Bratislava & London/Chicago, 23 July 2021 – The Slovak Fortuna Liga has today announced a three-year deal with Stats Perform, the SportsTech leader in data and Al technology, to be the league’s Official Data Partner.
The agreement builds on Stats Perform’s existing relationship with the league, with the company already the official Betting Data Partner since 2019 and an integrity partner of the Slovak Football Association. It will see Stats Perform collect and manage Opta data exclusively for all top-flight Fortuna League matches through to the summer of 2024.
As part of the agreement, Opta data will be used to power features on the Fortuna Liga’s official communication channels, with advanced Opta Analytics insights, including Expected Goals, Defensive Coverage and a Possessions Framework included. The feed will also be available to all 12 of the league’s top-flight clubs, for use on their own official websites, as well as on the digital platforms of the league’s broadcast partner, Markíza – Slovakia.
Markíza – Slovakia will also benefit from access to Opta Widgets, enhancing its audience engagement through engaging data visualisations to explain key performance insights to fans, including heat maps, chalkboards and pass matrixes.
Further support will also be provided from a Pro perspective, with coaches, analysts and performance staff at each top-flight club benefitting from access to Stats Perform’s ProPortal tool. Via ProPortal each club will have access to a live feed of performance insights during every league match, providing crucial context to support their in-game decision-making from the bench.
Ivan Kozák, Slovak Fortuna Liga Presindet, commented: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Stats Perform, which will result in a number of significant benefits to our member clubs and provide opportunities to enhance the coverage of our competition. Providing a single, consistent dataset to each club will provide their creative media departments with a wide range of new opportunities to enhance digital engagement with fans, whilst Markíza, Slovakia will be able share tactical insights with viewers in real time. By powering our entire digital landscape, Stats Perform will be able to help us bring ours fans closer to the action than ever before once 2021/22 gets underway.
Alex Rice, Stats Perform Chief Rights Officer, added: “I am very excited to be able to further our relationship with the Slovakian Fortuna Liga, after collaborating with them previously in the betting space. We recognise how important data is becoming to stakeholders in providing new and engaging audience experiences – and through the delivery of Opta data, fans of top-flight Slovakian football will benefit from insights derived from the industry’s leading and most reliable data source. On the Pro side, I am also pleased that we will be able to support technical staff with visual in-game insights via ProPortal, which they will be able to review from tablet devices. This will be a valuable resource to back-up their observations from the bench, which can inform key tactical interventions.”
This deal reaffirms Stats Perform position as the preferred Data Partner of professional leagues around the world looking to put data insights at the centre of its fan engagement across the digital landscape.