an average WR, he still may present significant value in the draft.

Kitman Labs and Fulham FC Expand Data & Analytics Accord

Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in Sports, today agreed to expand its relationship with English Premier League side, Fulham FC, to include medical and performance data.  The Club will be utilizing the Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization and Coaching & Development Solutions – combining medical, performance and talent development data into a single, interactive data and analytics system to unlock player performance outcomes and inform talent development strategy.

Kitman Labs and the Premier League announced the launch of the Football Intelligence Platform for all Academies last month.  By deploying the Intelligence Platform across the Men’s First Team and Women’s Teams (First + U18’s), Fulham will now unify all data and analytics in a singular operating system for the entire organization.  This integrated, “whole club solution” will serve to drive cross-departmental collaboration, eliminate data and information silos, and provide internal stakeholders with a complete, unified view of each athlete for the purposes of unlocking performance potential and expanding player pathways.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Fulham FC – one of the most accomplished and storied football clubs in the English Premier League – helping to bring innovation to how medical and performance data and analytics are being leveraged across the entire organization to inform strategy and decision-making with objective, analytics-based insights,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder of Kitman Labs.  

“The traditional approach to simply collecting medical and performance data will no longer suffice.  We needed a single system that combines diverse sets of data across the organization. One that ensures accuracy of information, allows the information to be shared and utilized in real time, and supports planning and player health and development with actionable insights” said Chris Hanson, Head of Medical, Fulham FC. 

“Our recent transition to the Kitman Labs Intelligence Platform has allowed us to continue to improve and manage the processes relating to the capture, cleaning, enrichment, and analysis of our football related data. It’s continued to support our evolving commitments to interrogating data, interpreting results, and creating data-led insights and stories.

We have been able to combine data sets from multiple disciplines and data streams to calculate, measure and evaluate impact for the purpose of player development. Furthermore, the platform has supported key stakeholders from across the ecology of the club to reason, reflect and strategise as a consequence of these data-led insights. 

As a pilot club, these processes have been well supported through a comprehensive deployment. The ongoing and iterative support structures have flexed and been reflective of our own cares, concerns and strategies to ensure a collaborative approach to moving to our new data management system” said Tom Hounsell, Academy Insights Manager, PDP Coach.

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top teams and leagues across a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology has been used by some of the world’s most elite soccer organizations, including Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Sporting Lisbon.  Kitman Labs recently announced the launch and deployment of The Football Intelligence Platform across all Premier League Academies.

This launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs has undertaken including two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (2000+), creating the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

NWSL Launches Performance Medicine Solution From Kitman Labs As Advanced EMR

The National Women’s Soccer League and Kitman Labs, the sports technology and analytics company setting the industry standard for how elite sports organizations use data, today announced a new deal that, beginning in 2024, will provide all current and incoming NWSL teams with a centralized and configurable operating system designed to aggregate and mobilize all player medical data.

The Performance Medicine Solution – one of four Solutions offered as part of Kitman Labs’ iP: Intelligence Platform – will provide the technology and infrastructure to automate and power accurate, league-wide medical data collection and analysis, drive collaboration among all relevant league and team stakeholders, yield actionable intelligence to support specific performance outcomes and enable data-led decision-making and research.

The Performance Medicine Solution powered by iP: Intelligence Platform will enable the NWSL to:

  • Standardize league-wide medical documentation and data collection – eliminating data gaps, inconsistencies and inaccuracy and facilitating club-level compliance
  • Collaborate and align relevant internal stakeholders across both the Medical and Performance Teams to support evidence-based decision-making around player health, care and wellness
  • Enable practitioners to spend less time dedicated to data collection, analytics and administrative oversight and more time with athletes
  • Establish a solid and complete data set to support ongoing and future league-wide research initiatives and innovation

“In making the decision around what technology to deploy, it was critical for us that the technology not only represent the gold standard in performance intelligence but be supported by a team of practitioners born from the Sport. We get both in Kitman Labs,” said NWSL Chief Medical Officer Cindy Chang. “We’re not looking for the quick fix or a short term solution. We’re looking for a partner that understands our vision and can provide a platform that can scale and adjust as the League continues to grow and evolve. We also needed a platform that would help automate and streamline workflows, freeing up bandwidth for medical and performance staffs to do what they do best – develop and train elite athletes.”

