OPN Agrees Opta Deal To Make Football Data More Accessible For Clubs
OPN, the digital sports infrastructure company, has agreed a new partnership with Opta, Stats Perform’s renowned sports data brand, to make trusted football data more accessible for professional clubs.
The agreement will enable OPN to integrate industry-leading Opta data into its Digital Athlete Passport and wider athlete management platform, giving clubs a more complete picture of player performance, development, readiness and availability through one connected digital hub.
OPN already brings together performance, medical, wellbeing, scheduling and communication information for clubs and players. Through the new Opta agreement, the platform will now be able to add deeper match data and performance insights to support recruitment, player development and day-to-day decision-making.
Aaron Wildig, who had a 15-year professional playing career with clubs including Cardiff City, Shrewsbury Town, Morecambe and Newport County, said the agreement would help clubs and players make better decisions from better information.
He said: “Football data has become incredibly powerful, but it has not always been accessible or easy for every club to access in a way that is practical day to day.
“This partnership with Opta is an important step because it helps us bring trusted performance data into the same environment as the other information clubs already use around player readiness, wellbeing, development and availability.
“Our goal has always been to make better information available to more people in football. Clubs should not need huge budgets or multiple disconnected systems to understand their players properly, and players should not lose visibility simply because their story is spread across different platforms, reports and conversations.
“By integrating Opta data into OPN PLAY, we can give clubs a more complete picture of performance and potential, while helping players build a Digital Athlete Passport that travels with them throughout their career.”
Steve Xeller, Chief Revenue Officer at Stats Perform, added: “Opta has been trusted by clubs, leagues and federations around the world for decades because of the quality, depth and reliability of our data.
Through this partnership with OPN, we’re making those trusted insights easier for more clubs to access within the tools they already use every day. Together, we’re helping teams make more informed decisions across player recruitment, development and performance.”
The partnership is designed to address one of football’s most persistent technology challenges: the cost and complexity of accessing high-quality data. While elite performance data has become essential across the game, many clubs outside the highest-spending environments still face barriers around price, integration and usability.
By bringing Opta data into OPN’s platform, clubs will be able to access trusted performance information through an affordable, practical and easy-to-use system that connects data with the people who need it most – coaches, recruitment teams, performance staff, medical departments and players.
OPN’s core platform is free to use, with the company developing optional value-added services, integrations and partnerships around the wider athlete management ecosystem. The Opta agreement strengthens that model by giving clubs a more cost-effective route to elite-level data without requiring multiple disconnected systems or expensive infrastructure.
The deal also supports OPN’s work with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), where the company is the official Digital Athlete Passport partner of the PFA pre-season programme for out-of-contract players.
The integration of Opta data will allow OPN to combine match analytics with physical testing data, GPS metrics, wellness information and player development records, creating a more rounded view of each player.
The partnership comes as OPN PLAY continues to expand its work with professional clubs across the UK. The company currently works with more than 50 professional clubs, building Digital Athlete Passports that give players, coaches and staff a shared picture of development over time.
OPN PLAY is also extending its technology to younger players who are already growing up in a data-driven sporting environment to provide a digital athlete passport.
Wildig added: “The best technology in football should make life simpler, not more complicated. We want OPN PLAY to help clubs reduce spreadsheets, reduce fragmentation and give staff and players one connected view of what matters.
“Opta is one of the most trusted names in football data, and this agreement allows us to bring that quality into a platform that is built around accessibility, usability and player development.”
