Where do we draw the line with athletes and their performance data?
Sport is ultimately in the business of entertainment. Consider the fireworks on display at the A-league or Big Bash games, or the new ‘sexy’ scoreboards at Marvel Stadium; all this fanfare is an attempt to increase the entertainment factor. However, there is a new kid on the block, the individual health and performance data of each athlete. We already have statistics on kilometres covered in a tennis game, but now imagine the entire world being able to see Ash Barty’s heart rate, as she attempts to win the Australian Open.
This type of personal data is inextricably valuable. It is vital for analysing performance, but external companies now have their sights set on their slice of the pie. Betting and broadcasting are just two industries which see the benefit of gaining access to an athlete’s personal data; all for financial gain or entertainment purposes.
The issue at hand is whether a player’s health and performance data are protected by the law?
This is being tackled by Russell Slade, former manager of British soccer clubs; Brighton, Cardiff and Leyton Orient. Slade has launched an investigation under the name Project Red Card, which involves a group of around 850 professional soccer players in Britain. The legal basis for this claim is the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’), an EU regulation (in Australia we have a similar provision, the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), but there exists differences, explained here).
Project Red Card will argue that because the players receive no compensation for the unlicensed and unconsented use of their data, this contravenes Articles 4 and 6 of the GDPR. The case is still in its early stages but it seems that over 17 data organisations are being targeted.
Project Red Card is directed at soccer in the UK, but the concept of data mining extends to most if not all professional sports. For individual sports such a tennis or athletics, an athletes data is more exclusively their own, exposing these athletes to damages. On the other hand, data from team sports cannot always be entirely representative of an individual’s performance. Think of AFL, and how many goals a defender may have kicked on them each round. Void of any analysis of the other performance indicators on the team, this statistic may look damning, and can have a detrimental impact on the players future prospects. Ultimately, if any claim is to succeed, a player will have to demonstrate a clear connection between a loss of income or opportunity (damages) and the data being shared.
Similar actions have taken place outside of the sporting sphere, but have failed. However, it is postulated that the value of an athlete’s data may be more than the average person, so it will be intriguing to follow the outcome of Project Red Card.
If you’re interested in learning more about data mining in sports, please see here: