Who owns your club's hockey data? Three questions to check
A quick test any club can run to see if it owns its data or only rents it, and what to do about the answers.
The short answer
Ask three questions: can we export all our data today without asking anyone, is it in a database the club controls, and would we keep it if we changed provider or analyst? A no to any of them means the club rents its data rather than owns it.
Most clubs pay for several data tools. League data, tracking, video exports and their own scouting sheets. Each tool is useful. But when an analyst leaves or a contract ends, it often turns out the data sits with someone else.
Here is a quick way to check where your club stands.
The three questions
1. Can we export all our data today, without asking anyone?
Not one report. All of it, in a format other tools can read, such as CSV.
2. Is it stored in a database the club controls?
The account should be in the club's name. Not in a supplier's account, and not on one person's laptop.
3. Would we keep everything if we changed provider or analyst?
Think about the last time someone left. Did their files, scripts and know-how stay with the club?
What the answers mean
If you answered yes to all three, the club owns its data. Good.
If you answered no to any of them, the club is renting its data. That is common, and it can be fixed.
Simple steps if you got a no
- Make a list of every data source the club uses and who has the login
- Move logins and keys to club accounts, not personal ones
- Choose one place where the club's copy of the data is stored
- Write down how each export is made, so it does not depend on one person
- Check what each licence allows you to store and share
None of this needs a big budget. It mostly needs someone to own it.
A note on licences
Owning your copy does not remove the provider's terms. If a licence limits how data can be shared, that still applies. Keep a note of the rules for each source so staff know what they can do.
Where The Hockey Brain fits
In The Hockey Brain the club connects its sources with its own keys and licences. The matched tables go into the club's own database on EU servers, and the club can export them at any time. We are in early access and build this together with the first clubs.
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Frequently asked questions
Does owning our data mean we can share it freely?
No. Each provider's licence still applies. Owning your copy means you control where it is stored and can export it, but redistribution rules in your contracts still count.
Do we have to stop using our current tools?
No. Your existing tools can stay. Ownership is about where the club's own copy of the data lives and who controls it.
Tired of reconciling exports?
We are building maintained connectors for hockey data sources. Early clubs decide what ships first.