As the digital age swiftly reshapes every facet of our lives, the sports world, too, is riding the tide of transformation. Leading the charge in the realm of tennis is the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which has recently shifted its game plan towards a modernized, data-centric approach, leveraging the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) for optimization.
The synergy between SAP and WTA is not new. Since 2015, their alliance has continually aimed to blend technology with tennis, offering unparalleled insights to players, coaches, fans, and the broader tennis community. The partnership’s flagship product, the SAP Tennis Analytics software powered by SAP HANA, has been instrumental in providing real-time performance data during live matches, significantly influencing in-game strategies.
Transitioning into 2020, technology’s role in tennis saw further evolution with the incorporation of Qualtrics Experience Management (XM) technology. WTA President Micky Lawler has consistently voiced the organization’s intent to foster innovation across all tennis dimensions. He emphasizes the pivotal role of technology, especially in augmenting the experience for stakeholders, ranging from the media to the ardent fans.
Shaping the Future with SAP BTP
In celebration of its golden jubilee, WTA is taking a monumental leap by consolidating all its vast data sources under the SAP Business Technology Platform’s umbrella. This central system will not only streamline reporting and analytics but also promises to be a reliable reservoir of insights. An intriguing facet of this initiative is the potential to harness the in-built AI capabilities of the SAP BTP, paving the way for smarter, data-driven decisions.
SAP Chief Technology Officer and Executive Board Member Juergen Mueller has expressed immense enthusiasm for assisting WTA in this transformative journey. According to him, the focus is on aiding WTA to harness its own data, both for immediate and future strategies. Concurrently, Micky Lawler emphasizes the potential benefits this data-driven approach could usher in – enhancing tour operations and player experiences and fostering fan engagement in unique ways.
Annually, the sprawling empire of WTA organizes a staggering 50+ global events, supports over 1,650 players, and oversees 6,000+ matches. Over the last five decades, this has resulted in a wealth of data encompassing fans’ preferences, intricate match details, player statistics, and tour operations. However, a major challenge has been the isolated functioning of these data sources, hindering comprehensive analytics.
The introduction of SAP BTP is set to change this narrative. With a cloud-based approach, WTA aims to centralize its data, marking the first milestone in its data transformation journey.
As WTA progresses in its data-centric vision, three primary objectives stand out:
- Prioritizing Player Well-being: Leveraging SAP HANA Cloud’s unique data anonymization features, WTA seeks to analyze player health intricately. By understanding correlations between tournament conditions and players’ career trajectories, the focus will shift towards ensuring players’ physical well-being and enhancing their longevity in the sport.
- Efficiency in Tour Operations: SAP’s PaaS offering promises enhanced data security, better data integrity, and ease of maintainability. This translates to swifter, more reliable data exchanges, paving the way for potential structural changes in future tours based on comprehensive insights.
- Elevating Fan Experience: The WTA’s vision is to evolve its traditional statistics offerings. By tapping into SAP HANA Cloud’s capabilities, fans, media, and coaches will soon have a richer, more interactive hub of tennis analytics, adding a fresh dimension to the live match experience.
The integration of SAP BTP into WTA’s operations marks a significant shift towards a data-centric approach in sports management. This collaboration aims to centralize and optimize data sources, potentially enhancing decision-making processes across the board. The coming years will determine the tangible outcomes of this partnership and its impact on the broader landscape of tennis.
