SSAC

In the Trenches of Football Analytics

Sarah Mallepalle - Player Personnel Analyst, Baltimore Ravens

Kevin Demoff - Chief Operating Officer, Los Angeles Rams

Mitch Schwartz - Former Offensive Tackle, Kansas City Chiefs

Brian Burke - Senior Analytics Specialist, ESPN

Kevin Clark (moderator) - Staff Writer, The Ringer

Although NFL executives may have been slower to embrace the analytics movement than their counterparts in MLB and NBA, 2021 marked the first year that every team in the league had a dedicated analytics staffer and was capped with the first GM hire from a true analytics background in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. With every passing year, there are cutting-edge statistics being developed: Completion Percentage Over Expectation, Pass and Run Block Win Rate, among others. Join former All-Pro lineman Mitchell Schwartz, LA Rams COO Kevin Demoff, Ravens analyst Sarah Mallepalle and ESPN analytics expert Brian Burke to explore the different ways NFL teams are using analytics from roster-building to playcaling, with a special emphasis on what has for a long time been very tough to quantify: line play.

On a Finger Roll: Where the Basketball Analytics Movement Goes Next

Allison Feaster - VP of Player Development & Organizational Growth, Boston Celtics 

Haralabos Voulgaris - Former Director of Quantitative Research and Development, Dallas Mavericks 

Katherine Evans - VP of Research and Information Systems, Monumental Sports & Entertainment 

Kirk Goldsberry - NBA Analyst, ESPN

Kevin Arnovitz (moderator) - NBA Writer, ESPN.com 

The NBA analytics revolution has happened: big men are shooting more three-pointers, mid-range shots have declined, and small ball lineups have seen their heyday. Now, the pace of change is slower; in fact, the number of made three-pointers and number of free-throws per game has actually declined this year. How is analytics movement evolving and why? This panel brings together high-profile figures in the basketball analytics community to discuss what further insights can be derived from the ever-increasing amounts of data available to teams.

Transgender Athletes: A Conversation Led by Malcolm Gladwell on Data and Participation Policy

Ross Tucker - Sports Scientist

Katie Barnes - Feature Writer, ESPN

Joanna Harper - PhD, Loughborough University

Malcolm Gladwell (moderator) - Author

 

Data brings important insights to better ground discussions, especially the conversation of transgender athletes. Transgender athletes are increasingly competing at the highest levels, raising the need for data to define fair play. More nuanced discussions around regulation, legislation, and overall competition are becoming commonplace. Recently, the IOC released new guidelines on Olympic participation and US states have shifted their policy under the Biden Administration further resurfacing tough conversations. Access to sports is vital for key learnings: experiencing a team, the empowerment one feels in times of triumph, and the lessons we learn in times of failure. Join Malcolm Gladwell as he leads a conversation on the path forward for the inclusion of transgender athletes in sports.

Power of Athletics on Society: 50 Years of Title IX presented by Wasserman

Miguel Cardona - U.S. Secretary of Education

Maura Healey - Massachusetts Attorney General

Laurie Hernandez - American Artistic Gymnast

Sue Bird - Point Guard, Seattle Storm

Shira Springer (moderator) - Journalist and Lecturer, Boston University & MIT Sloan 

Sports inspire us to fight harder, train longer, and continuously strive to be the best. The lessons learned through sport are often the foundation for success later in life. Since Title IX passed in 1972, women have increasingly gained traction in leadership positions across the United States. As a law rooted in equal opportunity and prohibiting discrimination based on sex, Title IX has changed the landscape in sports and across industries. Yet, the fight for equality in sports is not over and battles continue over the law. Hear from government and policy leaders Miguel Cardona and Maura Healy alongside professional athletes Sue Bird and Laurie Hernandez on the impact to date, the current fight for law protection, and why the future of Title IX is more important than ever.

Alternative Investing: Teams and SPACs

Josh Harris - Co-Founder, Apollo Global Management, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment

 

Billy Beane - Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, Oakland A's

 

John Collins - CEO, SEAH

 

Jason Robins - Chief Executive Officer, DraftKings

 

Saj Cherian (moderator) - Partner, Kynetic

 

As sports values continue to accelerate, the interest and opportunities to invest in organizations around sports has intensified. From SPACs to team valuations to minority investments, the money around sports in 2021 already rivals all of 2020. As digital engagement grows, the value and means to capitalize on sports as owners, leagues, and investors identify new ways to raise funds. Sports are looking to take advantage of a high performing Wall Street despite major challenges on Main Street. Learn from the experts who are early adopters of SPACs, buying assets, creating investing arms, or going public to take advantage of this frothy market. Billy Beane, John Collins, Josh Harris, and Jason Robins will discuss their strategies and the future of sports as an alternative investment vehicle.

