LISS football analytics symposium

For more than five years, prof. Bauer has been providing evidence to support sports experts decision-making. With a background in mathematics and computer science and a PhD from Tübingen University, he applies machine learning methods to sports data. As a Juniorprofessor in Sports Analytics at Saarland University, he is extending this research across sports. In 7 years of experience with the DFB and the German National Teams, prof. Bauer translated data-driven insights to the coaching staff for example during the World-Cup in Qatar 2022. He also worked with Zelus Analytics striving to establish the “Moneyball-approach” in the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and many more. Holding an UEFA-A-level coaching license, he has 10 years experience working as a coach in semi-professional football (soccer).

Joris Bekkers is an independent sports data analytics consultant, specializing in analytics research, technical consulting, strategic consulting and software engineering. He has nearly 10 years of experience in cutting-edge football analytics working with on-ball event data, positional tracking data, and skeletal tracking data. Joris consults for sports organizations, startups, and data providers to develop advanced analytics solutions, production-ready software, research and development and offers insights into all aspects of the football analytics landscape. Beyond client work, Joris advocates for open-source sports analytics as a co-founder of PySport, by maintaining the UnRavelSports Python package and contributing to kloppy.