Dear all,
As this dark 2020 comes to an end it is time to reflect on what has happened in our industry over the past year.
Like in many industries we were taken by storm with the COVID-19 pandemic and football was not an exception: leagues stopped, games were cancelled, empty stadiums and many collateral damages to the industry that will be likely forever changed. At Driblab we did a report right after the 2020 summer window ended on how the industry was affected both in quantity and monetary signing of players. Player recruitment into the top five European leagues dropped by 25% and player sales dropped by 36%. You can read the full report clicking here.
The pandemic also changed how clubs and football professionals operate without being able to watch football live, leaving all the scouting work to video analysis and data analytics.
Since its foundation Driblab works as a consultancy alongside football professionals to help them in their scouting process adding a layer of data work to give them a competitive edge. During the last transfer window we were involved in 68 player movements in 9 different competitions. These players are now worth +10% more according to Transfermarkt while the signings made by other clubs that do not work with us have been depreciated in a -23%, obtaining for our partners and clients profitable investments in a negative year in the football market.
Those 68 players amount for a total of 349 million euros worth of transfer fees. Compared to the year before its drop from 550 million euros as we have shared publicly in the past. This drop is mainly due to the pandemic and the financial instability clubs in different leagues are facing. The instability has also affected player valuations to the point Transfermarkt itself had to adjust their own player values.
Looks like @Transfermarkt have made a judgement on how COVID-19 has affected player transfer values. pic.twitter.com/08c44x5jS5
— Laurie Shaw (@EightyFivePoint) April 11, 2020
As football tries to get its normality back, the damage in the industry looms large. In the meantime those clubs and football professionals that will be shifting to a more objective approach to complement the work that they already do will have a competitive edge and Driblab’s results year-to-year prove to be one of the most cost-effective solutions in the market. To give another example, last year we scouted over 650 players for just one club: How many resources would that same club have to spend to scout and filter those players in a traditional manner?
We hope that next year the overall industry is back to normal and we can celebrate it with all of you. Meanwhile Driblab will keep innovating and developing new tools for our clients and future partners as well as adding deeper metrics, more league coverage and partnering with sister companies when the opportunity arises. For all of our updates follow us in our different social media channels as well as in our weekly newsletter.
Stay safe as we get through this together.
To read in Spanish click here.
