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Major League Soccer (MLS) has paired up with Adidas to make the US league - current stomping ground for former Premier League stars David Beckham and Thierry Henry among others - the world's first so-called smart league.
Starting in the 2013 season, players at all 19 MLS teams will be fitted with a chip that fits in a pocket on the base layer they wear underneath their team's shirt. This base layer will be packed with sensors that wirelessly track a player's heart rate, speed, acceleration and where they are playing on the field.
While the miCoach Elite system, as it is known, might help the team's coach know which midfielder is playing a little out of position or which defender needs to spend a bit more time on his fitness. What's exciting is the amount of data that fans watching a game will suddenly have access to.
All the information - more than 200 data records per second, claims Adidas - will be available for fans to view on an iPad app, letting them compare each player to his team-mates and see who is coasting through the game and who is really busting a gut to win. Meanwhile, coaches will be able to get an overview of how their whole squad is performing - and maybe also get an idea which opposition players they should be most wary of.
The first game to try out the miCoach system will be the MLS All-Star Game on July 25 in Philadelphia, when the best players from around Major League Soccer will play UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea.