SPORTS ANALYTICS

SUBMITTED BY: VIDDHI PAREKH

C19-225
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ABOUT THE INDUSTRY

Sports analytics are a collection of relevant, historical, statistics that when properly applied can provide
a competitive advantage to a team or individual. It helps players, coaches and other staff to take
informed decisions prior and during the game.

It was popularized by the movie “Moneyball” where Brad Pitt makes use of analytics to give a
competitive advantage to his team “Oakland Athletics”. There are two aspects of Sports Analytics:

a) On-Field Analytics
b) Off-Field Analytics.

On-field analytics deals with improving the on-field performance of teams and players. It digs deep into
aspects such as game tactics and player fitness. Off-field analytics deals with the business side of sports.
Off-field analytics focuses on helping a sport organization or body surface patterns and insights through
data that would help increase ticket and merchandise sales, improve fan engagement, etc. Off-field
analytics essentially uses data to help rightsholders take better decisions that would lead to higher
growth and increased profitability.

However, employing analytics in their field is not less than a challenge. The sports analytics has following
challenges:

a) Foremost among them is the traditional culture of many teams. Relatively few owners,
managers, coaches, and players pursued careers in professional sports because of their interest
in analytics. Even when considerable data and analytics are available to support key decisions,
they may not employ them over their intuition and experience.
b) Demand from key decisionmakers for sports analytics is considerably less than the supply of
data, technology, new metrics, and analytics.
c) Even relatively wealthy teams cannot afford large investments in technology, data, and
analytical tools. Most of their revenue goes toward player salaries. Even larger teams will
maintain only about 100 personnel in the “front office,” so it is unlikely that they will employ
large analytical staffs.

However, analytics have established themselves as important augmentation for basic success factors
specially in the game of NBA, Baseball, English Premier League Football, Cricket etc.
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IMPORTANT ASPECTS ABOUT SPORTS ANALYTICS:

 Cooperation of parties
 High emotion and involvement, uncommon loyalty
 Unpredictability
 Consumer pays minimal part of overall cost
 Production and consumption concurrent

A) On-Field Analytics

This is something that the industry has been familiar with for some time- it is essentially a data-driven
approach to improving performance. Whether it is player fitness, offensive strategy, shot selection,
biometrics etc. on-field analytics has been helping clubs better their teams. The media has done a
wonderful job on shedding light on this topic and movies like “Moneyball” have become household
topics.

KNOWLEDGE (Manager OUTCOME (Comp Advantage)

PLAYER RECRUITMENT/
TALENT ID
ANALYSIS OF GAME TACTICS
EXPLOITING INEFFICIENCIES IN
GAMING/BETTING MARKETS
Questions)
 Which players should be
selected or signed?
 Which developmental,
statistical, physiological or
physical traits lead to career
success?
 What factors or patterns
lead to enhance win % or
game performance?
 Can match outcomes be
predicted?
 Can I use mass social data
to predict game outcomes
and expose betting market
inefficiencies?
 Creating efficiencies in
drafting and valuation
• Salary cap and list
management
• Enhancing inputs and on-field
performance
 Enhanced match information
and strategy
• Individual and team success
•Consumer interest and gains
 Consumer interest and
gains
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 Can match performance be

predicted for fantasy sport
outcomes?

B) OFF FIELD ANALYTICS

Over the last few years, analytics in sport has evolved beyond the field A much broader segment, it does
take into account on-field variables such as match wins as well however, this is done with a more
surgical focus on off-field elements such as sales patterns and ticket pricing to help rights-holders grow
their business. Off-field analytics essentially considers every parameter associated with the performance
of the business to aid and promote decisions that would lead to higher growth and increased
profitability.

KNOWLEDGE (Manager OUTCOME (Comp Advantage)

Questions)
DEMAND MODELLING  How many will attend/watch
this game?
 When will people engage in
the game/broadcast?
 How can I track stadium
movement and spend?
PRICE MODELLING  How can I set prices and
develop products with
confidence?
 How to use pricing analytics
and predictive modelling to
understand demand?
BEHAVIOUR PREDICTION  How will people behave?
• Predicting Renewal of
users/STH
• Predicting Campaign or Activity
Engagement
 Cost Efficiency (e.g. stadium
staff)
 Revenue Efficiency (e.g.
advertisers, concessions)
 Planning and resourcing
 Efficiency and revenue
capture through product
development
 Churn limitation / Higher
engagement
 Develop interventions and
actions that resonate
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THREE PHASES OF ANALYTICS AND THE QUESTIONS THEY ANSWER.

1) Descriptive – “What Happened?”

2) Predictive – “What Will Happen Next?”

3) Prescriptive – “What Should We Do?”

DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS:

Descriptive analytics is a method used by analysts to understand what has happened within the field in
the past using data aggregation and mining to collect information.

Coaches and analysts gather information about their sport and then sort out the performances of each
team in their league, as well as the high-ranking players. For a football analysis, for instance, it could be
the top four teams, players with the most goals, coaching tactics over a period of the season, and so on.

