Sam Svoboda

Data, sports, and combining the two. Current focus on finding interesting stories within UEFA coefficient data. Occasional #cf97 posts as well.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

🧵Deep dive on the nationalities of all #UCL/#UEL/#UECL players this season🧵

Starting w/# of players, Spain🇪🇸 leads the way w/140, followed by France🇫🇷 (127) & England🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (102).

The top 15 is expectedly dominated by UEFA, w/🇧🇷 & 🇦🇷 the (also unsurprising) CONMEBOL interlopers.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Bigger 🧵 coming soon, but one reason I love #UCL/#UEL/#UECL is that it not only brings together clubs across Europe; in terms of players, it is truly global.

Players from 108 countries across the world have competed in this season’s competitions (group stage & beyond) thus far*

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

@footballinDK As a Chicagoan, he did not leave much impression here/in MLS, but I’m not sure how much that can be held against him – the Fire have been a disaster for years now. Many players have looked poor in Chicago, and many have looked much better after leaving.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Match 5: Atlético Madrid🇪🇸 v Getafe, La Liga

I’m tired. So I’ll just say: even when he’s not at his best, it’s fun to watch Griezmann play. (And watch Simeone manage.)

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Match 1: Málaga🇪🇸 v Almería, Segunda División

-Not surprising, but the second tier in Spain can be quite entertaining.

-Great atmosphere. There is an away section but fans mix far more than I expected.

-Watching in relatively warm, sunny weather in December is certainly nice.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Starting this weekend... What began as an idea to sneak in one Champions League match during a Europe trip has now become 5 matches in 8 days, played in 5 different competitions & spanning 3 different countries (none bordering each other).

I might have an addiction.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Match 4: Bohemians Praha🇨🇿 v Karviná, Chance Liga

-Really enjoyed Ďolíček, proper old-school ground

-The football also felt old-school. While the play was not always pretty, 6 goals + a late fightback was quite entertaining.

-Pretty sure I walked right past Antonín Panenka(!)

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

🇨🇿 Úplně jiny zápas – vypadal mi to jako “old-school” fotbal, a to mě moc bavil. Dekuji moc za vstupenku @MartMartinec!

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Match 4: Bohemians Praha🇨🇿 v Karviná, Chance Liga

-Really enjoyed Ďolíček, proper old-school ground

-The football also felt old-school. While the play was not always pretty, 6 goals + a late fightback was quite entertaining.

-Pretty sure I walked right past Antonín Panenka(!)

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

🇨🇿 Můj první zápas v Česku byl… trochu ošklivý. Ale jsem ještě rád, že jsem tam šel – díky moc za pomoc @quelhar & @MJandourek

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Match 3: Slavia Praha🇨🇿 v Anderlecht, Europa League

A pretty ugly match, which seemed to be Anderlecht’s strategy and was admittedly effective for them. The game + Slavia’s performance certainly affected the atmosphere, but it was still a very unique & cool experience for me.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Starting this weekend... What began as an idea to sneak in one Champions League match during a Europe trip has now become 5 matches in 8 days, played in 5 different competitions & spanning 3 different countries (none bordering each other).

I might have an addiction.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

My analyses have fallen off here recently, for a variety of reasons... but this might reel me back in: I have managed to secure tickets to my first #UCL & #UEL matches in ~2 weeks!

For those interested, I will try to do a few (less data-focused) posts around my experiences.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

In the US, this is quite different: typically the closer you are to the field (or court), the more expensive the seats.

Using that same Bulls ticket in the example, & the equivalent sections directly above it:

100 level: $196
200 level: $162
300 level: $82

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

(One other note: in the US, tickets are often purchased on one of the many (legal!) secondary market platforms.

The secondary market is quite different in Europe... but in this example, the Bulls ticket is for sale directly from the team, so it's roughly comparable.)

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

It's also interesting to see how prices differ at different levels of the stadium.

Lower tier tickets for this category of Arsenal matches: £42.60-£46.40. (~$53-$58)

Upper tier tickets range from slightly higher to almost 2x: £47.90-£81.80. (~$60-$103)

https://t.co/Iy2th0ckiB

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

...Even adding in the membership cost, the ticket was $100 — not an insignificant amount of money, but still far less than the Bulls ticket. (Or secondary market)

& of course, for members who live close enough to attend numerous matches over the season, it's a much better deal.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

I should note that in order to purchase this Arsenal ticket on Arsenal's ticket exchange, I needed to be a club member, which cost £34 (~$43) for the season at the cheapest ("Red") level.

Membership does come w/some other perks as well, but access to tickets is the big one…

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

The overall point is: it is pretty wild (and, as a Chicagoan, sad) to me that seeing Arsenal play a #UCL match against a top team from Ligue 1 could be so much cheaper than seeing a relatively inconsequential regular season game between two under-.500 NBA teams.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

I also don't want to get too much into how the teams price different games, but I think the "draw" of the matchups (Monaco & Pacers) are relatively equivalent as well.

E.g., it's not like comparing the Bulls hosting the Lakers w/Arsenal hosting Bolton; that would be misleading.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Certainly, at a broader level, there are many differences as well (cultural, historical, sporting, etc.) that affect prices between sports & continents – I'm not going into *why* these prices are so different, that would be a very long thread!

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

As an American, this fascinates me:

For a lower level ticket to Arsenal v Monaco in the Champions League⚽️, I paid ~$57.

The equivalent ticket to watch the middling Chicago Bulls host the also middling Indiana Pacers in the NBA🏀 regular season: $196.

More context/notes in 🧵

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

I'm comparing Arsenal w/the Bulls not just because I'm from Chicago, but there are some key similarities:

-Both are global brands, largely due to some all-time great teams from a generation ago.

-Chicago & London are both major cities; higher cost of living ≈ higher prices.

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

Češi🇨🇿: Budu v Česku, a hodně se těším na konečně vidět česky tým v Evropě. (Vlastně, můj první fotbalový zapas v Česku!)

[Sam Svoboda @samboda]

My analyses have fallen off here recently, for a variety of reasons... but this might reel me back in: I have managed to secure tickets to my first #UCL & #UEL matches in ~2 weeks!

For those interested, I will try to do a few (less data-focused) posts around my experiences.