The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was founded in 2007 by Daryl Morey (General Manager – Houston Rockets) and Jessica Gelman (VP – Customer Marketing & Strategy – New England Patriots). In that year, there were roughly 175 attendees and speaker panels were held in classrooms on MIT’s campus. In 2016, the 10th anniversary of the inaugural conference, there were 3,900 attendees and the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center played host to a number of enthralling speakers. In addition to the masses in the audience, the Johnson school had 8 students in attendance to absorb as much information as possible.
The conference kicked off with “The Moneyball Reunion”, which included Michael Lewis (author of the famed book), Bill James (creator of sabermetrics), and Paul DePodesta (current Chief Strategy Officer for the Cleveland Browns and former Assistant to Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane). James, DePodesta, and Beane are considered pioneers in baseball and some of the first to truly buy-in to the importance of statistical analysis in player selection, rather than just relying on the eye of traditional baseball scouts. Michael Lewis’ novel Moneyball put these techniques on the map for the general public even further, and in turn, increased general interest in such analytical approaches to sports. It was fascinating to hear the group talk about their use of data analytics in sports and how few people were doing what they were.
Over the course of the two-day conference, there were over 150 speakers ranging from professional athletes, coaches, general managers, TV personalities, statisticians, sports consultants, and many more. It was a tremendous opportunity to hear first-hand where these practitioners see the future of sports and how they personally have witnessed changes in their respective sports over time.
In addition to the over-arching theme of the importance and applicability of sports analytics in assessing player and team performance, there was also a large emphasis placed on how teams and leagues can maximize the profitability of their business operations. Among other initiatives, there is a great deal happening in the market to enhance the fan in-game experience. Fans have access to a number of ways to watch games remotely, including traditional TV, mobile, and now even virtual reality. To compete with the multitude of these options, leagues and teams need to continue to drive fans to actually attend the games, rather than watch from the comfort of their own home. In order to accomplish this, teams are becoming increasingly fan-centric and looking into creative solutions to make the in-game experience truly irreplaceable. See note below regarding Ticketmaster-sponsored case competition on fan in-game experience.
The conference wrapped up with Morey and Gelman speaking about the roots of the conference and how much it has grown in just ten years. it is something that even they find unbelievable. This rapid growth speaks volumes about the increasing importance of analytics in sports, not to mention sports fans’ general interest in learning more about these techniques. As technology and creativity continues to evolve in the sports industry, it will be exciting to see how sports change for many years to come!
Note:
This topic is so important today that Ticketmaster, a leading sales and ticketing agent, actually sponsored a case competition for graduate students to help solve this problem. Specifically, Ticketmaster wanted to understand how it can offer unique ticketing solutions to NBA team and further, how it can deliver optimal in-game experience for those NBA team’s fans. After receiving submissions from over 40 teams, the judges for the case competition narrowed the field to just three teams that would present at the actual conference. One of these finalist teams was comprised of three Johnson students. Team Johnson presented at the conference in front of a panel of experts as well as other conference attendees. When the winners were announced, Team Johnson came in 2nd place. Video footage of each team’s presentation can be found at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1svrlCVmHnc
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