All of these can be grouped into a column season by season to see the variation in these factors. The
aggregation of this data will reveal patterns which will highlight the factors that are responsible for wins
and for losses.

PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS

Predictive analytics, on the other hand, uses statistical tools and models to provide insights into future
events with the aim of making predictions

Predictive analytics require the use of statistical tools and techniques. For this reason, coaches and
sports analysts often consult experts who provide them with information on which certain statistical
analysis can be carried out in order to make predictions about future events.

Having carried out the descriptive analytics, the factors that are deemed significant for the team or
players’ performances are then used as data. This data serves as inputs in various statistical techniques
and then enable the analysts to build models, which help them to determine the likelihood of one team
performing better than another in future games.

Predictive analytics, as a method of sports analytics, is not only used by coaches and analysts, but also
by professionals in the betting world in other to create virtual games.

PRESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS
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Prescriptive analytics, employ the use of algorithms to optimize and simulate data and/or events with
the goal of giving possible outcomes of an event.

Prescriptive analytics is similar to the supervised learning method used in sports analytics. This is
because it employs the use of algorithms, which are supplied to the machine by the analysts from
certain factors that have been deduced from the players or teams.

The machine then optimizes and simulates the data and/or events, and provide the analysts with the
possible outcomes. For instance, as we have explained earlier about football analysis and data that are
used to reveal past trends in a football season, based on those factors considered, the machine can
process the data and provide certain possible outcomes. This helps coaches understand the areas of
deficiency in his or her team as well as strengths, and then work accordingly to improve the
performance of the team.

Coaches and sport analysts employ these tools and integrate the three phases in order to understand
past game events, performance of athletes or players, and the performance of a team.

Based on this understanding, they make predictions of future sporting events using predictive analysis,
and then by employing the third phase, they utilize the algorithm to give possible outcomes, resulting in
better decisions making.

All of these are brilliant ways of improving team performance, as they provide teams with insights,
which would not be there by ordinary means of analyzing games. So let’s take a look at the three phases
of this method, and how coaches and sports analysts apply them.

In conclusion, these three phases of sport analytics—descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive—are often
employed together as a tool in the performance analysis of a player or a team.
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WAYS BIG DATA CAN AFFECT THE SPORT ANALYTICS

Data is now being collected in sports across the world to help guide teams to victory. Whether you’re a
basketball fan based in the United States, or a football fan in Europe, you can expect to see big data
increasingly influencing this massive industry. Globally, the professional sports market is worth over $90
billion; this offers a big opportunity for big data. Just as other industries are using data to reach and
connect with their audiences, so is athletics to enhance both the player, organization and fan
experience.

Data can be shared and used on an extremely granular level, enhancing the experience of professional
sports for all parties involved. Instead of relying on intuition, experience and anecdotes, sports
participants and enthusiasts can examine data that tells the real story to help with every aspect of the
game – from player recruitment to fan engagement.

Big data is more of a long game in some contexts, setting the stage for the future rather than the
present. In the ultra-competitive Olympics, where training is a full-time job, athletes are looking for any
edge they can get along the way. Coaches are beginning to collect training data on young athletes,
hoping to gain some insight into what makes top athletes succeed in the Olympics, and which factors
play the biggest role. This data is also helping Olympic competitors learn more about the challenges they
face during training, such as the clash between strength training and endurance training for rowers

Many technology vendors are trying to get into the wearable technology market, given the interest in
devices like Google Glass and fitness trackers.

Adidas has a system called miCoach that works by having players attach a wearable device to their
jerseys. Data from the device shows the coach who the top performers are and who needs rest. It also
provides real-time stats on each player, such as speed, heart rate and acceleration.

That kind of real-time data could help trainers and physicians plan for better training and conditioning.
Matt Hasselbeck, a quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, says he's in favor of technology that helps
with player safety. "[By]checking hydration levels or tracking hits to the head, we could start collecting
that data now to make sports safer."
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ANALYTICS IN CRICKET - CRICLYTICS

The fusion of big data analytics and cricket is what Criclytics is. It empowers teams with the ability to make
accurate decisions about a game that is known to be unpredictable.

What Criclytics does?

1. Huge amounts of data generation

Under the International Cricket Council (ICC) there are 10 full-time member countries, 57 affiliate
member countries, and 38 associate member countries, which rounds up the number to 105 member
countries.
Imagine the amount of data that will be generated every day for 365 days with the ball by ball
information of 5,31,253 cricket players in close to 5,40,290 cricket matches at 11,960 cricket grounds
across the world.
Keeping track of each of these players’ performances, intake of calories, training levels, interaction with
fans, and much more in the pursuit of improved performance on the pitch is where Criclytics will come
into play.

