US football analytics company Pro Football Focus (PFF) has announced its expansion into Europe with a diversification of its core products to service the US and European soccer market with its first club-focused product set to launch next month.
The expansion is expected to create 21 remote full time and 175 seasonal analyst roles in Ireland over the next three years.
Founded in 2009, PFF analyses player performance, ranks and grades players and assesses overall team performance.
These insights can be accessed by customers through though a subscription-based platform.
In 2011, PFF began providing customised data monitoring services for three NFL teams in the US.
PFF now supplies data for all 32 NFL teams, more than 100 NCAA football teams and seven CFL teams. Other notable customers include NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports and EA Sports.
The company said its decision to establish an operation in Ireland was mainly driven by the availability of talent and the flourishing sports tech ecosystem here.
“Ireland will play a key role in PFF’s expansion into the beautiful game. Its strategic location, the availability of skilled labour, and rich history of achievements in science and technology are among the many reasons why our management team chose Ireland,” Nate Gerstle, GM Soccer Operations at PFF said.
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade & Employment Leo Varadkar said that Pro Football Focus is a really welcome addition to the growing sports tech sector in Ireland.
“These are exciting and interesting roles in software development, data collection and analysis in an international sports analytics company,” Mr Varadkar said.
“I’m particularly pleased to see the company provide remote working opportunities – it’s important to give employees the option, where possible and the Government is putting in place the infrastructure to support that choice,” he said.
“It also allows PFF to recruit from a rich talent pool, across the entire country,” he added.
Mary Buckley, Executive Director at IDA Ireland, said that PFF’s decision to have a European presence in Ireland is welcome news.
“A household name in the US, PFF is a significant addition to Ireland’s emerging sports tech cluster,” she added.
PFF’s European launch follows the Aer Lingus Classic between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, both clients of the company, in Dublin last weekend.
Article Source – Pro Football Focus to create Irish jobs – RTE.ie