🎓 Data-hack Challenge 2026

TURNING ICE HOCKEY STATISTICS INTO A GAME PEOPLE CANNOT STOP PLAYING

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Welcome to the Data-hack Challenge pave the way to the future of sport innovation!

As part of the ThinkSport Sport Innovation Challenges, Data-hack Challenge is designed to inspire and engage participants from technology bachelor, master and PhD programs as well as independent tech builders by giving them the opportunity to tackle real-world problems faced by the sports industry. Developed in collaboration with key industry players, this challenge offers a hands-on learning experience, allowing innovators to apply their creativity and problem-solving skills to practical, high-impact issues.

This year's sport partner is the International Ice Hockey tournament Spengler Cup provider of the topic, data and sport expertise.
 
Work on real sport challenges proposed by leading sport stakeholder
Apply data science, technology and creative problem-solving to generate meaningful insights and solutions
Collaborate with peers and receive guidance from experts
Represent your university or participate independently in an international innovation environment
Pitch your ideas and gain visibility within the sport innovation ecosystem
 
Data-hack is organized in partnership with scoreTec, a Swiss-based sports data company that helps sports organisations turn their data into an asset.

ThinkSport,
Is the founder and organizer of Data-hack, a Non-for profit association created in 2015 by the International Olympic Committee and the Canton of Vaud.
 
  
We truly believe that the talent and creativity of our future generations is the main driving force in moving us forward. By working on real world sport challenges, the SIC Data-hack bridges the gap between education and the professional sports world, equipping the next tech generation with the skills and experience needed to drive meaningful change in sport. That's why we are calling for universities through their students and independent tech builders to join the challenge and play a key role in building the future of sport!
 
 
By participating, you will have the chance to win prizes and rewards, and to showcase your prototype at the prestigious 98th Spengler Cup 2026 - the oldest International ice hockey tournament in the world- on December 26 at Davos Switzerland!

Topic

Focus:
 
Fan Engagement


Fans hit refresh, check the score, and bounce. Your job: give them a reason to stay.

 

Results and stats pages are consistently the most-visited pages across sports websites — yet visitors spend mere seconds there. In today's attention economy, that's a massive, underleveraged opportunity: most fan attention drains away to social media and other channels that sports organizations don't own and can barely monetize.

 

The Spengler Cup Davos is just one example of this pattern playing out at scale.

 

Can you turn standard statistics and the most advanced stats from Wisehockey's player and puck tracking into an experience fans can't stop playing with?

 

Provided Data:

•Signal data (the raw material),
•event data (the first aggregation),
•and advanced metrics — plus video footage.

 

See video how it works

Samples and data dictionaries coming soon.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Timeline

 
Registration Phase for all participants (students or independent participants)
1 September 2026 - 30 September 2026
 
Participation confirmation for Academic participants and independent tech builders.
Promotion of participants and institutions.
 
•••
 
Online Kick-off Event
28 September 2026
 
Participants tools registration, team creation.
Access to the online kick-off link here.
 
•••

Gameplay
1 October 2026 - 15 November 2026
 
Prepare your project, take part in workshops and sessions to prepare your project.

WORKSHOP #1
Understand challenge-specific resources and tech
October tbc| 12:00-13:00 CET
Access to the recorded workshop here.
 
WORKSHOP #2
Real-world Insights from Ice Hockey Experts
October tbc | 17:00-18:00 CET
Access to the recorded workshop here.
 
WORKSHOP #3
Presenting Winning Prototypes - From Idea to Impact
October tbc | 17:00-18:00 CET
Access to the recorded workshop here

•••

Project review and selection
16 November 2026 - 30 November 2026
 
Live presentation in front of the dedicated professor.
 
The top project of each university will be shortlisted by the professor.

One team per university will be selected for the Final Pitching Day.

•••
 
Final Pitching Day
7 December 2026

Top finalist will be chosen to pitch in front of a jury at the The Circle Convention Center Zurich Airport in Zurich (The Circle 27 Flughafen CH, 8058 Zürich).
 
5’ pitch presentation per group (hybrid)
5’ Q&A (hybrid)
 
•••
 
Showcasing Phase
December 2026
 
The winning team of the Challenge will have the opportunity to showcase its solution at the Spengler Cup 2026 in Davos Switzerland.
 

How can you make ice hockey more enjoyable for fans ?


The problem

Ice hockey is one of the fastest team sports on the planet, but its numbers don't always tell a story on their own. For newcomers, casual fans, and even hardcore fans, performance stats can feel technical and disconnected from what's actually happening on the ice— so a lot of great individual performances go unnoticed and unappreciated.

 

The Spengler Cup website pulls in more than 1.3 million unique visits over five days, and results/stats are the most-visited pages — but people check the score and leave. We want to give them a reason to stay.

 

The challenge

Design a simple, interactive, and genuinely fun experience that helps people — hockey experts and total newcomers alike — understand what's really happening in a game through its data.

Focus on the interaction (what makes someone want to click, play, guess, build, or compare, rather than just scroll past a stat table) and the learning (how the experience helps someone understand why a player's performance mattered, not just what the numbersays). Your concept needs to work as an interactive web experience, whether the person using it has watched a thousand hockey games or zero.

 

Prizes

  • 1st
  • 2nd
  • 3rd

1st

First Place team will win:
  • Support in developing their brillant idea
  • Showcase their solution at the Spengler Cup 2026- 26 December 2026 - Davos Switzerland
  • A ticket to the Spengler Cup
  • A ticket to THE SPOT 2027

2nd

Each member of the Second Place team will win:
  • tbc

3rd

Each member of the Third Place team will win:
  • tbc

Final Pitching Day

On final date, finalists will be invited for the chance to pitch their idea to our expert judging panel, consists of key decision makers of the Hockey Club Davos (HCD), the Spengler Cup organisers, and the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (SIHF), who will then select the winners of the Sport Innovation Challenge for Sport Organisations - 2nd SIC Data-hack edition!

Participate