Sports are a laboratory for economics. The scarcity and uniqueness of elite athletes meet with huge sums of money provided by stadium and television viewers. Sports science products and services complement the market for athletes.
When I trained as an engineer the subject of economics was part of the coursework. If you are going to learn how something works it’s important to stay aware of economic reality. Nothing works when you cannot pay to build and maintain it. When a university like Rutgers spends $100 million on a new sports facility, the math is more complicated than the base 9-figure number.
Everytime you read about a sports league or team doing something with analytics or science there are dollars being spent:
A look inside the Marlins’ year-old analytics department (South Florida Sun Sentinel, Tim Healey)
Trade Secrets and Information Security in the Age of Sports Analytics (SSRN, Roger Allan Ford)
The future of the NFL Combine isn’t in Indianapolis (All 22, Will Carroll)
Sixers Bolster Analytics and Strategy Staff (Philadelphia 76ers)
Hunting for Unicorns in the N.B.A. (The New York Times Magazine, Jay Caspian Kang)
SmartCourt training at Virginia Tech (The PlaySight Blog)
How the University of Michigan Is Revolutionizing the Mental Health Standards of College Athletics (Spoon University, Healthier, Charlotte Close)
How Yale Basketball is Innovating with Dr. Dish (Dr. Dish)
Often the money spent is an investment. The future uncertainty of those decisions get dealt with in any number of ways. Some teams establish practices and priorities to avoid micromanaging their risk, but the risk management is why sports management is its own discipline.
RB Leipzig use Salzburg as feeder club, but not everyone happy (WorldSoccer, Nick Bidwell)
Europe’s Only Undefeated Soccer Team Is Managed by a Millennial (The Ringer, Ross Dunbar)
Thinking like an Olympian (USA Volleyball, Don Patterson)
Canadian Olympic Committee amplifies analytics in deal with data company (Canada.com, The Canadian Press, Donna Spencer)
How They Rank: The best MLS academies (Topdrawer Soccer, Will Parchman)
‘We can win a World Cup’: Arena, Schmid on how USMNT can claim the holy grail (FourFourTwo, Scott French)
Liverpool’s Academy uncovered – Alex Inglethorpe reveals the secrets behind Reds’ success with youth (Liverpool Echo)
Gauging risks in sports science and technology is difficult. These are, in many cases, still unproven ideas.
The K’Track Athlete Measures Lactic Acid Level For Ultimate Athletes (WearableZone)
Consumer wearable + medical monitor track exercise’s impact on glucose (ApplySci)
A New Fitness Tracker That Actually Uses Science (Outside Online, Brent Rose)
This MIT Startup’s 3D Cameras Analyze the Performance & Health of Athletes (BostInno, Olivia Vanni)
NFL Convenes Innovators & Biomechanical Engineering Experts at Forum for Player Protection (American Football International)
Smart body armour could soon detect soldiers’ brain injuries (Wearable, UK)
Further, sports science and technology ideas are mostly tested on young athletes, an interesting demographic populated by individuals who have their best days ahead but uncertain paths on the way there. Time and attention can operate as economic levers, and young people generally have more of both as they make decisions and form habits.
Compelling overuse injury incidence in youth multisport athletes (European Journal of Sport Science)
Blueprint for Football: Getting Players to Think (Paul Grech, Blueprint for Football blog)
Want to be a sport star? Don’t specialise as a youngster (The Economist)
Being tired isn’t a badge of honor (LinkedIn, Jason Fried)
UCLA basketball: Behind the scenes with Lonzo Ball & co. (SI.com, Lee Jenkins)
Elite athletic performance at youth level is no guarantee of ultimate success (Metrifit, Eunan Whyte)
College football’s unchecked conditioning culture is dangerous for players (CBSSports.com, Dennis Dodd)
I’m an engineer and have an engineer’s understanding of economics that centers on tradeoffs and trying to optimize between cost and design. Carmakers can build vehicles that guarantee 99.99% driver safety, but their high cost and low style would mean nobody buys them. Figuring out exactly what’s cost effective in developing athletes is the central business question in sports science.
More things that I read and liked last week:
[1701.05976] How often does the best team win? A unified approach to understanding randomness in North American sport (January 21, arXiv, Statistics > Applications; Michael J. Lopez, Gregory J. Matthews, Benjamin S. Baumer)
All square in Pochettino and Guardiola’s battle of high-speed philosophies (January 22, The Guardian, Michael Cox)
Why professional footballers don’t talk about their mental health (January 19, The British Psychological Society, BPS News)
As more hockey teams give morning skates the cold shoulder, Kings and Ducks hang onto game-day practice (January 20, Los Angeles Times, Kevin Baxter)
Looking for England’s Next Soccer Phenom? The Adidas Scout Knows (January 21, The New York Times, Rory Smith)
The Year Football Became Basketball (January 20, The Ringer, Kevin Clark)
What do footballers do while recovering from long-term injuries? (January 16, The Guardian, Richard Foster)
How the MLB Draft Does and Doesn’t Predict MLB Greatness (January 17, VICE Sports, Christopher Crawford)