TSG Hoffenheim and SAP are continuing to expand their long-standing partnership with the aim of jointly developing the next generation of data-driven football processes and testing them in practice.
As one of the most innovative clubs in the Bundesliga, TSG Hoffenheim works closely with SAP in a co-innovation approach to develop new AI functions within SAP Sports One to test. The focus is on the question of how artificial intelligence can meaningfully support central areas in football, such as scouting and video analysis.
New ways in scouting with generative AI
Scouting plays a key role for TSG Hoffenheim. At the same time, this area is one of the most data-intensive tasks in professional football. Player assessments often consist of numerous individual observations, detailed reports and assessments, which ultimately have to be brought together to form a clear overall picture.
This is exactly where TSG and SAP come into play as part of their co-innovation. SAP Sports One is currently experimenting with AI-supported scouting summaries. The first prototypes show how SAP Joule can be used to ask questions in natural language and receive AI-generated answers. These help to quickly get to the point of long, unstructured texts, for example with a view to a player's recurring strengths, weaknesses or playing tendencies.
For example, scouts can ask questions like:
- “How good is Player X at creating scoring chances?”
- “Summarize the key observations from the 2026 Player X scouting reports.”
- “What are Player X’s greatest strengths and weaknesses?”
We are currently examining how much these functions can reduce the manual effort involved in evaluation and at the same time ensure greater comparability and consistency in player ratings. The aim is to enable better and more informed decisions in both youth and professional scouting. TSG Hoffenheim actively contributes its experience from daily scouting work so that the solution is based on the real requirements of modern scouting challenges.
AI-assisted Scene Finder: Video analysis gets to the point faster
Video analysis continues to be one of the most time- and resource-intensive processes in professional football. Together with SAP and AWS Professional Services, TSG Hoffenheim is currently working on an AI-supported concept for game scene search and is testing it in practice. The idea of the AI-assisted Scene Finder: Analysts should be able to find relevant game scenes more easily and quickly by describing what they are looking for in natural language.
Instead of laboriously clicking through long video recordings, you can ask, for example: “Show counterattacks after winning the ball that ended in a shot on goal.”
The system delivers suitable sequences within a few seconds.
There is great potential for a club like TSG Hoffenheim: less time spent on manual video searches, focused tactical preparation and even closer collaboration between the analysis and coaching teams.
Shaping innovation together
“Our partnership with SAP goes beyond simply introducing new technologies,” says Timo Gross, Head of Football Intelligence at TSG Hoffenheim. “We're all about real co-innovation. We bring in our practical experience from everyday football and combine it with SAP expertise in the areas of enterprise AI and cloud-based sports technologies. Through close exchange and testing of new ideas, we are actively shaping the next generation of AI functions in SAP Sports One.”
With intelligent scouting, insights from natural language processing and automated video search, football analytics is evolving rapidly. Artificial intelligence will continue to become even more important in professional sports in the future. SAP and TSG Hoffenheim are deepening their collaboration with the aim of increasing performance, simplifying processes and unlocking new strategic advantages.
Copyright images: © TSG Hoffenheim
