Sports has changed drastically over the last couple of decades - the emergence of data-driven processes and methodologies, aided by the massive spurt in data collection, storage and processing technologies has completely transformed how teams recruit, train and compete in the major tournaments around the world. This large scale infusion of technology into sports has not only made the experience more enjoyable and deeper but has also helped inspire incredible underdog stories like Money ball.
Below we will take a look at the 3 major global sports and how sports is completely transforming the playing fields within them
Basketball
Data analytics is creating tremendous value for professional basketball teams, and especially in the NBA. In fact, data analytics has become so prevalent in the NBA that most major decisions are taken using data and many teams have tied up with data analytics companies in order to make innovative strategies and tactics - both on field and off-field. Data is helping the teams to transform 3 crucial ways
1) Designing winning game tactics
2) Avoiding player injury
3) Player recruitment
Professional basketball has looked very different over the past ten years thanks to the use of data analytics.
Football
Football has been a little late to the party, but now major clubs and national teams across the globe are now rapidly adopting data-driven strategies to improve their organizational bottom line and on-field team performance.
Liverpool have been one of the leading football teams, spearheading this data-driven transformation.
Liverpool Football Club won the EPL in 2020 - first time since 1989.
Facing bankruptcy and severe sporting decline under American owners Gillet and Hicks, the club was taken over by John Henry led, New England Sports Ventures in October 2010.
Promising revolution, the new management instituted data-analytics driven player recruitment process to make the right moves in the market. And the rest is history. Data analytics played such a crucial role in not only their sporting transformation from The Premier League strugglers to Champions in less than a decade, as well as their impeccable financials. After becoming European Champions and Club World Cup champions in 2019, Liverpool FC achieved its holy grail as Premier League winners in 2020.
By analyzing video footage from games and training sessions, clubs are able to understand where a player needs to focus more on - for example strength training a particular area of the body or making adjustments in tackling and passing skills.
Data Analytics is also transforming off-field organizational strategy, fan experience and streamline gaming and business operations with data insights each step of the way.
Data analytics is helping the clubs run better targeted advertisements by tracking fan engagement during games to better predict the response and behaviour. These fan engagement metrics can be gauged by looking at their facial expressions and eye ball movements - helping the organization to dynamically allocate time to ad sponsors.
Some clubs are even going so far to predict the exact match attendance - by combining internal data points, ticketing information and weather data—in order to make the right decision.
Tennis
Tennis has never been entirely a number-crunching game, players winning lesser points may walk away with the match. Then, there are different surfaces and the players' expertise varies according to the surface.
But the infusion of data analytics is on a slow but steady rise.
There are aspects where Data Analytics is helping every party involved – Players, Coaches & Audience and this has led to the institutionalization of big data and Analytics Services.
Currently, a majority of top 20 players on the ATP Tour and WTA side are leveraging it to their advantage.
Tennis rackets now incorporate a suite of sensors into the handle to measure the power, identify points of impact, and the type and number of strokes played.
For the coach, big data analytics is having significant influence on player performance - by helping track a variety of key metrics (from serve direction to shot placement), making it easier to identify areas of weakness and opportunities for improvement.
These improvements in sports analytics technologies and processes are having a wide-ranging and deep impact on the competitive landscape in games, fan engagement as well as the revenue model for the team and sponsors.