“We have extensive experience developing and deploying league-wide technology solutions related to medical, performance and talent development data. The insights and intelligence gleaned from a platform capable of aggregating and analyzing disparate data sets across multiple organizations is invaluable,” said Stephen Smith, Founder & CEO Kitman Labs. “The NWSL will now have a fully configurable operating system that can grow with them, drive league-wide efficiencies and support data-led decision-making at every level of the organization – league, team and athlete.”

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top governing bodies, leagues, teams and athletes across a variety of sports, including soccer/global football, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology has been used by teams in some of the world’s most elite sports organizations and universities including the NFL, NBA, Premier League, MLS and NCAA.

This partnership with the National Women’s Soccer League follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs has undertaken including the successful acquisition of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports, both made in the last two years. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (1000+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

For more information on Kitman Labs, visit www.kitmanlabs.com.

Kitman Labs Announces Deal with Legendary Irish Hurling County, Kilkenny

Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralised operating system for performance intelligence in the elite performance industry, today announced a new deal with Ireland’s most successful county team in the GAA – the Kilkenny Senior County Hurling Team. The team will utilise several Solutions in iP: Intelligence Platform, including: Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization and Coaching & Development. The Platform combines medical, performance and talent development data into a single, interactive system that yields actionable intelligence to support specific operating and performance outcomes.

As the 36x winner of the All-Ireland Championship, 75x winner of the provincial Leinster Championship and 19x winner of the National Hurling League, Kilkenny is indisputably the most successful county team at the senior level in the history of the game. The Intelligence Platform is being deployed across the Men’s Senior Squad. The platform will serve as the singular operating system for the Organization – eliminating data and information silos, enabling cross-Departmental communication, supporting informed, data-led decision-making and providing a comprehensive, real-time view of every player in the squad.

“The Intelligence Platform has been designed to unify data, people and processes to support informed decision-making, streamline operations and ultimately, yield the action plan necessary to achieve critical performance outcomes,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder of Kitman Labs. “One of the key benefits of iP is the ability to support real-time collaboration and transparency across all Departments – driving increased efficiency off the pitch to ensure more time for development on the pitch. And it goes without saying, that as a company founded in Ireland, I personally take great pride in officially welcoming our first GAA team to the Kitman Labs family.”

“While Kilkenny has an established track record of success, it’s incumbent on us to ensure we continue to innovate to drive performance. Part of that strategy will be working with Kitman Labs to make sure we have the platform in place to support cross-functional communication and collaboration and best-in-class data and analytics capabilities to unlock specific operating and performance goals,” said Derek Lyng, Kilkenny Senior Hurling Manager.

“Kitman labs will enable team management, coaches and their squads to aspire to better results through the power of performance data, streamlined coordination and transparent communication” Mickey Comerford, Sports Performance Coach with the Kilkenny Senior Hurling team.

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top leagues, teams and athletes across a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, rugby, and American football. The Kilkenny Senior County Team represents the first Kitman Labs client in the sport of Hurling and the first within the GAA. The company’s technology is currently being used within some of the world’s most elite sports organisations, including the National Football League (NFL), Premier League, Major League Soccer (MLS) and Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).

This launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs has undertaken including two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organisations (700+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

Kitman Labs Data Analytics: A Case For Why Each Team Can Win Women’s Title

Play continues in New Zealand and Australia this week, and Kitman Labs, the global SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in the elite performance industry, has used its proprietary approach to analytics to provide insight into how each of the four remaining sides can win the championship.

Kitman Labs demonstrates a commitment to objectivity over opinion, highly valuing expertise and experience while keeping data as the guard-rails to protect bias and subjectivity creeping in. Nothing in the team evaluation provided is without foundation in data.

Utilizing the data gleaned from the matches to date and accounting for how that can influence play in past semifinals and finals level contests, Kitman Labs has developed paths for each of the four teams to claim the title.

Why Australia Will Win The World Cup: What is the biggest reason Australia are going to win the world cup? The Matildas have been preparing for this event since June 23th 2020 when they were announced as the hosts. The preparation they have put into their squad is bearing fruit in this tournament.

Australia have put their focus on developing a core group of young players over the past years, and giving them the tools to succeed in this world cup. Australia has started only 12 players during the tournament, while 5 key players have played every minute of the world cup. Despite the squad having 9 players with over 100 international caps, and having the joint highest number of caps on the field across each of their games, the age of the players on the field is second youngest of the semi-finalists. This is a cohort with the experience to succeed in a major tournament, while still having the youth required to manage so many matches in such little time.

