SSAC

Moderator: Corbin Petro

Panelists: Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, Alexandra Drane, Helena Foulkes, Will Blodgett

Data, analytics, and now AI, have become some of the most powerful forces shaping modern decision-making. Across sports and other industries, it fuels innovation, operational efficiency, and growth. Yet as data becomes more sophisticated, so too does our responsibility to understand how it’s used—and for whom. “Data for Good” invites us to widen our lens outside the sports industry: beyond prediction and profit, toward purpose, equity, and shared value.

This panel explores how mission-driven thought leaders across healthcare, government, and global development are using data analysis to solve deep-seated societal challenges. By moving away from retrospective reporting toward predictive intervention, these experts are redefining how we address the "unmeasurable" aspects of the human experience.

Together, they’ll explore how data can be a tool not just for profit, but for purpose. What can the sports industry learn from sectors using analytics to inspire trust, inclusion, and long-term social impact? How might sports organizations—global brands with passionate communities—apply similar techniques to build more sustainable businesses, engage fans authentically, and drive positive change both on and off the field?

Moderator: Patrick Burke

Panelists: Bayne Pettinger, Sara Civian, Harrison Browne, Madison Packer

 

Panelists: David Collier, Maggie Riddle, Teodora Ivanova-Limon, Scott Lewis, Jose Diaz

Career Playbooks presentations are given by a wide range of professionals from leagues, teams, and other players in the sports industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear each speaker's unique story of entering and succeeding in the sports industry and learn vital careers lessons as they chart their own career paths. The Playbooks presentations will also include Q&A opportunities for attendees to engage with speakers.

Moderator: Ben Alamar

Panelists: Scott Powers, Ron Yurko, Amanda Glazer, John Tobias

Twenty years ago, when MIT hosted the first Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, only a handful of universities dared to treat sports analytics as a serious field of study rather than a niche hobby. There were no dedicated field journals, few courses nationwide, and almost no faculty willing to risk their careers studying it. Today the academic landscape could not look more different. Dozens of universities now offer majors or minors in sports analytics, field journals are thriving, and tenure-track professors, many with team or league experience, are leading cutting-edge research and training the next generation of practitioners. This panel explores how sports analytics became an academic discipline in record time and where it's headed next. We'll dig into the evolution of curricula, the growing ties between universities and professional teams, and the challenges of keeping education aligned with a rapidly changing industry. Panelists will share how academic programs are shaping (and being shaped by) the sports analytics ecosystem, from research priorities to career pipelines. Whether you're an educator, student, or industry leader, this discussion will dig into how universities are powering the next era of innovation, talent, and collaboration in sports data science.

 

Moderator: Chad Millman

Panelists: Shayne Coplan, Nate Silver, Ric Best

Do prediction markets represent a new frontier for quant-driven fandom and decision-making or just a repackaged version of sports wagering with better branding and bigger datasets? Prediction markets have surged from a niche forecasting tool to one of the fastest-growing products in sports. This panel digs into what's fueling that acceleration: Are prediction markets genuinely improving our ability to forecast sports, or are they simply scaling through broader distribution and retail participation? Panelists will break down the regulatory gray zone these markets occupy, debating whether they are meaningfully different from sports betting, how recent lawsuits and enforcement actions shape public trust, and what the current policy trajectory implies for teams, leagues, and institutional investors. Finally, we'll dig into the consumer experience, from winner-take-most dynamics to the rise of professional traders, and what it means as leagues begin integrating prediction markets directly into fan engagement.

Moderator: Paul Sabin

Panelists: John Hollinger, Craig O'Shannessy, Tobias J. Moskowitz, Ian Graham

In sports, the final scoreboard often lies. A lucky bounce or a referee's call can easily mask the true underlying performance of a team or player. In this panel, we dive into the analytical challenge of separating the "signal" of genuine skill from the "noise" of randomness and environmental factors. Each panelist has devoted their career to extracting signal from noise in a different sport, with different tools, and different stakes. Featuring experts across basketball, soccer, tennis, and finance, this discussion will explore how to isolate true performance, how behavioral biases cloud our judgment, and how to make smarter bets on players, tactics, and strategy.

