Sarah Rudd - Vice President, Blue Crow Sports Group

Expected Value

Sarah Rudd is one of the early pioneers of modern soccer analytics, being heavily involved in the evolution of soccer analytics over the last 10-15 years. Rudd recently joined Blue Crow Sports Group after spending time with Arsenal in the Premier League. Sarah is half of the “First Family” of soccer analytics, being married to Ravi Ramineni, another top soccer analytics mind who previously worked as the Director of Analytics for the Seattle Sounders. Ravi was on Expected Value a couple of years ago, making them the first wife-and-husband combo to appear on the podcast. In this conversation, Sarah talks about…

Her academic background and early professional path before transitioning into soccer

The 2011 presentation that put her on the soccer analytics map

What she did at StatDNA (the company Arsenal bought to be their in-house analytics group)

How the acceptance of analytics changed during her decade with Arsenal

Bridging the stereotypical gap between scouting and analytics

Working on the private side of soccer analytics

Advantages and disadvantages of a club doing everything in-house

Her new company Blue Crow Sport Group and what they’re up to

How she and her husband Ravi watch soccer games

What she’s done to track her excitement level during World Cup matches

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Sarah.

Show Links

Follow Sarah on Twitter: @srudd_ok.

To check out Sarah on LinkedIn, click here.

To check out Sarah’s 2011 NESSIS presentation, click here.

To take a look at a Guardian piece on StatDNA being bought by Arsenal, click here.

To check out a NY Times article on Arsenal and soccer analytics, click here.

For more on Blue Crow Sports Group, click here.

For more on Blue Crow Sports Group’s recent purchase of C.D. Leganes, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.