Coach's intuition gives way to artificial intelligence as data points dictate player value

Coach's intuition gives way to artificial intelligence as data points dictate player value

From baseball tracking systems to football forecasting models, ever-evolving technology is changing the way player performance is assessed.

At baseball games, cameras and radar systems constantly track every pitch from the mound and every swing at the plate. They record the speed and spin of each pitch as well as the launch angle and distance of every hit. The information is instantly converted into data through the TrackMan system.

The technology is already installed at every MLB ballpark in the United States, and the KBO adopted it beginning with the 2025 season. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a Japanese baseball team, advertised for a data analyst on a U.S. sabermetrics website a year ago and even introduced virtual reality batting simulators at their training facility. The days of evaluating players solely through a coach's eye are over. Data and AI now quantify a player's value, influencing everything from recruitment decisions to game-day lineups.

The trend is spreading just as quickly in football.

ValueTrack, an AI-powered analytics platform developed by Blinkers, a Korean data-based AI solutions company, predicted that the Taeguk Warriors would finish 34th at the FIFA World Cup 2026. The model’s forecasting ability drew attention after its prediction proved accurate when Korea exited in that exact position.

The platform has also predicted France to win this year's tournament. While the competition has yet to conclude, the earlier successful prediction has sparked growing interest in the industry.

It is not the first time ValueTrack has drawn attention for its accurate predictions. Earlier this season, the platform gave Arsenal an 83 percent chance of winning the Premier League. The prediction ultimately came true as the Gunners captured their first league title in 22 years.

ValueTrack is powered by a proprietary AI model trained on two decades of global sports data. It evaluates players in real time using more than 15 performance metrics, such as the number of appearances, efficiency per 90 minutes, expected goals, expected assists and yellow cards.

The system goes beyond measuring individual ability. It simulates how much impact a player could have within a particular squad and tactical system and estimates an appropriate transfer value.

"Instinct and experience alone are no longer enough to evaluate a player," Park Sang-wook, the founder and CEO of Blinkers, said. "The key is identifying hidden relationships within the data to predict a player's value and a team's chances of success."

Clubs around the world have already embraced the data revolution.

Founded in 1996, British sports data analysis firm Opta Sports collects more than one billion data points each year across more than 3,900 competitions in over 20 sports, such as football, basketball and American football.

It analyzes up to 35 variables for every action on the field to generate advanced metrics such as expected goals and expected threat in real time. Clubs such as Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain use Opta’s data to support recruitment and tactical decisions.

The shift mirrors the "Moneyball" revolution in MLB where data transformed scouting and player evaluation, a momentous shift in sports in the United States led by Billy Beane, who, in turn, has hailed the famed former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, one of the originators of statistical analysis in sports back in the mid-1990s.

Today, similar data-driven decision-making is spreading across football and nearly every other professional sport.

Experts say the trend is both inevitable and necessary.

"In the past, player evaluations depended largely on a scout's experience and intuition. Today, quantitative data complements and verifies those judgments," Hahm Hyeong-ki, a professor at the Department of Smart Mobility at Seojeong University, said. "Data-driven analysis is no longer optional and is becoming a necessity in decisions involving billions of won, particularly in the transfer market."

Other experts also agree on the new technological wave in the sports industry.

"AI has already reached a level where it can replace traditional scouting when it comes to analyzing player statistics and broader performance data," Goo Kang-bon, a professor of sports industry at the Korean National University of Transportation, said. "AI also identifies details that coaches or managers may overlook, making it a valuable tool for strengthening a team's competitiveness."

In Korea, ValueTrack is now expanding into baseball.

"Our research team, built on data science expertise from KAIST, has focused on reducing prediction errors [for the KBO]," Park, the CEO of Blink, said. "Our goal is to eliminate the information gap that has long made the sports transfer market opaque by replacing speculation with data."

Even so, AI is not a crystal ball. Unpredictable factors such as injuries, psychological factors and weather remain difficult for the data programs to forecast.

"The goal is not for AI to predict everything perfectly," Prof. Hahm said. "Its role is to identify patterns and correlations that people might miss. The shift toward data-driven decision-making is already transforming the sports industry, and there is no turning back."

BY WON DONG-WOOK [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.