Moderator: Will Whiston

Panelists: Erin Kelly, Brian Higgins, Dan Stahl, Nick Picadura

For more than a century, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has served as the governing body of college athletics. Today, however, the landscape has fundamentally shifted. With NIL, conference realignment, expanded playoffs, and revenue-sharing models redefining the economic structure of college sports, athletics departments are increasingly operating like professional franchises. In this new era, data is no longer a back-office reporting function - it is a strategic asset. This panel explores how the NCAA and its member institutions are replacing siloed decision-making with enterprise-level business intelligence. From national benchmarking and shared data infrastructure to advanced ticketing strategies like dynamic pricing, yield optimization, CRM activation, and demand forecasting, analytics is directly driving revenue growth. Join Erin Kelly, Brian Higgins, Dan Stahl, and Nick Picadura, as they discuss how institutions are maximizing fan lifetime value and building a more sustainable financial future for college athletics. The new competitive edge isn't just on the field, it's in the data.

Moderator: Adrian Wojnarowski

Panelists: Zack Weiner, Kevin Martinez, Allison Feaster, Megan Rapinoe

Youth sports are at a crossroads, caught between rising competitiveness, professionalized pathways, and the original promise of play as a source of joy, growth, and belonging. This panel brings together leaders shaping that ecosystem from ESPN’s efforts to “Take Back Sports” to Megan Rapinoe’s advocacy for equity and inclusion. We’ll explore what Overtime’s athlete academy reveals about teenage development in an era of NIL, branding, and hyper‑visibility, and what it means to navigate the modern pressures placed on elite young athletes. The panel is moderated by Adrian Wojnarowski, who adds a front‑office lens, breaking down how shifting incentives around recruiting and transfers are reshaping what colleges now look for in 16–17‑year‑olds. Together, the panel interrogates what today’s structures get wrong, and what a healthier, more sustainable model would look like for all kids, not just the elite.

Moderator: Warren K. Zola

Panelists: CJ LaBoy, Arun Thottakara, Kayla Jennings Poston, Dan Murphy

The college sports landscape has become a high-stakes marketplace. With NIL money, transfer freedom, and professional contracts all on the table, today’s athletes are navigating complex decisions that blend loyalty, brand, and long-term career value. This panel will explore how NIL is reshaping the athlete experience, from agents entering the fold to players weighing whether to stay, transfer, or go pro, and what it means for teams trying to keep rosters together in this new era.

This panel builds on last year’s SSAC conversation around the emergence of GM-style roles in college athletics by shifting the focus to the athletes themselves. As NIL ecosystems mature, the next frontier is understanding how players and the agents and advisors around them are navigating a dynamic landscape of brand deals, transfer decisions, and early professional opportunities. It brings new perspectives to the table in a rapidly evolving space that no one can quite figure out yet.

 

Moderator: Jessica Gelman

Panelist: Don Garber

Over the past 25+ years, Don Garber has overseen the transformation of the Major League Soccer (MLS) from a small and fragile league into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise with global relevance, soccer-specific stadiums, record franchise valuations, and a landmark global media partnership. In this one-on-one conversation moderated by Jessica Gelman, Garber will reflect on the defining inflection points of his tenure: expansion strategy, investor relations, media innovation, talent development, and navigating moments of existential risk.

The discussion will also turn toward the future. As MLS enters a new era shaped by global competition, shifting media economics, data-driven decision-making, and the 2026 World Cup, what should the league’s next chapter look like? What leadership capabilities will matter most in a commissioner transition? And how should MLS balance commercial growth with competitive credibility on the global stage?

This conversation offers a rare look at long-term sports leadership: what it takes to build a league, and how to prepare it for what comes next.