A Conversation with Mark Cuban and Andy Slavitt

Mark Cuban - Owner, Dallas Mavericks

 

Andy Slavitt - Senior Advisor, White House COVID Response Team

 

Nate Silver - Editor-in-Chief, FiveThirtyEight

 

Of all the aspects of everyday life that data has transformed, perhaps nowhere was the impact more deeply felt than in healthcare. As friends and two leading public voices, Andy Slavitt and Mark Cuban will discuss healthcare and the role data has had, and will continue to have, in improving care and society at large. While data has revolutionized health for everyone, Andy and Mark will narrow in what data has taught us about the health of athletes, who come from diverse backgrounds, experience higher physical and mental health risks, and are exposed to inconsistent healthcare experiences.

The Data Dangle: Hockey Analytics

Meghan Chayka - Co-Founder & CEO, Stathletes

 

Alexandra Mandrycky - Director of Hockey Strategy and Research, Seattle Kraken

 

Hilary Knight - Professional Hockey Player, US Women's National Ice Hockey Team

 

John Buccigross (moderator) - SportsCenter Anchor, ESPN

 

The amount of data available to NHL teams has exploded over the last year as player and puck tracking officially entered the rink. By some estimates, tracked players and pucks produce a total of 2,200 data points per second. Will this be data overload for a sport that has only recently embraced the use of analytics to drive on-ice value? And how do video analytics complement - or compete with - tracking data? How are expansion teams emphasizing data from day one to build a franchise? And what will it take to convince players, many of whom pushed back on the quality of pucks with tracking technology, to embrace analytics? This panel will dive into the world of hockey analytics, examining how teams are using the abundance of new information to help inform player personnel decisions, in-game coaching strategy, and scouting, amongst other things.

Sabermetrics vs. The World: Are Analytics Baseball‘s Answer?

Bill James - Former Senior Baseball Operations Advisor, Boston Red Sox

 

Meg Rowley - Managing Editor, FanGraphs

 

Sarah Gelles - Director of Research and Development, Houston Astros

 

Josh Ruffin - Advanced Scouting Analyst, Minnesota Twins

 

Ben Lindbergh (moderator) - Staff Writer, The Ringer

 

Soon after the 2020 World Series, fundamentalist fans were quick to point to baseball’s overreliance on analytics as one of the reasons the Tampa Bay Rays lost. Baseball has always been on the bleeding edge of sports analytics, but where does the edge end? This panel aims to examine the fine line between when to make managerial decisions on gut feel, versus when to stick to the data. Did the 2020 World Series serve as a catalyst for changes to the game going forward, or will managers shrug off pressure from the media?

Super Glue: Investigating Basketball Culture vs. Analytics

David Fizdale - Former Head Coach, New York Knicks

 

Shane Battier - Vice President Basketball Development & Analytics, Miami Heat

 

Zach Lowe - Senior Writer, ESPN

 

Adrian Wojnarowski (moderator) - Senior NBA Insider, ESPN

 

Analytics have revolutionized sports to identify new strategies and help evaluate players, but what about intangibles? How do we evaluate the ‘glue’ players that play a pivotal role in the locker room, but whose names are not necessarily atop the stat sheet, or the hustle that does not get marked down but leads to a steal breakaway? This panel examines how teams try to put numbers on these vital moments for teams. Hear from coaches, players, and the journalists who report out on the ‘culture codes’ of teams as they discuss the analytics behind culture and the potential to measure these ‘glue’ players.

A Conversation with Andrew Yang and Nate Silver

Nate Silver - Editor-in-Chief, FiveThirtyEight

 

Andrew Yang - New York City Mayoral Candidate

 

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang likes MATH. So does Nate Silver. In this special one-on-one conversation, hear from Yang as he reflects on life since his 2020 presidential campaign, the role of data in reaching voters, and what it was like to be a Knicks fan in the Jeremy Lin era.