SBJ Power Up: MLS, Kitman Labs build a player data career path

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MLS, Kitman Labs build fully centralized data system

MLS and Kitman Labs have collaborated on building what’s believed to be a global first: a centralized data system tracking player pathways from youth development program MLS Next all the way through the top pro league, SBJ’s Joe Lemire reports. This project, years in the making, is all geared toward an ultimate goal of improving league quality and efficiency.

The new management system, called MLS Assist, will retain not only player performance metrics and analysis but also operational and financial information for the clubs and league.

When auditing its digital ecosystem a few years ago, the league realized it had been using about 30 applications across MLS Next, MLS Next Pro and MLS. The new Kitman-built platform will now replace most of those with “a single source of truth,” MLS CIO John Sullivan said of the new player card unifying the data sources so the league can “extract more and more data on these players so we can find the next Pulisic or Messi out there.”

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WSC Sports acquires Infront Lab to add to content

WSC Sports, an automated sports video provider, has acquired Infront Lab’s Engines 365 streaming solution to extend its offering from shortform clips to full-length live services, Lemire also reports.

This was the first acquisition for WSC Sports; terms of the deal were not disclosed. Infront Lab was the digital and technology division of Infront Sports & Media, a Swiss sports marketing company. A list of Engine 365’s clients on the website consists primarily of European properties but also includes CBS Sports.

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Kraft Group taps NWN to enhance tech at facilities

NWN has been named the Official Technology Infrastructure Partner for the Kraft Group, including the company’s sports interests -- the Patriots, Revolution, and Gillette Stadium, SBJ’s Bret McCormick reports.

The five-year deal, which includes a sponsorship element, will see NWN upgrade and transform the technology framework underpinning the entire Kraft Group, including overhauling the existing IT infrastructure at Gillette Stadium and establishing a state-of-the-art infrastructure foundation at the new Patriots training facility.