Jed York on big data

49ers Jed York, Gideon Yu on how big data helped recruit Colin Kaepernick (Video)

49ers CEO Jed York, center, discusses the differences in the team's previous quarterback, Alex Smith, and the current QB, Colin Kaepernick.

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SAP

From right to left, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York, team president Gideon Yu, SAP CMO Jonathan Becher and SVP and Managing Director of SAP Labs North America Barbara Holzapfel talk sports tech at an SAP panel discussion Wednesday in Palo Alto.

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Lauren Hepler

Economic Development Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

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To hear San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York tell it, technophiles and technophobes alike should be pleased the team is beefing up its tech operations.
In addition to the team's new “software-driven” Levi’s Stadium, York says data analytics were a big part of the off-the-field discussions that went into nabbing fan favorites such as quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“It’s the analytics for why we got him and how we got him," York said Wednesday afternoon at a panel discussion on sports technology at the Palo Alto office of German software giant SAP AG.

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York explained that data analysis helps the team identify players with a high potential return on investment — especially important given the National Football League's salary cap — and also can assess when a player is likely to be drafted, helping the team weigh the option of trading for an earlier draft pick.
Still, York said coaching decisions like making Kaepernick the team's starting quarterback remain a gut feeling (see the video, above, for more on that).
SAP signed on for an undisclosed fee last September to be the Niners' exclusive business software, statistics and performance partner at the new $1.3 billion Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The team says it will look to SAP for both enhanced athlete analytics and a technology-driven fan experience at the new venue.
At the event Wednesday, SAP employees demonstrated the scouting analytics the team is now using (which you can read more about here).
From mounds and mounds of scouting data, SAP can now compress analytics into one page per athlete, showing compiled stats for ability, medical history, personal character and workout results. The company provides similar data analysis for other sports, like basketball and soccer.

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Lauren Hepler covers economic