Analytics in sports have been used to better understand players and games to ensure optimum success with minimal costs. A ReportsnReports report claims that while as of 2014, sports analytics had a market size of $125 million, by 2021 this number could go up to an estimated $4.7 billion. It is fair to wonder how analytics have gotten so influential to the sports landscape. Professional baseball has the popular examples of Bill James and Billy Beane as the pioneers of sabermetrics and even they were originally ostracized as outsiders who believed more in statistics than watching games.
Currently, however, it has become clear that analytics in professional sports are no longer just a competitive advantage but also a necessity for sustainable success. Earlier this year, ESPN released a study called “The Great Analytics Rankings” which ranked and classified teams from the four major North American sports leagues, in order of their use of analytics. It should come as no surprise that many of the top ranked teams are considered the most successful organizations in sports like the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Red Sox. Similarly, organizations classified as non-believers have struggled in this new age of analytics, which include the New York Knicks and Miami Marlins. This gap in success between the believers and nonbelievers of analytics further emphasizes the rising importance of sports analytics.
Another reason to be optimistic about the importance placed on analytics is the constantly improving technology and investments made to gather more data than ever. STATS LLC with SportVU, a camera-tracking system recently adopted by the NBA, and Catapult with their variety of wearable technology and sensors are just some of the new technologies that professional sports leagues and teams will continue to invest in. It then becomes even more important that these organizations have the proper staff and personnel to be able to analyze and interpret the data that will continue to multiply in the future.
As analytics have become such a necessity for success, it is fair to then wonder if universities should begin considering launching sports analytics programs. Sports Management, a major offered in most American universities, is a similarly specialized program designed for those who want a career in sports. New York University’s Tisch Institute for Sports Management, Media, and Business, for example, offers four different concentrations for Sports Management majors: Event Management, Organizational Management, Sports Law, and Sports Media. These appear to be geared towards those who prefer the business aspect of sports and can mostly lead to careers as sports agents, executives, or event managers.
However, the other half of a sports organization still involves the actual on-court product, which is where a sports analytics program could have several benefits. Currently, those in analytics departments range in majors from statistical physics to economics. If the estimates are mostly accurate and the sports analytics market increases to $4.7 billion, universities have to begin investing in these specific programs. If a graduate of statistical physics can do a great job as an analyst, imagine what a graduate of a potential sports analytics program could do. Not only would that person have the necessary skill, but the entire sports community would be forced to improve its analytics departments and have an easier time searching for viable candidates.
From a business perspective, it appears that universities should undoubtedly invest in sports analytics programs, which should be extremely beneficial for sports organizations and for students who could fill this jobs market. Professional sports have now entered somewhat of a golden age for analytics where the debate is no longer about whether or not analytics lead to success. Instead the question becomes how much analytics affects winning percentages and profits. The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, were a team classified as a nonbeliever in the ESPN study. This is further emphasized by the fact that the Lakers were the only NBA team without a representative at the 2013 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Even the Lakers, however realized the potential of SportVU cameras and hired four employees to help with data analysis.
If analytics could lead to more success with lower costs for sports franchises, then most if not all smart organizations should be extremely excited for the possibilities and potential of sports analytics programs throughout the country. With technological advances helping to further grow the analytics market, the possibilities for a well-run sports analytics program could prove to be endless. $4.7 billion does not seem as crazy when multi-billion dollar organizations depend on these positions for success.