The purpose of this research project is to shed light on how analytics and the increase of available data has led to an evolution of the way major sports are being played at the highest level.
Knowledge is power. In one of the most competitive and high-stakes industries in the world where game outcomes swing millions of dollars, teams are seeking any advantage possible to increase their chances for success. With the recent flood of in-game data available to teams, due simply to the fact that we are tracking more actions than ever, there is an unprecedented level of nerdiness in sports. The numbers reveal ways to improve play style and smart organizations are realizing that they must change their traditional strategies in order to keep up with their analytically-driven opponents. The intent of this project is to show readers how their favorite sports are changing, explain how this evolution is backed up by data (i.e. what makes these decisions optimal), try to predict how much farther these sports will change, and answer if these changes are good for the sport. The main organizations that I will focus on will be the National Basketball Association and the National Football League. These are well-established American sports leagues which are useful for two reasons: we have decades of data to adequately show an evolution over time, and the amount of money in these leagues leads to increased competition and resources dedicated to playing better (which is now synonymous with playing smarter). There is plenty of publicly available data to tell my intended story thanks to accurate statistics from various sports websites.
I want readers of my research project to be anyone who has an interest in sports or an affinity for statistics and is curious about how these leagues are changing. I will not assume the reader is familiar with sophisticated metrics or has any knowledge above what a casual fan would possess. I will have to explain my research in a way that explains the sports concepts to the math readers and simultaneously explains the math concepts to the sports readers. Hope you enjoy!
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