For the full analytic breakdown visit: https://bit.ly/KitmanWWCAustralia

Why England Will Win The World Cup: England are going to win this world cup because they have the most balanced squad left in the competition. They do not need superstar players to be world champions – instead their key strength is for every player you take out of their starting team, the replacement is just as strong. None of their players are coming into the world cup undercooked, and the majority of their squad is in their peak years. Peak age players can go longer, and England have been able to save their depth for later in the tournament.

England have gotten to the Semi Finals of the world cup without playing their best football. Their game has mitigated risk – limiting opportunities for opposition sides to difficult chances and leading to the lowest goals conceded in the tournament. They have dominated possession, but looked to create high quality opportunities. Coming into the tournament ranked 4th, they have underperformed thus far against weaker opponents, but their stats make clear there an opportunity for additional risk taking when the lionesses face the toughest opponents of the tournament. Many teams have peaked too early in this world cup – Japan and the Netherlands having impressive group stages but going out in the quarter finals – and knowing what it takes to win and peaking at the right time can be precisely what is required to be champion.

For the full analytic breakdown visit: https://bit.ly/KitmanWWCEngland

Why Spain Will Win The World Cup: Why are Spain going to win the World Cup? They will win because they have the highest quality of player in the tournament, and have been able to bring the strongest squad onto the pitch in each of their games. This squad has bossed the game in each of their matches, averaging over 70% possession over the course of the competition.

Spain also have an elite set of goal scorers and assisters – more than any of the other semi-finalists. These players have created and scored goals at an elite level coming into the tournament, and have also performed during the FIFA WWC. Spain have scored the most goals and created the highest number of chances of any team remaining in the competition. With 8 goalscorers and 6 players having given assists this tournament they are most well insulated against an off-day from any individual player.

For the full analytic breakdown visit: https://bit.ly/KitmanWWCSpain

Why Sweden will win the World Cup: Two words give the biggest reason Sweden are going to win this world cup – set pieces. Sweden’s strength lies in their physicality; on average their players are taller than 75% of other players left in the tournament. This gives them an advantage over the opposition any time the ball is in the air and in any dead-ball situation, something they have used to devastating effect. Of their 11 goals, 7 have come as a result of set pieces. Four goals have been scored directly, two penalties have been won, and a further goal has come from post-set-piece chaos. Amanda Ilestedt, a centre back, is their top scorer with four as a result. Clearly, Sweden’s height is too much for their opponents to handle.

Sweden are the most experienced team left in the tournament. They have wise heads that have done it at international level before. Experience is going to be crucial at the business end of this tournament. While tiredness can sometimes be the downfall of older sides, this isn’t a concern for the Swedes. They got their business done early in the group stages and were able to rest players against Argentina. As a result, their players have played the fewest minutes in the world cup – Sweden are in a great physical condition to compete in the latter stages.

For the full analytic breakdown visit: https://bit.ly/KitmanWWCSweden

MLS NEXT, Kitman Labs Build New System To Drive Operational Efficiencies, Optimize Player Pathways

MLS NEXT and Kitman Labs, the sports technology and analytics company setting an industry standard for how elite sports organizations use data, today announced a new deal that will provide MLS NEXT with new software to enhance the operation of MLS NEXT and provide coaches and players with improved insights into player performance.

Starting at the beginning of next year’s MLS NEXT season, this program will allow MLS NEXT to consolidate and streamline program-wide operations and build a unified data set about players, staff, coaches and games played at every level for every season. By leveraging the data and technology offerings from Kitman Labs, MLS NEXT will gain insights into areas such as where and how players are playing, how they are progressing through the League and how different teams are performing and who is coaching them, which can drive immediate improvements in the player pathway and experience.

“Kitman Labs is a world-class technology company, and by teaming up with them we are excited for the opportunity to utilize next generation technology to power our entire MLS NEXT operation,” said Justin Bokmeyer, General Manager, MLS NEXT. “The player pathway within the MLS ecosystem is of the utmost importance to us, and there is no better place to introduce this combining of forces than within MLS NEXT. We look forward to working alongside Kitman Labs and sharing their game-changing capabilities and software tools with academy directors throughout the U.S.”

Kitman Labs

Through Kitman Labs’ proprietary Intelligence Platform (iP: Intelligence Platform), which provides high performance organizations with the technology and tools to support data collection, advanced analytics, communication and collaboration across leagues and teams, MLS NEXT will have access to data optimization and visualizations to empower decision-making and to assist in continuous program improvement. Additionally, Kitman Labs will help to streamline all of MLS NEXT’s daily operations, including the improvement of the quality of talent and play at every level while delivering an elevated experience for both staff and players. 

