Page 35 - Reclaim YOUR DIGITAL GOLD (without audio)
P. 35

Data is the New GolD



            and how they used sports and analytics to have a really
            competitive team and season.

            This  true story is  an  exciting  look at  how data  and
            analytics were used to change the game and have since
            spread to almost every sports league.

            In this film, Billy Beane decided not to acquire or invest
            in  some  of the  biggest  names  available  in  free  trade,
            which is a very common way to bolster a team’s roster,
            but instead to rely on data and analytics to help build
            the  roster,  specifically  players  hitting  and  on-base
            performance analytics.

            Everyone thought the team had gone insane because it
            had never been done before; evaluating players based
            on what they have done and what scouts say was the
            standard practice. Most baseball analysts believed it was
            a mediocre team at best, especially given that it had one
            of baseball’s lowest payrolls that year. It proved to be a
            huge success. By using sabermetrics, they won a league-
            record of 20 consecutive games to win their division and
            advance to the playoffs. Since then, many major sports
            leagues have incorporated data and analytics into their
            evaluation of talent, performance, and game pay.

            So far, we’ve discussed Major League Baseball’s impact
            as  trend  setters  through  the  use  of  sabermetrics,  as
            well as how it has transformed  the game. In addition,
            data  and  analytics  have  become an  important  part
            of the  NHL  (National  Hockey League)  in  their  use  to
            aid  in  player  analysis,  conditioning,  performance and
            assessment, and overall game improvement. And data is
            collected in all aspects of the game in the NFL (National
            Football  League),  and  the  league  has  partnered  with



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