Sports Analytics: A Guide for Coaches, Managers, and Other Decision Makers

by Benjamin Alamar

Overview

Data and analytics have the potential to provide sports organizations with a competitive advantage both on and off the field. Yet even as the use of analytics in sports has become commonplace, teams regularly find themselves making big investments without significant payoff.

This book is a practical, nontechnical guide to incorporating sports data into decision making, giving leaders the knowledge they need to maximize their organization’s investment in analytics. Benjamin C. Alamar—a leading expert who has built high-performing analytics groups—surveys the current state of the use of data in sports, including both specifics around the tools and how to deploy them most effectively. Sports Analytics offers a clear, easily digestible overview of data management, statistical models, and information systems and a detailed understanding of their vast possibilities. It walks readers through the essentials of understanding the value of different types of data and strategies for building and managing an analytics team. Throughout, Alamar illustrates the value of analytics with real-world examples and case studies from both the sports and business sides.

Sports Analytics has guided a range of sports professionals to success since its original publication in 2013. This second edition adds examples and strategies that focus on using data on the business side of a sports organization, provides concrete strategies for incorporating different types of data into decision making, and updates all discussions for the rapid technological developments of the last decade.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231555890
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	05/28/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Benjamin C. Alamar has been a leader in sports analytics for more than fifteen years, working with organizations including ESPN, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and StubHub. He has taught at universities including Rice, Columbia, and MIT. The founder of the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, Alamar has written for outlets such as ESPN, Analytics magazine, and the Wall Street Journal.

Table of Contents

Foreword, by Jessica Gelman
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction to Sports Analytics
2. Data and Data Management
3. Data and Information
4. Information Systems
5. Statistical Models and How to Use Them
6. Predictive Analytics in Action
7. Analytics in the Organization: Innovation and Implementation
8. Data and Decision Making
9. Analytics in the Organization: A Blueprint for Analytic Success
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

Sports teams that fail to capitalize on their data will be outcompeted. Alamar delineates a framework for executives to consider how analytics fit in their organization and the tangible value improved decision making brings. With a deft balance of the conceptual and the concrete, he explains the elements needed to launch an analytics group, the pitfalls to avoid, and the plans to both deliver short-term benefits and execute a long-term vision—all without unnecessary technical jargon.

Keith Woolner

Alamar expertly elucidates the importance and value to leagues, teams, and players of a robust and thoughtful approach to data and analytics. It is hard to imagine an aspect of sports—from player health and safety and rule evolution to scouting and game strategy to marketing and fan engagement—that is not affected by and cannot be improved through insights gleaned from Alamar’s strategic approach to data.

Julie Souza

This second edition of Sports Analytics offers a comprehensive framework for building successful analytics programs in sports organizations. Alamar’s expertise and experience provide many insightful examples.

Greg StrŽižek

Benjamin C. Alamar helped pioneer the sports analytics movement. There are few people more qualified to write this book, which provides actionable information for decision makers and analysts in the field.

Keith Goldner

Outstanding! This is a serious look at the challenges of bringing analytics into the 'actionable' realm within an organization, with great ideas and stories based on some of Benjamin C. Alamar's own experiences.

Roland Beech

Getting coaches and general managers to listen and understand the numbers is a classic problem for high-level stat geeks in pro sports. In this brisk narrative, Benjamin C. Alamar takes us inside that process, using telling anecdotes from his colleagues and his own experience as a consultant with the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is a great read for job seekers, teams interested in improving their own analytics platform, and smart fans wanting a peek inside team decision making.

Zach Lowe

This quick, interesting read is a valuable addition to the sports management field. It brings together information that is proprietary, to a significant degree, in the sports industry and therefore not readily available. It will appeal both to readers looking for guidance in setting up a statistical analysis system for their sport organization, as well as to general readers who have an interest in professional sport and team decision making.

James Masteralexis

Alamar combines first-hand experience as an analytics consultant with investigative research to provide an insider's view of team sports decision making. Using industry examples instead of complicated formulas or equations, he is able to bridge the gap between the executive suite and sports fans. This is a great read for anyone interested in learning more about how the sports world operates behind the scenes.

Brian C. Kopp