Driven by Data, United for Victory
In the high-stakes world of professional sports, every detail can make or break success. The Philadelphia Union, a formidable force in Major League Soccer (MLS), understands this better than anyone. Leveraging cutting-edge technology to capture real-time data during matches, the Union has gained insights into countless variables that enhance their strategic edge both on the field and behind the scenes.
Since 2018, the Union has consistently topped the MLS charts, amassing the most points over six seasons and clinching the coveted Supporters’ Shield in 2020. Their key to success? An unwavering commitment to data-driven innovation. By integrating data from Second Spectrum, Stats Perform Provision, and Catapult through accessible APIs, the Union has transformed how they approach the game.
Tackling the Data Challenge
Despite the wealth of data, the Union faced a significant hurdle. Each of their three data sources served unique purposes, creating a complex web of information that needed to be imported, cleaned, transformed, and seamlessly moved across departments. The challenge was clear: how to streamline this process to generate actionable analytics efficiently.
The Lovelytics Partnership
Enter Lovelytics, a leader in data, AI, and analytics consulting. To address the Union’s data challenges, Lovelytics developed an automated data ingestion pipeline built on Databricks’ Delta Lake. This innovative solution not only eliminated the need for manual data processing but also saved the team a remarkable 60 hours of work per week.
Seamless Data Integration
The automated data ingestion pipeline revolutionized the Union’s data operations. It automatically fetched and updated data from API sources into Delta tables, eliminating manual refreshes. Additionally, Lovelytics implemented predefined data quality control and cleaning methods, ensuring the accuracy and precision of generated insights.
With the automated system in place, the Philadelphia Union achieved 95% faster insights. This reduction in time-to-insight enabled coaches to make smarter, data-driven decisions that significantly improved team and player performance.
Beyond the Field: Universal Applications
This pioneering automated data ingestion pipeline isn’t just for soccer. Any industry that relies on data from multiple sources can benefit from this solution. Organizations looking to build scalable, reliable data pipelines and generate real-time insights using Business Intelligence tools like Tableau and machine learning models can turn to Lovelytics for expert assistance.
Empowering the Union
Lovelytics’ support extended beyond implementation. They trained the Philadelphia Union’s data and analytics team, equipping them with the skills to manage and update their new data architecture independently. The team received training in Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, the AWS platform, big data concepts, data pipeline creation, best practices, and integrating Tableau visual analytics with the data pipeline.
A Collaborative Success
“The Lovelytics team was hands-on throughout the entire process,” said Addison Hunsicker, Senior Data Analyst of Philadelphia Union. “They ensured they understood our use cases to best build out our data pipelines while training our team to manage and update our new data architecture as we build our analytics at scale.”
For the Philadelphia Union, harnessing the power of data has been key to their relentless pursuit of excellence. With Lovelytics as a partner, they’ve turned data challenges into strategic advantages, setting a new standard for success in sports and beyond.
Lovelytics is dedicated to transforming business challenges into technical solutions that drive insights, decisions, and efficiency. With a robust cloud platform and leveraging the power of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, Lovelytics empowers clients to govern and secure data from existing pipelines while providing the flexibility to scale with new data pipelines.
Did you know this use case inspired Lovelytics to create the Sports, Entertainment, and Media Analytics Brickbuilder, which enables organizations to more easily use streaming data and make better decisions? Learn more about the BrickBuilder here.