Project Overview
“Sport and the digital economy: A case study of the Canadian sports analytics industry” is a research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The study explores how the rise of sports analytics is changing the sports landscape in Canada. How do stakeholders in sport – athletes, coaches, analysts, executives, business owners, and others – perceive the growing use of data and technology in sport?
Sports Analytics
Over the past two decades, we’ve witnessed an “analytics revolution” in sports. There’s a long history of using data and technology to assess and improve sport performance. But we are now in a time of “big data” where our ability to collect, analyze, and share data far exceeds what we could do in the past – and is constantly improving. In sport, this means tracking everything from player movement on the pitch, to the flightpath of objects like baseballs, to measures of athlete health and wellbeing, and far beyond. Knowing sport in ever greater detail might help improve individual and team performance.
The Research
The “analytics revolution” in sports has arrived, but there are still many important questions to explore.
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How does sports analytics affect the skills and knowledge required to work in sport? How are educational programs changing as a result of this?
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How have data and technology impacted communication within sport organizations – for example between players and coaches?
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How are sports analytics practices different across the sports industry, such as differences between men’s and women’s sports and professional and amateur competition?
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How will sports analytics evolve going forward? For instance, what are the implications of artificial intelligence?
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What suggestions do stakeholders in sports analytics have for improving the use of data and technology in sport in the future?
