According to a 2015 Gallup poll, the two crimes that scare people most in the United States are having their credit card information stolen from a retailer and having their computer or smartphone hacked. Such fears have given hacking a bad reputation.
Perhaps that’s why Manchester City FC, one of the world’s most technologically focused soccer teams, will host a hackathon at the City Football Academy in Manchester from July 29-31. Developed in conjunction with two tech companies partners of Manchester City FC, the hackathon will feature groups of sports scientists, analysts, programmers, designers, entrepreneurs and other creative thinkers collaborating to manipulate high-performance sports data for the good of soccer.
Hackathons were staple events in the tech industry long before they became crime sprees, and these multiday events identify issues and create software solutions. Data for the Manchester FC hackathon will be provided by tech companies Opta Pro and ChyronHego, and the team will use ideas that evolve “to provide information and feedback for City Football Group, looking towards solutions for the club both on and off the field,” according to SportTechie.
The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference did something similar in March when it hosted the second annual ESPN Hackathon, which focused on football data visualization.
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