Are you exploring a career in Sports analytics? If you are, then these online courses and book resources will definitely help you to become a successful sports data analytics professional.
The development of various statistical and mathematical analysis software has fueled the growth of data analytics in every sector, including sports. By learning data analytics, professionals can create probability theories and forecasts of a gaming event. Data analytics is also useful for post-game raw data analysis.
Top Sports Analytics Courses in 2024
If you love data, statistics, mathematics, and related programming tools, you must succeed in your quest to become a sports data analyst. And, apart from the courses, I’ll also talk about the prerequisites for a career in sports analytics, the various trends in the industry, and the popularity of data analytics today. So, make sure to stick around for that as well!
To give yourself the push you need, check out some extraordinary courses and resources listed below.
Sports Management – Data and Analytics: Udemy
Are you interested in the basic concepts behind data analytics and the best ways to implement them practically? You can get enrolled in this Udemy course. Since this course has no prerequisites, anyone can opt for it to prepare themselves for a sports data analytics career.
It has ten lectures that cover topics such as programming languages for data analytics, on-field, and off-field analytics, data analytics case studies, statistics, programming languages for data analytics (Python, Java, Scala, R), and the usage of machine learning and AI in sports analytics.
The course consists of 3.5 hours of on-demand video you can access from your smartphone or TV. Additionally, participants get lifetime access to 2 downloadable resources. Udemy will also offer you a certificate as proof of course completion.
Sports Performance Analytics Specialization: Coursera
This Coursera course lets you become an expert in predictive sports analytics using accurate sports data. After completing it, participants can predict player and team performance utilizing sports analytics principles.
The course teaches you to implement methods and techniques to sports datasets. Thus, you can get your analysis instead of depending on data processing done by others. If you are a coach, sports manager, physical therapist, or sports fan, the course will help you understand athlete performance and predict game results.
You can complete this online course in 7 months if you invest around 6 hours weekly. This intermediate course language is English, and participants should be familiar with Python before opting for this course.
Sports Analytics – Data Driven Decision Making: edX
This edX course empowers its participants to make data-driven decisions in the field of sports. It teaches you to use data, facts, and metrics accurately to identify problems and develop innovative solutions.
Here, you will learn the sports analytics concepts and understand the purpose of sports analytics. This course also includes the strategies and ideas of analytics and their impact on sports.
It also touches upon various aspects of the professional sports industry, such as data collection, important sports metrics, fact-finding, and data visualization to make strategic decision-making easier for you.
You can complete this self-paced guide in 4 weeks if you invest 3-5 hours per week. The instruction language is English, and edX recommends you complete SPRT1x Sport Management Foundations before enrolling in this course.
Course in Data Analytics in Sport Online: Johan Cruyff Institute
Since the sports industry is rapidly embracing data analytics for better prediction and strategy development, you should also have sufficient knowledge of it to stay relevant in the market. This course from Johan Cruyff Institute offers you a complete view of the digital transformation in this industry.
The course content includes data in sports, performance analytics, uses of Blockchain potential cases, fan engagement data & analytics, use of AI and machine learning in sports prediction, and how to generate your analytics data.
As participants learn about data analytics’s benefits, they can rightly implement them to get the best results. It is a three-credit program that can be completed in 5 weeks.
Math Behind Moneyball: Coursera
This Coursera course teaches you how to use probability, math, and statistics for game strategy and team selection in popular sports like baseball, football, and basketball. It offers you trending skills, including MS Excel, probability, statistics, and analytics.
You can start with this online course anytime you want and complete it at your own speed. It is also possible to reset the deadline and proceed with it when you are free. Each learning module consists of video resources, readings, and quizzes to evaluate your learning.
It is a beginner-level course that anyone can opt for without any prerequisites. The complete course length is around 65 hours, and the language is English. However, subtitles are available in French, Spanish, Portuguese (European), and Russian.
Foundations of Sports Analytics: Michigan Online
This course from Michigan Online offers you an introduction to team performance analysis in sports using Python. It teaches you specific methods and techniques you can implement to generate prediction data on sports datasets. The course language is English, and its duration is six weeks.
It aims to teach you the use of regression analysis with example datasets from the world’s top leagues, including NFL, NBA, NHL, IPL, and EPL. After completing this course, participants can explore their ideas about performance and become sports analyzers.
Soccer Analyst (Level 1): Soccer Hub
This Soccer Hub course will enable you to predict the match result even before it starts by using statistics and data analysis. You can begin this online course immediately and take your career to the next level.
It focuses on soccer game analysis and covers topics such as game analysis models, game evolution, structural and functional dimensions, and ways to become a reasonable game observer.
This intermediate-level course comes with 5 hours of on-demand video. Every participant will get full lifetime access to the learning resources. The course language is English, and you also get a certificate of completion after finishing this course.
The above online courses will help you progress in your sports analytics career through training, objective learnings, and certifications. However, you can also get guidance from online books if you like to read books to learn new skills and technologies.
Find below some outstanding books that you can check out from Amazon:
Moneyball: Amazon
The US national bestseller Michael Lewis focuses on baseball game concepts from clubs like Oakland A, team managers like Billy Beane, and many other baseball theorists. This Amazon book aims to deliver the data insights that a club, manager, and individual players need to succeed in their baseball careers.
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Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game | Buy on Amazon |
Sports Analytics: Amazon
The big data revolution influences the sports industry by offering new data analytics concepts and tools for players, managers, business professionals, and game associations. For the first time, Sports Analytics has compiled all the latest trends in sports analytics and brought them to one place so that you can apply them to your strategy.
