Sports data and analytics platform <a href="https://statsbomb.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">StatsBomb</a> has been acquired by sports technology firm <a href="https://www.hudl.com/en_gb/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hudl</a> barely a decade after it started as a humble blog. Founded in 2013, StatsBomb has grown into a leading data and analytics provider in both soccer and American Football.



The platform boasts clients across 35 countries, ranging from professional sports organizations to gambling sites and media companies. Its success has convinced sports technology titans Hudl to purchase the company. Hudl claims to supply 230,000 teams and eight million users across 40 different sports with its video and data products. It now adds StatsBomb data to its professional suite.



“I’m excited our customers will have access to this critical data in one platform to improve the performance of their teams and change the way they see the game,” said Chief Product Officer John Wirtz.



Meanwhile, StatsBomb CEO and co-founder Ted Knutson celebrated the move as a step forward for sports data in a <a href="https://x.com/mixedknuts/status/1823021682149499244" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a> made to X.



“With Hudl’s distribution, our football product will fundamentally change coaching process like we did in soccer,” he wrote.



“And the soccer product will finally incorporate video, for the full data, insight, and video analysis cycle.



“I think the Founders of that company built something special in a very crowded, competitive space and I hope the fact that we carried ourselves differently was visible to the outside world from day 1 right through to the end.”



<h2>Blog to business: the StatsBomb story before Hudl</h2>



“A new sports stats site with a silly name. Why is it here and why should you care?”



This was the opening line of the first edition of the StatsBomb blog, published July 15, 2013.



Knutson, who authored the piece, clearly had a vision for the page but even he could not have imagined the ways it would evolve over the next 11 years.



The original concept was a humbler one. Under the sub-heading ‘What is StatsBomb?’ he wrote, “It’s going to be a place for analysts to publish their work on a website with a bigger, more regular traffic footprint than their personal blog.”



Looking to the future, he added “I see StatsBomb growing into a place you can come to for good, thoughtful writing about sports and/or numbers.”



What has emerged is slightly more elaborate. Alongside co-founder Charlotte Randall, Knutson helped StatsBomb grow into a leader in the soccer analysis and data space. Its audience has grown well beyond the analytics enthusiasts to whom Knutson wrote. The platform now supplies advanced data to over 330 professional teams and sports organizations.



Just last month, they agreed to a partnership with <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/where-to-watch-la-liga-on-us-tv-and-internet/">LaLiga</a> club <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/category/celta-vigo/">Celta Vigo</a>. Back in 2021, their StatsBomb 360 product won them a partnership with <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/liverpool-tv-schedule/">Liverpool.</a> They have branched into other sports too, moving into American Football in 2022.



<h2>Co-founders say goodbye</h2>



Knutson has left the company following the acquisition but feels positive about its future. &nbsp;



“I have left to pursue other passions, but there are amazing, clever people left that will continue to impress the world every day,” he said.



Randall will also step aside for the next chapter of the StatsBomb. She voiced her joy at the company’s success in a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7228797945347743744/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a> on LinkedIn.



“Extremely proud, humbled and honored as we announce that StatsBomb has been acquired by Hudl!” she wrote.



“This is the culmination of 8 years of hard work that started with some scrappy ideas and big dreams and ended up with 1,000 employees across 3 continents.”



PHOTOS: IMAGO

StatsBomb acquired by Hudl after 11 years as a soccer blog

After the acquisition of StatsBomb by sports technology giant Hudl, World Soccer Talk looks back on the StatsBomb story.

Soccer viewers often feel like they pay more to stream the sport. The breadth of the sport splits different competitions on different platforms. Rather than having one centralized spot, soccer fans must delve into two, three or even four services just to get all the content they may want. 



For example, a <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/teams/manchester-united-tv-schedule/">Manchester United</a> fan or <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/teams/liverpool-tv-schedule/">Liverpool</a> supporter needs to subscribe to Paramount+, ESPN+, Peacock and some sort of TV provider to watch all of their team’s games. That covers the Champions League or Europa League, domestic cups and English Premier League, respectively.



However, a new report states soccer fans in the United States are perhaps more willing to spend a pretty penny to watch their sport. 



<a href="https:\/\/www.parksassociates.com/blog/article/01112023" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Parks Associates</a>, a market research and consulting firm, released information that demonstrates sports fans’ willingness to pay more than $20 per month for all games. 



Over 60% of soccer fans put themselves in the ‘high likelihood’ to pay more than $20 per month for all games. This is the highest of the 10 sports included. However, something interesting to note is that the other sports are specific leagues. For instance, Parks Associates used the NHL, NBA, NFL or MMA. Soccer is simply just soccer.



<h2>Soccer fans pay more to stream the sport</h2>



The report did mention Major League Soccer and its new deal with Apple. MLS and Apple announced MLS Season Pass, which is $14.99. This does fall under the umbrella of including “every game,” which the report did specify for the data.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="700" height="550" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20230111_WST_415218_streaming-sports.webp&amp;width=700&amp;height=550" alt="" class="wp-image-415232" srcset="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/01/streaming-sports-300x236.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/01/streaming-sports.jpeg 700w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"></figure></div></figure>



MLS Season Pass may be less than the $20 benchmark. However, it does not include any of the leagues in Europe or South America and the international competitions. Including the previously mentioned services like ESPN+, Paramount+ and Peacock with MLS Season Pass takes the user comfortably over $30 per month. Moreover, this does not include a TV subscription to get most Premier League games.



<h5>Accustomed to paying more</h5>



One way to explain Parks Associates’ data is to say soccer fans are simply used to paying more to stream, and they want it that way. Well, soccer fans do not want to pay more, they simply want to have access to more competitions. Consequently, they are more comfortable paying for it.



There is slim competition to the NFL, and negligible challenges to the NHL, NBA and MLB. Soccer is different. One person may support <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/teams/bayern-munich-tv-schedule/">Bayern Munich</a>, the other supports <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/teams/juventus-tv-schedule/">Juventus</a>. Those two teams have vastly different streaming requirements. Soccer is an expensive sport to watch just because of how spread out it is.



<h5>Subscription revenue in US to boom over next five years</h5>



Looking holistically at OTT sports rights in the United States, Parks Associates expects it to boom. In other words, streaming will become more frequent and natural for many providers, regardless of sport. MLS and Apple are one indicator, as is Amazon’s purchase of the Thursday Night Football rights in the NFL. 



In 2022, OTT streaming revenue reached $13.1 billion. The estimate for 2027 is for that figure to hit approximately $22.6 billion. That represents a 73% increase in revenue.



If soccer can continue to make headway in popularity in the sport, there is reason to believe that. The general <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/2022/09/23/soccer-the-fastest-growing-major-sport-in-usa/">support of soccer will grow</a>, and revenues will go up with that.



PHOTO: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Streaming is commonplace in soccer, perhaps that explains why fans are more open to pay more to stream each game available to them.

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Soccer fans more willing to pay to stream than other sports