Software Giant SAP Enters Esports Industry
Published: Apr 11, 2018 - Last Updated: Apr 8, 2024
SAP, the German-based multinational software corporation, is entering esports. The company announced this week that it’s partnering with Team Liquid to bring analytics-based innovation to the industry.
Collaboration aimed at player and team performance improvement
The partnership, a three-year sponsorship deal, will have both companies work on innovations aimed at performance improvement. By bringing innovations to in-game data analysis, the duo seeks to extract strategies for better gameplay. Moreover, through software that’s developed on the basis of in-game data, the esports organization is expected to achieve greater precision in both team and player performance and talent scouting.
“There is a strong demand for meaningful data and analytics software in esports,” said Team Liquid co-CEO Victor Goossens. “For Team Liquid, competitive performance is key – and smart technology and data give us the best possible tools to analyze and improve. As a technology company at the cutting edge of innovation and with sponsorship experience across sports and entertainment, SAP is the perfect partner to collaborate with Team Liquid to create tools and solutions to fuel our competitive journey.”
SAP’s business data platform HANA, an in-memory data platform, should be used as foundation for the innovation process. The company’s cutting edge analytics software will be utilized by Team Liquid to work on performance enhancement in both the training area as well as competition.
“After deciding to become a sponsor in the field of esports, SAP took time to observe and analyze the market and its ecosystem before finally deciding to partner with Team Liquid – one of the most successful teams in the business,” said SAP Chief Human Resources Officer Stefan Ries. “For SAP, esports opens us up to a tech-savvy and highly skilled young audience and potential new talent for SAP. As a global, innovative and forward-looking technology company, SAP provides a high brand fit to the esports ecosystem.”
Multinational companies getting involved in esports
SAP is one of many global companies that are discovering the exciting industry of esports. Some of these that recently joined the market include Spanish telecommunications provider Telefónica, British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone, French multinational automobile manufacturer Renault, and global news agency Reuters, among others. For many, the young and tech-savvy demographic is an additional incentive to join the area.
“Esports is a highly interesting field for SAP. With a team sponsorship, SAP will be able to activate its full potential by working closely together with Team Liquid to understand their needs and apply innovative technology solutions to address them,” said SAP Europe & Asia Head of Sponsorships Lars Lamadé. “SAP as an innovation-driven company is interested in esports as a 100 percent digital sport with a high speed of development. The partnership with Team Liquid, with a true and authentic co-innovation mind-set at its core, will become a great use case for SAP technology.”
It’s all about data analytics
The segment of improving performance through top-notch data analytics has been booming in the recent past. Companies and organizations discovering benefits of proper data analysis and game intelligence resulted in a huge push in the development of this area in esports.
SAP joins a number of other companies that have been expanding in the market for quite some time. Shadow.gg, for example, has been making moves and developing its service offering for a few years now. The Berlin-based company that’s helping players improve their game through better data analysis has recently expanded into collegiate esports.
Esports One, another player in the data analytics game, has recently secured fresh funding for business expansion. The LA-based startup is looking to launch AI-based analytics for its clients.
The ever-expanding industry of esports is delivering an increased amount of data every day. With such a rich warehouse of information, it’s no surprise that many companies focus on turning it into useful knowledge.
Since: September 12, 2015
