Speaker Profile

Ted Knutson is CEO of StatsBomb, a trailblazing sports data and analytics company based in the UK.

Ted has a long association with the use of data in sports. He spent the early part of his career focusing on the use of data in predictive modelling as part of his role as Head of Premier League Trading at one of the world’s largest sportsbooks. That led to him meeting Matthew Benham, owner of Brentford FC and FC Midtjylland, and leaving the gambling industry to work inside soccer for the first time as Head of Player Analytics at the two clubs -- regarded as two of the most forward-thinking clubs in world football.

Ted was part of Midtjylland’s title-winning season in 2014/15, the first Danish title in their history. Midtjylland exploited inefficiencies found in the game to power them to their championship, notably the use of set-pieces as an offensive weapon. They averaged three set-piece goals every four games that season, significantly more than their competitors and one of the best rates in all of Europe.

After leaving Brentford and Midtjylland, Ted founded StatsBomb as a consultancy, advising on soccer analytics, set-piece design and player recruitment at several Champions League clubs.

Then came the data.

Frustrated by poor quality and a lack of innovation in the space, StatsBomb launched their data in 2018, collecting and producing their own soccer event data that immediately became the deepest and most accurate on the market. Since then, more and more clubs have been switching to StatsBomb. The company now works with over half of the English Premier League and MLS.

Having created the best event data in soccer, Ted and StatsBomb’s attention now turns to American Football. Their new American Football data and analytics platform will be previewed at Sloan Sports Analytics Conference 2022.