2. Capture data to deliver greater insight

The insights that one can derive from Criclytics equips broadcasters, players, and fans with enough
background information to make the right decisions about the team’s performance.
CCTV cameras, wearable computers, and sensors are a few of the progressive high-tech devices that are
used on the field, nowadays, to capture and monitor the rampant volumes of cricket data.
3. Playing a pivotal role in the world cup

The dependency on big data analytics by stakeholders was witnessed in last year’s ICC Cricket World Cup
where almost every team had its own crew of data analytics. Thus, began the new era of analytics in the
game of cricket.
Hiring a dedicated analytics team empowers the team’s captain to take appropriate decisions since he is
now using the necessary statistical tools that can predict the probability of say, Yuvraj Singh, performing
up to the mark, playing in the specific pitch under a certain weather condition against a left hand
bowler. Each of the player’s performance is influenced by the alteration and the combination of a list of
independent factors like the opponent’s weaknesses and strengths.
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To deal with this, the data analytics crew analyzes and accrues the past data on the scores, the player
profiles, the player performances, and others to come up with an ideal team composition and answer
questions like who to pick for the last over.
BIG DATA AND THE ICC T20 WORLD CUP

A report by CIO.com stated the plans of the ICC when it came to data analytics in cricket.
The main objective of the ICC is to deliver real-time and interesting statistics to fans through their app
and website. The ICC is said to be using the SAP HANA Cloud Platform and the SAP Lumira software to
analyze the statistics on the scores, the performance of the players, the player profiles, and more, which
updates information every 20 seconds.
Fans obsess most about the players thus churning out information on every player’s performance is the
top priority for the ICC.
SAP and ICC have reportedly analyzed cricket data to see how important each bowler on the team is in
winning the games. In last year’s tournament, New Zealand, South Africa, and India had dismissed teams
the greatest number of times which is what is said to make them tough competition.
They have also used the data to detect similarities between the skilled players using seven different
characteristics. In the previous year’s world cup it was found that those countries who were initially
recognized as the dominant ones, like Ireland and UAE, had strong performing players with the similar
characteristics.
SAP and ICC not only want to use this data to deliver the interesting statistics to the fans but also to
improve the team’s strategies and performance on the field, which in turn will ultimately increase a
team’s chances of winning. The key to this is predictive analysis which forecasts the outcome for events
that will take place within the fame by looking at the previous patterns in the data and factoring in many
variables.
For example, is a player likely to score more runs during the beginning of his innings rather than taking
more time to settle in. Attaining the answer to these questions will give the team insight to rethink their
strategy for the upcoming games.
In the future, it is reported that the ICC has plans to mine data from social media to gain insights into
what interests the fans the most.
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THE TOOLS THAT USE BIG DATA ANALYTICS FOR CRICKET INSIGHTS
1. Insights by ESPNCricInfo
Insights, a tool developed by ESPNCricInfo is an amalgamation of cricket and big data analytics. With the
intent of creating a set of products to slot in fans in this multi-screen era, the tool makes use of 2
decades of historical cricket data statistics and data points which are plotted at the Data and Analytics
Hub in Bangalore, India.
The big data functions in approximately 25 different variables for each ball bowled in a match during the
ICC 2015 World Cup. This was then passed through an extensive analytics process which was
complemented by historical data with the help of the local cricketing intelligence of the ESPNCricInfo
team.

2. ScoreWithData – IBM Game Changer

7 hours before the first quarter final of the 2015 world cup, ScoreWithData had predicted that the South
African Cricketer Imran Tahir would be ranked as the power bowler. This prediction through data
analytics came true since the SA team won the knockout match against Sri Lanka because of the
outstanding performance of Tahir making it an unforgettable experience for all the cricket lovers.

IBM came out with its analytics innovation ScoreWithData, to provide insights to cricket fans, consists of
three main features:

1. Twitteratti Speaks uses Social Media Data and Data Analytics Engine to identify as well as keep a
track of all the highlight moments of each cricket match. These highlights are identified by the
prevailing reactions of the cricket fans by searching and scanning through billions of Twitter
feeds and the results are visually projected.
2. IBM Social Sentiment Index uses the real-time data streams to generate the best cricket forecast
about a team, regarding who has a greater probability of winning the match and who the most
talked about players are.
3. Widen Impact Index provides the correlated and proportional forecasts by leveraging the
current as well as historical cricket data as the cricket match progresses.
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REFERENCES:
https://www.proemsports.com/single-post/2017/06/22/The-Evolution-and-Future-of-Analytics-in-Sport

https://dataconomy.com/2018/08/here-is-everything-you-want-to-know-about-sports-analytics/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/leighsteinberg/2015/08/18/changing-the-game-the-rise-of-sports-
analytics/#19326c9a4c1f

https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/how-analytics-have-transformed-cricket

https://www.agilesportsanalytics.com/descriptive-predictive-and-prescriptive-analytics/

http://www.syncstrength.com/the-future-of-sports-analytics/

https://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_us/doc/whitepaper2/iia-analytics-in-sports-106993.pdf

https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2015/03/actionable-insights-analytics-cricket-world-cup/

https://www.simplilearn.com/how-big-data-is-helping-teams-win-big-at-t20-world-cup-criclytics-article

https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/1170120/Sport-to-Business-Data-and-Comp-
Ad-Perth-Pres-Open.pdf

https://www.smithhanley.com/2017/06/26/the-future-of-big-data-analytics-and-sports/

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analytics-will-change-sports.html