Data-Led Transformation of Sports. How Sports Analysis Is Improving the Game

 

Moneyball, based on the real-life story of the manager of the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane, popularized the term sports analytics.   

 

In the movie, Brad Pitt, who plays the character of Billy Beane uses the unconventional method of using averages to build a championship team. Going against the established wisdom of sports gurus and scouts, Billy Beane pioneered a data-led revolution for his baseball team. 

 

Employing statistical analysis, Billy Beane and his Assistant General Manager discovered players who were cheaper but had better performance. While the Oakland Athletics did not win the championship, the sports analytic method devised by Billy Beane helped the Boston Red Sox win their first championship in 86 years.

 

Significance of Sports Analytics

 

Data analytics has introduced a paradigm shift in sports. From team strategy to player fitness, the introduction of technology has improved and evolved sports. 

A US$ 2.5 billion market that will achieve a market capitalization of US$ 8.4 billion by 2026. This increase in market value is due to the investment in various fields like social media, IoT, and data analytics. 

The availability of data has enhanced all aspects of sports. Analyzing data helps sports teams reduce injuries, increase revenue, and assists coaching staff in developing new strategies.

 

Reducing Player Injuries

 

 

In sports, every profession has its associated risks. For athletes, injuries can potentially stifle their career before it fully blooms. Athletes undergo intense training that pushes their bodies past their natural limits. This increased stress can lead to deleterious situations putting the players at a greater risk of suffering injuries. 

 

One of the most common injuries that can affect the competitive performance of athletes is the tear of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). This injury can still pronounce the death knell to the budding careers of younger players. 

 

An application of technology in sports has been the development of sensors placed on the clothing of athletes generate data about the speed, heart rate, body temperature, and the oxygen output of the players. 

 

Sports analytic professionals will organize this data and apply machine learning algorithms to derive solutions that can reduce player injuries. 

 

The application of data analysis in sports provides advance warning to the players and the coaching staff. Successful integration of technology in sports has reduced injuries by 40%. Adoption of technology can reduce approximately 200,000 (USA stats) ACL injuries every year.

 

This has improved the quality of life of younger athletes who do not have access to higher standards of healthcare enjoyed by elite professionals. 

 

Ticket Prices and Sports Technology 

 

Ticket sales are the lifeline of most small to medium-sized sports teams. Even for larger teams, ticket sales account for a sizeable part of their yearly revenue. The teams in the English Premier League, for instance, lost US$ 2.5 billion dollars due to the non-attendance of fans during the coronavirus-induced pandemic. 

 

The application of dynamic pricing strategies has helped sports teams increase their revenue from ticket sales during important matches.  

 

The application of sports analytics allows teams to understand fan behavior. Sports franchises have been able to design dynamic ticket pricing structures by analyzing the spending patterns of fans. Data analysis of sports also facilitates teams to identify games where surge pricing can be applied. 

 

It is easier to retain existing fans than it is to establish new ones. Sports teams analyze conversations on social media to follow fan interests and to improve their merchandise sales. Historical data combined with predictive analysis helps sports organizations design ticket prices that help boost revenue generation. This data is also used to create marketing strategies that target key demographics. 

 

For instance, in football, fans are more likely to attend a derby match than a match against a lower-ranked team. This data allows teams to structure their ticket prices to reflect the increased demand during these games. 

 

Player Valuation and Sports Analytics

 

 

Lionel Messi's transfer fee from Barcelona to PSG during the 2021-2022 season was INR 4.1 Crores. Sports analysts at PSG analyzed previous transfer fees and evaluated Messi’s performance against the league average. 

 

Football teams use the metric of expected goals to measure the probable impact of a player on a game. Expected goal defines the quality of a shot taken. The value of an expected goal is defined based on pre-set parameters like distance to the goal, the pattern of play, etc. 

 

Expected goals help the football team scout for new talents. There are countless divisions within professional football, from the amateur leagues to the top flight. Traditionally, scouts visited these games in person and recorded the performance of players. This meant diamonds in the rough could be missed out if their league wasn’t covered by a scout with an exceptional eye for talent. 

 

The application of Data Science techniques in sports has removed this constraint. Now data scientists can visualize data from around the world and plot the expected goals of players against league, national, and international averages and invite players who meet or exceed their expected goal average. 

