Sports analytics is the process of using data analysis to evaluate athletic performance and develop game strategies. It began gaining popularity following Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane's use of sabermetrics to build a competitive team with a low payroll, as depicted in the book Moneyball. Sports analysts use statistics to analyze player performance, explain games, and provide insights to fans. They work for teams, analytics companies, and media organizations. The field continues to innovate through advanced data collection and analysis to better understand fans, optimize team operations, and enhance the digital experience. Conferences and journals promote the latest research in sports analytics.

1. Sexiest of the Sexiest Job Profile:
Sports Analyst
Career Possibilities For People With Quantitative
Background

2. Outline
• What is Sports Analytics?
• Moneyball and the Rise of Sports Analytics
• What Sports Analysts Do
• Innovations in Sports Analytics
• Conferences and Journals
• Sports Analytics: Specific Companies
• References

3. What is Sports Analytics?
• The process of using methods available from data mining, statistics
and economics to model performance and sporting contests.
• Mainly used for developing in-game strategies, evaluate players’
performance, fantasy competition, and other areas of sporting
competitions.
• Sports Analytics can be defined as the voice of sports. It translates and
analyzes the game for all the fans.

4. Moneyball and The Rise of Sports Analytics
• Sports Analytics is regarded as the major reason for Oakland Athletics'
ability to remain competitive in Major League Baseball (MBL) despite
its comparatively meagre resources.
• In the 2002 season, the team won 103 games in the regular season, the
same amount as the New York Yankees, whose wage bill was three
times that of Oakland.
• Oakland General Manager Billy Beane was using sophisticated
statistical models to analyze professional players’ performance, that
allowed him to spot good players that others overlooked. Conventional
baseball wisdom followed certain stats; Beane included others, and
found recruits who were undervalued by the market.

5. What Sports Analysts Do
BEFORE A GAME
Explain what to expect during the game.
Analyzes statistics.
DURING A GAME
Works closely with the play-by-play person to provide insight between plays.
AFTER THE GAME
Break down the action and provide further information.
Insights.

6. Innovations in Sports Analytics
Fan Insight and Engagement
Understand fan preferences and behaviors.
Retain and boost revenue from season-ticket holders and new fans.
Deliver a more complete fan experience based on a 360-degree view of fan
activity.
Measure, track, analyze and improve promotions – and adjust them as needed.
Personalize fan interactions and deliver timely, relevant content.
Give fantasy fans more interactive and data-driven player statistics.
Provide relevant in-game statistics and stories to enhance online and live
telecasts.

7. Innovations in Sports Analytics
Operational Analytics
Determine the most dynamic pricing model for each market
segment
Provide accurate measurements to prove ROI to your sponsors
Predict which sponsorship promotions will be successful
Optimize revenue inside your venue – from concessions to
merchandising
Increase your profitability by improving the accuracy of plans and
budgets
Measure and maximize your overall performance by business
segment

8. Innovations in Sports Analytics
Digital Experience
Gauge fan sentiment on social media and respond quickly
Manager how, where and by whom your digital content is consumed
Reach millions of untapped fans to expand brand awareness and
merchandising revenue
Improve monetization of sports content
Maximize the ROI of your media spending

9. Innovations in Sports Analytics
Player Analytics
Perform better predictive analysis of players and rankings.
Anticipate player safely issues and prevent injuries.
Analyze play-by-play effectiveness for real-time competitive
intelligence.
Get greater insights on recruiting.

10. Conferences & Journals
Conferences
MIT SLOAN Sports Analytics Conference
Sports Analytics Innovation Summit
UK's Sports Analytics Conference
Journals
Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport
International Journal of Computer Science in Sport
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
International Journal of Sports Science and Engineering

11. Sports Analytics: Specific Companies
• ESPN
• Stats Inc.
• Krossover
• Catapult Sports
• Sports Reference

12. References
• http://www.sloansportsconference.com/?p=11173
• http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/moneyball-sportsanalytics-ibm-microsoft-120954
• http://www.sas.com/en_us/offers/13q3/SAS-Analytics-for-Sports2264774/overview.html
• http://allthingsd.com/20130523/analytics-is-not-a-strategy/

13. THANK YOU!!
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