Sports management today is very different then it was in the past. A lot of in game decisions being made by coaches and managers is analytical driven based on probabilities and past results. Analysts have been employed by teams and have one responsibility, comb through the data and provide insight on when a team should make a decision based on probability not feelings. For example, the NFL has seen a surge in fourth down attempts. In 2000, NFL teams only went for it on 4th down about 10% of the time, in 2021 it was almost 20%!

This analytical approach was first attempted in 2002 by the Oakland Athletics baseball team’s general manager Billy Bean and assistant GM Peter Brand. Bean, a former player who knew that salary capacity played a direct role in how successful a baseball team would be was desperately trying to find a way for his small market team to be able to compete with larger market teams. Simply put, bigger markets paid more money to players and could build a more talented team. Peter and Billy developed a way to build a team of under valued talent in their scouting and analysis of players, popularized in the film Moneyball. This was the test of the theory that changed the landscape of professional sports as we see it today. Teams focused on data to not only evaluate players but how to manage games and seasons.

While the average fan won’t be making game time decisions that affect the outcomes of games they do debate who the best teams and players are. https://www.sports-reference.com/ , is a website dedicated to sports data and can be used to develop data visualizations to help fans win their arguments with their friends or make a case on why they believe their opinion on something is best. Whether you’re a fan, an analyst, coach or manager there is no denying that sports data plays a significant role in sports today then it did twenty years ago and the comparison of numbers plays a crucial role in sports today.