Bekanntheit, Einstellungen und Akzeptanz gegenüber KI-gestützten Tools zur Datenanalyse bei Trainern und Vereinsfunktionären im österreichischen Amateurfußball

Abstract

Digitalization has become a major factor in our society and is now leaving a clear mark in the world of sports. Especially in football, data-based analysis tools and AI-supported systems play a key role and already are integrated into all kinds of operations of professional football clubs. However, little is known about the use of such technologies in the Austrian amateur football. This research gap was identified through a review of existing literature. It was the starting point for this thesis. Since there has been no prior knowledge regarding the awareness, attitudes, or acceptance of AI-tools among amateur football coaches or club officials, these topics provided a valuable basis for further investigation within the scope of this master’s thesis. Following the introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 presents the theoretical foundations of data analysis in football, including data collection methods, types of football-related data, approaches to data analysis and a brief explanation of how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be applied in this context. Chapter 3 focuses on specific application areas for AI in football, which are described in more detail and served as a basis for the development of the questionnaire. Chapter 4 presents the results of the empirical study, which was based on an online survey that produced 204 complete responses from the target group. The survey addressed three core research questions covering the awareness, attitudes, and acceptance of AI-supported tools which are answered in Chapter 5. Finally, Chapter 6 provides the conclusion of the study and offers a brief outlook on future research and practical implications. The results show that approximately half of the respondents had already heard of AIsupported tools for data analysis. Of this subgroup, those who were already familiar with such tools, around 27 % answered that they had used them already. However, the majority of the remaining participants expressed an interest in trying them. No significant differences were found in terms of usage, perceived usefulness, or likelihood of future use when comparing gender, age, function, league level or years of experience. One particularly noteworthy result of this study is the strong positive correlation between the perceived usefulness of AI-tools and the likelihood of using them within the next 12 months. In practice, this suggests that providing clear and targeted information about the benefits and practical applications of AI tools could be an effective way to increase their acceptance and usage in amateur football clubs.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Awarding Institution	Johannes Kepler University Linz
Supervisor	René Riedl (Supervisor)