HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This weekend, Audi of America will combine its commitment to innovation and technology with its love of soccer to form a new kind of intelligence: the Audi Player Index. Launching March 6, the first day of the 2016 MLS season, the Audi Player Index is a statistical analysis that will track position specific player stats in near real-time across all Major League Soccer matches. The Audi Player Index initiative, which Audi AG initially launched at the global Audi Cup in 2015 and has been integrated as of February 20, at every FC Bayern Munich game, marks a milestone for Audi of America‘s multi-year corporate partnership with MLS.

Using Opta data sources, the Index tracks nearly 90 components and 2,000 player movements in each MLS game to create one definitive evaluative score for every player. These actions, which range from goals and assists to crosses, saves, passes, challenges and tackles, are calculated during each game in near real-time. The Index then considers the position of the player, the pitch location and game specific components and evaluates each action based on three Audi brand attributes: technique, efficiency and dynamics. The result is a unique Audi Player Index score assigned to every MLS player during each game.

“Audi is thrilled to once again sponsor Major League Soccer for the 2016 season,” said Loren Angelo, Director of Marketing, Audi of America. “We are committed to helping the sport of soccer grow in the United States and Canada. By introducing the Audi Player Index we can engage more fans to follow, celebrate and view MLS games in a way they never have before through the use of this exciting and innovative technology.”

To kick off the season, Audi will incorporate the Audi Player Index into the March 6 nationally televised MLS matches on ESPN (Portland Timbers vs. Columbus Crew SC at 4:30 PM ET), FOX Sports (Seattle Sounders FC vs. Sporting Kansas City at 7:00 PM ET) and on UniMas beginning March 11 (Orlando City SC vs. Chicago Fire at 7:00 PM ET). Additionally, Audi will debut a new 30-second television commercial on March 6 called, “Introducing the Audi Player Index.”

Along with the introduction of this new statistic, Audi will engage soccer enthusiasts in a new way, with the launch of an immersive quiz that helps fans measure their own Audi soccer IQ. Fans can visit MLSsoccer.com/Audi to learn more about the statistic, view a video tutorial and take the quiz.

Later in 2016, Audi will introduce additional opportunities for fans to engage with the Audi Player Index, including the ability to receive updates during every MLS match and view live player rankings in near real-time.

To cap off the season, Audi will honor the player with the highest Index score with the Audi Player Index Award. In order to be eligible, players must have appeared in at least 24 games, approximately 70 percent of regular season matches, and have played at least 1,530 minutes during the regular season. The winner will be recognized with a one-year lease of the all-new 2017 Audi R8 at the 2016 MLS Cup.

The Audi Player Index was introduced in 2015 in an effort to bring an objective analysis to determine the ‘Man of the Match‘ for the global Audi Cup tournament. That same statistic, which was used to measure players from some of the most well-known global football teams including FC Bayern Munich, is what will now be used as a league-wide statistic during the 2016 Major League Soccer season.

Credits:

“Introducing the Audi Player Index” was created by Venables Bell & Partners.

ABOUT AUDI

Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. The Audi Group delivered over 1,800,000 vehicles to customers globally in 2015, and broke all-time company sales records for the 6th straight year in the U.S. Through 2019, AUDI AG plans to invest about 24 billion euros - 70 percent of the investment will flow into the development of new models and technologies. Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusa.com/newsroom for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics.