Sports Information Systems: A systematic review

Many professional sport organizations are currently in the process of finding or already using sports information systems (SIS) to integrate data from different information and measurement systems. The problem is that requirements are very heterogeneous. That is why no consistent definition of SIS and their categories exist, and it is often not clear which fields and functions SIS must cover. This work aims to provide a structured comparison of commercial SIS available on the market to provide an overview of the relevant features and characterize categories. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search for relevant SIS providers was conducted. A catalog of 164 review items was created to define relevant features of SIS and to conduct semi-standardized interviews with product representatives. Overall 36 eligible SIS from 11 countries were identified and 21 of them were interviewed. The analysis of the interviews has shown that there are features that are present in all SIS, whereas others differ or are generally less represented. As a result, different SIS categories have been defined. The study suggests a more differentiated categorization of SIS is necessary and terms need to be defined more precisely. This review should be considered when companies designing SIS or sport organizations select SIS.