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Sport Analytics | Buy on Amazon |
Analytic Methods in Sports: Amazon
Yet another important book for sports data analysts is this Amazon eTextbook which is also available in hardcover and paperback format. The book discusses various statistical processes to analyze post-game data.
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Analytic Methods in Sports: Using Mathematics and Statistics to Understand Data from Baseball,… | Buy on Amazon |
It also shows you the use of probability theory in sports, methods to summarize data for sports professionals, illustrations of data analytics methods using real data, and more.
Sport Business Analytics: Amazon
Sport Business Analytics helps you to develop a systematic and streamlined analytics strategy. Also, it guides you through implementing such a sports analytics model to enjoy a competitive advantage in the sports spectrum.
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Sport Business Analytics: Using Data to Increase Revenue and Improve Operational Efficiency (Data… | Buy on Amazon |
You can also get great hands-on learnings from exclusive case studies of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Orlando Magic, Aspire Group, and Duke University.
Sport Analytics – An Applied Introduction: Amazon
If you are a new sports data analytics professional, you must check out this Amazon book. It will help you to develop an analytical foundation before entering this complex field of crunching data.
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Sport Analytics: An Applied Introduction to How Numbers are Changing Sport | Buy on Amazon |
It will teach you the theoretical and practical considerations for various methods like weighted plus-minus, DOVA, OPS, and more.
Get in the Game: Amazon
The Amazon book Get in the Game brings you exclusive learnings from the famous math popularizer Tim Chartier. Tim advised various international and national sports committees like NBA, NFL, US Olympic Committee, etc., on sports analytics.
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Get in the Game: An Interactive Introduction to Sports Analytics | Buy on Amazon |
It simplifies complex mathematical and statistical procedures and brings them down to simple coin tosses and probability data.
The Stats Game: Amazon
This Amazon Kindle (also available in paperback) book, The Stats Game, helps you evaluate your favorite athlete’s sports career and understand any sporting team’s in-game strategies. It will also help you to predict the performance of your favorite sporting team in the next season.
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The Stats Game: A Deep Dive into Sports Analytics in the Modern Era | Buy on Amazon |
Sports Analytics in Practice with R: Amazon
This Amazon book teaches you to combine sports data with the leading open-source data analytics software and language R to get actionable insights. The book suits many sports like cricket, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, and more.
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Sports Analytics in Practice with R | Buy on Amazon |
It showcases some coding examples in R for sports analytics. Furthermore, you will discover some helpful case studies as well.
Now that you’ve taken a look at both courses and books for sports analytics, let’s dive more into the world of data analytics and why it’s become so popular today.
The Popularity of Data Analytics and Data Visualization
Data analytics provides you with all the tools, concepts, and techniques necessary to examine clean, format, and model data. The ultimate goal is to discover useful information and help in decision-making.
On the other hand, data visualization is a meaningful way to display data that everyone can understand effortlessly. Thus, data analytics and visualization go hand in hand.
Recent data analytics and visualization developments suggest a high potential for employment in this sector.
Additionally, the following trends of data visualization and analytics prove that these concepts are becoming an obligation for every industry:
- Videographic and infographic visualization
- Real-time and live visualization
- Data democratization
- Social and mobile data visualization
- AI and ML-based analytics and visualization
- Cloud computing and hybrid cloud solutions for data crunching
- Agile data analytics
- Edge computing
- Data fabric
- Decision intelligence through engineering
With the rising popularity of data analytics, and the evergreen popularity of sports, it only made sense to bring the two together. Moreover, as sports around the world grow more technical, they need an extra, mathematical touch to be decoded for the benefit of the players and coaches.
The Trend of Sports Data Analytics
Today, sports is more than just entertainment — it is a billion-dollar business. According to the Business Research Company, the sports business market cap was $388.3 billion in 2020. The report forecasts it will grow to a 599.9 billion USD industry by 2025.
With so much money in sports, sports business entities need an accurate analysis of all kinds of raw data from sporting events. It helps the stakeholders to make investment decisions.
Sports analytics serves the business community and audience with data analysis, forecasting, and performance prediction.
Another report from Markets and Markets on sports analytics suggests that the market cap will steadily grow from 2.5 billion USD in 2021 to 8.4 billion USD in 2026.
So, with the growing popularity and market cap, it’s understandable that people are now making the switch to sports analytics as a career. However, like every other career, there are some prerequisites that you must fulfill before stepping into it.
Prerequisites for Sports Analytics as a Career
If you want to become a successful and respected sports statistician professional, you must bring the following skills to the table:
- A clear understanding of statistical and mathematical concepts
- Machine learning and deep learning theoretical and hands-on experience
- Data visualization charts, graphs, and tables
- Hands-on experience with BI tools like Tableau, Google Data Studio, Power BI, etc.
- R and Python programming
- Understanding of various database structures
Apart from the above technical skills, you must possess some non-technical skills that make you unique and differentiate you from other job seekers. For example:
- Business communication
- Business acumen
- Intuition about data
- Interpersonal skills
- Working as a team
- Eager to upgrade skills and knowledge
If you fit most of the prerequisites that I’ve listed here, congratulations! You’re eligible for a career as a sports analyst, and the courses I’ve mentioned above will help you step into this exciting field.
Final Words
Sports analytics is one of the top paying professions in the data analytics spectrum. Team sponsors, managers, and club owners are now hunting for the top data scientists who can help the team develop and implement the right sports data analysis system.
Hence, if you are also thrilled about this career, go through the above learning resources. You can also get a certification by subscribing to any of the above online courses to prove that you bring the required skills to the table.
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