Any Sports fan today knows the untapped potential of Data Analytics in any form of Sports be it baseball, basketball, or the newly popular eSports domain. The endless amount of data generated today is like a bottomless pit of information and everyday we take a strive forward towards using that information to our advantage. The current scope of data analytics is merely a tip of the iceberg than what it would be in the future.
Compare that with the fact when we believed that the atom was the smallest of being and later learned about the existence of protons and neutrons and its vast scope in the scientific world. The application of data analytics has gone beyond the player and team performance by is focused on reading customers and generating new revenue streams altogether.
Growth of Sports Analytics Market
The Sports Analytics market is expected to reach $4 billion by 2022 and has been useful in the field of eSports as well.
In a traditional setting, we could trace the use of sports analytics back to centuries when in-person attendance was a must and the scope of applicability limited as well as the geographical difficulties. The professional era of sports gave a great boost to Sports analytics but without the internet and technology to fall back on the scope was limited still.
In the current scenario, the role of data analytics was brought to light whenOakland Athletics a baseball team under the leadership of Billy Beane made it all the way to playoffs on a stringy budget and it was able to do so by harnessing the power of data where his strategy was picking undervalued players using in-game statistics the baffling concept took the sports world by the storm if you remember the movie Moneyball was based on this.
Today the technological advancement has enabled us to transcend border, time and all the previous parameter which would have held us back as the analytics software analyses pre-recorded videos of matches to generate a constant feed of information and are not just limited to the field of baseball backed by technological innovations such ascloud computing and machine learning which as made data analytics relatively easier.
Tradition sports were trendsetters by arming themselves with the latest technology to perfect their strategy and team building which would bring in operational efficiency but as I mentioned earlier the scope has added revenue generation under its ambit as well.
Growth in eSportsData Analytics
Data Analytics in eSports can give its credit to the massive amount of data generated as the matches are relatively easier to record, watch, analyze,and store for future use. The Leagues and clubs have a host of esports data providers to rely upon depending on their needs. some require simple data on player and match statistics which would be freely available while others require in-depth data for which they refer to business catering to these specific needs.
eSports Data Analytics growth has resulted in the growth of a parallelly existing industry thatis codependent on each other. Data analytics firms have evolved to specifically serve the Sports industry looking at its huge potential.
While some specific firms cater to only the eSports category others are more general serving all the sports at once which is possible with Machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The Scope of Sports analytics has made its way so far up in the industry that large leagues like Electronic Sports League (ESL) employ Analytics by using in-house hardware, software and IT teams, and hybrid cloud computing devices to provide an immersive experience to the game powered by data analytics.
Just as a betting industry in the traditional setting exists, in the orbit of eSports the betting industry to capitalizes with the growth of the industry but ESL harnesses the power of data to control its operations as well as keep a strict check on misconducts.
Applications of Data Analytics has moved past the opposition analysis and strategy creation which is still a big area where eSports Data Analytics is used but let’s look at the new avenues where we employ the cutting edge technology.
For example in baseball RSPCT uses an Intel RealSense 3D depth camera which can tag the player, analyze all the shots, and feed the information with trajectory and location, such powerful information is combined with data generated by wearable technology which can help Coaches analyze player position and wellness at all times.
The major boost Esports organizations have is the ability to analyze online sports viewing and thus they have first-hand data on their fans who use apps and websites to log on to the event and it opens up new avenues in the field of augmented reality. They can engage with the customer sitting miles apart.
What lies in thefuture of Data Analytics?
Future of Data Analytics lies more in aiding coaches in the formation of team strategy player selection and also in the creation of more revenue streams. As well as optimizing on the internal factors to yield better results like managing the in-game resources and money. To capitalize on data use of Application program interfaces (APIs) is increasing which essentially connects devices and data external to the game’s firewall and making it easy for players to interact and engage more.
Based on the use of Cloud computing the esports API are gaining popularity nowadays and Data Sports group, a sports data provider, is leveraging the opportunity by using advanced tools of data analytics to provide competitive services using APIs to boost engagement with Live score features as well as powerful stats on major esports leagues likeESL Pro League, NA LCS,ESL One, RLCS, Six Invitational, Overwatch League and many more to help businesses leverage the real power of data analytics.
