The movie Moneyball was my first introduction of how advanced statistical analysis can be used in sports. The film tells a story about how the coach of Oakland, a low-budget baseball team, uses data analytics to compete with teams who can afford to spend a lot on recruiting players. He used in-game statistics to identify undervalued players, who performed well on specific metrics but can be recruited for a relatively low price (IMDb, 2011).
Before decision-making in sports was traditionally based on intuition and conservationists frowned upon the use of data analytics in its early stages, Nowadays the use of data analytics software is in an advanced state and used both on and off the field. The use of analytics has been spread to other sports apart from baseball and is used by teams to create a competitive advantage.
In the season of 2015-2016 something very special happened in the Premier League, Leicester City a relatively small team became the champions of the most competitive football league in the world. The season before the club finished 14th and just narrowly survived relegation. An article of Opta Pro, a leading British sports analytics company, revealed that the use of data analytics was the base of the success of Leicester City. It showed that the club was a great example of how progressive, and forward-thinking in the implementation of data analytics. It was the result of their cross-departmental relationships, a willingness to embrace new styles of working and constant evaluation process (Wise, 2017).
Data analytics can also be used as a tool for driving customer engagement. Sports organizations can detect patterns in digital engagement, such as online sports viewing, to understand what and when fans are watching via app logins and online video views (Ricky, 2019).
References
IMDb. (2011). Moneyball (2011) – IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved 17 October 2022, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/plotsummary.
Ricky, A. (2019). Council Post: How Data Analysis In Sports Is Changing The Game. Forbes. Retrieved 18 October 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/01/31/how-data-analysis-in-sports-is-changing-the-game/?sh=4d3732c63f7b.
Wise, S. (2017). The Rise of Data Analytics in Sport. data8. Retrieved 17 October 2022, from https://blog.data-8.co.uk/2017/05/17/the-rise-of-data-analytics-in-sport/#more-2558.
