Sports analytics -- broadly defined as the pursuit of improvement in athletic performance through the analysis of data -- has expanded its footprint both in the professional sports industry and in academia over the past 30 years. In this paper, we connect four big ideas that are common across multiple sports: the expected value of a game state, win probability, measures of team strength, and the use of sports betting market data. For each, we explore both the shared similarities and individual idiosyncrasies of analytical approaches in each sport. While our focus is on the concepts underlying each type of analysis, any implementation necessarily involves statistical methodologies, computational tools, and data sources. Where appropriate, we outline how data, models, tools, and knowledge of the sport combine to generate actionable insights. We also describe opportunities to share analytical work, but omit an in-depth discussion of individual player evaluation as beyond our scope. This paper should serve as a useful overview for anyone becoming interested in the study of sports analytics.
翻译:体育分析 -- -- 广义地定义为通过分析数据来改进体育表现 -- -- 在过去30年中,体育分析扩大了其在专业体育行业和学术界的足迹。在本文件中,我们联系了多种体育中常见的四个大思想:游戏状态的预期价值、赢率、团队实力的衡量标准以及体育赌博市场数据的使用。我们各自探讨每项体育分析方法的共同相似之处和个体特异性。虽然我们的重点是每一类分析的基本概念,但任何执行都必然涉及统计方法、计算工具和数据来源。我们酌情概述体育综合数据、模型、工具和知识如何产生可操作的洞察力。我们还描述了分享分析工作的机会,但省略了超出我们范围的个人玩家评价的深入讨论。本文应作为有用的概览,供任何对体育分析研究感兴趣的人使用。