MLS NEXT is the first to launch the new League Operations Solution from Kitman Labs. Core capabilities within the solution include, but are not limited to:

• Player Registration
• Staff and Officials Registration
• Fixture Management
• Digital Match Rosters
• Match Reporting
• Discipline Management and Eligibility Tracking
• Registration Payments
• Waivers and Consents
• Competition Management

“As Leagues become increasingly more complex, the need to consolidate and streamline operations and logistics into a single platform, enabling collaboration, elevating the player and staff experience and providing the infrastructure to scale is paramount to future success,” said Stephen Smith, Kitman Labs Founder & CEO.  “MLS Next is setting a new standard across the board while simultaneously enhancing and prioritizing player pathways to elevate the overall level of play throughout the League.”  

This announcement arrives during a period of tremendous momentum behind the sport of soccer in North America, as MLS’ 28th season is underway, the highly anticipated 2023 Leagues Cup will take place from July 21 to August 19 and as the 2026 World Cup hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico approaches.

Kitman Labs, Columbus Crew Unveils Wide-Ranging ‘Innovation Partnership’

Kitman Labs, the performance intelligence company setting a new industry standard for how elite sports organizations use data, today announced a landmark multi-year partnership with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS). The partnership will be housed at the Crew’s world-class facilities in Lower.com Field and the OhioHealth Performance Center in Columbus.

“We welcome the Crew and their entire Organization, led by Tim Bezbatchenko, into the Kitman Labs performance family,” founder and CEO Stephen Smith said. “As the first club in Major League Soccer history, the Crew are paving the way as the first in MLS to become an ‘Innovation Partnership’ club – a multi-faceted partnership which will impact every level of athlete performance and club operations, from their first team to their scouting and youth programs to their approach to investment and resource allocation. Our collective goal is to create a fully integrated operating system designed to elevate and advance player and team performance in North America, and we are proud to be able to collaborate with a club that has been known as an innovation leader since the founding of MLS.”

“The Crew and Kitman Labs are two organizations with complementary philosophies which is why this groundbreaking partnership makes so much sense,” Crew President & General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko said. “We are both deeply committed to fundamentally changing how data is used in sport to optimize performance, reduce injury risk, support operations, and ultimately drive success across every aspect of the organization, from the First Team, through Crew 2 and to the Academy. That common mission has now evolved into the development of an all-encompassing operations platform that will hopefully yield dividends in every aspect of team operations – not just for the Crew, but for North American soccer in the years to come. We are proud to be the first adopters in MLS as we look to try and set a new standard in how performance intelligence is leveraged across the sport.”

Kitman will collaborate with the Crew to leverage its proprietary performance intelligence platform and analytics to support three key areas of focus:

  • Player Development – delivering a tailored and data-driven talent development process to maximize player potential
  • Evidence-based Coaching – development of a real-time integrated system to enable objective, outcome-driven coaching and planning
  • Scouting and Recruiting – development of a data rich, configurable recruitment analytics solution to maximize the return on current and prospective players

With roots as “The Team of Firsts in MLS,” the Crew – under Bezbatchenko’s leadership since 2019 – have secured three championships: 2020 MLS Cup, 2021 Campeones Cup, 2022 MLS NEXT Pro Cup.

Leading the day-to-day implementation of the partnership are Crew Vice President of Soccer Administration Jaime McMillan, Crew Director of Analytics Alex Mysiw, Kitman Labs Performance Strategy Lead Darcy Norman and Kitman Labs Project Manager Courtney Steward.

The Kitman Labs Innovation Leadership partnership is designed to provide Columbus with deeper, strategic insight into all areas of on-field performance, ranging from developmental club best practices to helping gamify trade and transfer scenarios as well as making sure that injury prevention and maximal performance scenarios are created effectively and easily for all athletes, while giving performance leaders the ability to maximize every area of performance. The Crew and the Kitman Labs teams will work in lock-step to develop and instill the infrastructure and processes necessary at the ground level, to support the accurate, real-time collection and distillation of relevant data across the business to enable the analysis necessary to drive the desired KPIs.

This new business launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs have undertaken. That includes the successful close of a $52M Series C funding round led by Guggenheim Investments, a global asset investment and advisory firm with more than $259 billion* in assets under management and two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports, both made in the last two years. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (700+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.