 

Sports Analytics and Betting 

 

 

Data analysts in sports apply years of results to machine learning algorithms allowing them to predict future trends. Sports betting companies employ data analytics to ensure that their users do not indulge in fraud. Machine learning algorithms plot years of sports betting results to ensure that the odds do not go past the expected outcome. 

 

Sports analysis applies the concept of expected goals to estimate the performance of players. Fantasy football is a profitable industry that will reach a market valuation of US$ 46 billion by 2027. Players from around the world compete against each other to build the perfect team for winning competitions where the prize pool can be as large as US$ 3.9 million. Data analysts hired by betting companies process reports from around the world to determine players who perform against the curve and flag their behaviour. 

 

Improving Performances 

 

 

The coaching staff of professional sports teams uses the data generated during matches to help develop strategies to improve team performance. 

 

In football, heatmaps are used to understand the high-impact areas occupied by the players during the match and develop new play styles that can exploit avenues on the field that have reduced player frequency. For instance, mapping the movement of CR7 on a heatmap will show increased activity inside the box with the greatest concentration next to the goalkeeper. 

 

Data from matches can also be used to help athletes improve their performance. A sports analyst mines data from different matches and applies machine learning models to help athletes understand their weaknesses and strengths. 

 

Cricketers have used predictive analysis to understand the optimal line and length of their delivery and improve their shot selection. Data analysis of basketball matches has led to coaches preferring 3-pointers due to an increased 64% chance of making a shot in the basket or on the rim. 

 

Has Sports Analysis Ruined Sports? 

 

No, in fact, the application of advanced sports technology has fundamentally altered the DNA of sports. Athletes can now improve their performance in real-time. Analysis of sports data has allowed coaching professionals to create holistic training regiments. The adoption of wearables in sports training has offered new insights into player fatigue and injuries. Sports analytics have allowed team management to develop the perfect roster.

Data analytics in sports has opened the doors to a world where athletes and teams can strive toward perfection. 

 

The application of technology in sports helps officials on the field and enhances the viewer experience. On-field officials are now assisted by technologies like the third umpire or the VAR. At home, Virtual Reality headsets offer an immersive experience to fans bringing them closer to the action than ever before. 

 

Sports teams and athletes have embraced the data analytical transformation of sports. Every year professional sports teams around the world experiment with different emerging technologies and consider their viability in sports. One of the technologies that might disrupt sports in the future is going to be that of Augmented Reality (AR). It might find application in everything from boosting viewer experience to changing the training protocols. Electronic sporting events have successfully adopted various forms of AR.

 

Or, it might be something unexpected that might take the world by storm. 

 

Your Career in Sports Data Analysis 

 

Sports data analysis is a rewarding career for an engineer who wants to work in sports. A sports analyst helps the coaching staff and athletes, break down their game, and analyze trends that can help them improve their performance. 

 

A career in sports analysis requires an engineer to have experience in working with voluminous datasets. They should be able to source the raw data and remove the fields that do not contribute to the solution. Data analysts in sports should understand statistical methods of analysis and should be able to write machine learning algorithms that can help interpret unstructured data. 

 

Sports data analysts should also learn how to visually present their results. Tools like Power BI and Tableau help engineers visually represent data in the form of pie charts or bar graphs.

 

To develop these skills, an engineer should have thousands of hours of experience. There are tools that can help sports data analysts reduce their workload and help them automate boring tasks. But, this can only be achieved by engineers who have strong fundamental concept knowledge. 

 

Engineers who want to start their careers as sports analysts have to work on different datasets and draw inferences that can help a sports organization. Debugging is a fundamental part of data analysis and requires the engineer to ask the correct questions. 

 

Skill-Lync’s PG program in Data Science is a 24-month program that has been developed after considering these pain points. Our mentor-led programs have industry-relevant projects that will allow engineers to gain experience in tools like Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Python, and MS Excel. 

 

A team of subject matter experts works with our students to help them gain conceptual clarity when faced with a difficult problem. This learning experience is the reason why 15,000 students from around the world trust Skill-Lync to help them reach their career goals. 

 

Technology is constantly innovating sports. Sports analysts are spearheading this transformation. Realize your career dreams and help transform the future of sports.