RIYADH: The Saudi Pro League has expanded its agreement with Stats Perform to ensure every top-flight Saudi football club, as well as the league’s own media and digital teams, benefit from new tools and performance insights.

The extended deal includes OptaAI-powered Opta Vision, Stats Perform’s richest performance data, captured from every Saudi Pro League, King’s Cup and Super Cup fixture played throughout the season.

The data will be available to each club’s performance analysis department, enhancing on-field analysis and further deepening fan and sponsor engagement.

Saudi Pro League CEO Omar Mugharbel said: “The Saudi Pro League has established itself as a leading force in football across Asia, recognized as the top AFC domestic competition.

“Aided by strategic partnerships, including our collaboration with Stats Perform, we harness innovative data solutions like live Opta feeds and artificial intelligence-powered Opta Vision data to enhance club performance analysis and scouting. This commitment to excellence drives our clubs’ competitive edge and enriches fans, ensuring the SPL continues to set new standards with its partners in delivering unforgettable football experiences to a global audience.”

Opta Vision combines complete player tracking, on-ball event and aggregated fitness data alongside multiple AI-enriched predictive metrics, enabling analysts to quickly identify new and pioneering performance traits at a player and team level.

Data from dozens of overseas competitions will also be made available to recruitment analysts working for Saudi Pro League clubs to improve their data profiling when scouting players. Each SPL club will also have access to their own internal Opta Pro Hub software where they can manage all scouting activity, including player reports and recruitment shortlists.

Fan engagement will be boosted with Opta feeds offering a wider range of experiences, both pre-match and in-game. These include the stats hub on the official Saudi Pro League website and app, the official RSL Fantasy game and the syndicated world broadcast feed.

Live Opta data feeds will also be available to the Saudi Arabia Football Federation, official league partners and media departments at every Saudi Pro League club.

Stats Perform’s chief revenue officer, Steve Xeller, said: “We are delighted that the Saudi Pro League are the latest to expand their use of our services to include OptaAI-powered solutions. Our people, including our dedicated team in the region, will continue to work tirelessly to help ensure the SPL and its clubs continue to go from strength-to-strength, on the field and off it, for the benefit of their growing audience of millions of global fans.”