FC Bayern Munich football team has signed a deal with SAP to use analytics to improve players’ performance and health.
The club, which won the Bundesliga in record time last season, will use SAP’s big data tools to improve performance as it targets the Champions League and other trophies again this season.
The three-year agreement comes after the German national football team won the World Cup after help from SAP to use big data to improve footballers’ play and understand opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.
But SAP will help Bayern off the pitch as well, by providing its CRM solution and commerce software from Hybris, an SAP-owned firm.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, former striker and now CEO of FC Bayern Munich, said the deal could see Bayern rise to become the world’s top club.
"Leveraging innovative technology, we want to permanently secure a global top position for the FC Bayern," he said. "Our players’ performance and their health are of paramount importance to reach this goal, and so are our fans.
"SAP has the technology to support three of our main goals: optimise our business processes to facilitate our global expansion, help our team stay fit and perform at their highest level and give our fans the best possible experience."
The club counts more than 292 million supporters worldwide, and hopes SAP can help increase fan engagement.
"The partnership between SAP and FC Bayern Munich is an impressive union," said Gerhard Oswald, member of the executive board of SAP SE for Quality, Scale and Support.
"By combining the power of FC Bayern Munich with that of SAP HANA we will be able to develop new solutions that will transform the world of football from every angle."