SSAC

Greg Kim - Director of Esports, Evil Geniuses

 

Tal Shachar - Former Chief Digital Officer, Immortals

 

Emily Rand - Analyst, League Championship Series

 

Doug Watson - Head of Esports Insights, Riot Games

 

Ryan Friedman (moderator) - Former Chief of Staff, Dignitas

 

The Moneyball mentality has expanded from baseball to most traditional sports, as teams look for any edge that they can get on the field. Esports leagues and teams are no different. Coaches and players fight over seemingly small details such as 8 or 40 ping and teams have built departments dedicated to player assessment and health. Initial esports rosters formed as friends who wanted to play together but esports has evolved to a more calculated approach when evaluating and signing talent. At the same time, player salaries have grown from mousepads to multi-million-dollar contracts. In this panel, industry leaders will discuss the growth of competitive analysis in esports and how teams have advanced their roster building strategies.

Stephanie McMahon - Chief Brand Officer, WWE

 

Steve Pagliuca - Co-Chairman, Bain Capital

 

Burke Magnus - Executive Vice President Programming and Original Content, ESPN

 

Scott Soshnick (moderator) - Editor-in-Chief, Sportico

 

From engineering interactive viewing experiences to orchestrating virtual drafts, the production value of live sports skyrocketed when watching from home was the only option for most fans. While fans love the new changes, we rarely get a peek behind the curtain at what leagues and teams do to drastically shift their traditional production methods. This panel highlights the behind-the-scenes work of leagues and their broadcast partners to produce engaging live events when confronted with COVID.

Jordan Palmer - Quarterback Coach and Former NFL Quarterback, QB Summit

 

Kevin Meers - Zelus Analytics, Football Strategy Fellow

 

Field Yates (moderator) - Insider & Co-Host, ESPN

 

In 2020, we witnessed the emergence of unexpected NFL quarterback stars alongside a carousel of moves. Listen in for an in-depth, end-to-end analysis on what it means to be a quarterback and what the role entails. Our panel of football experts will look at how analytics can be used to evaluate, scout, and improve quarterbacks, as well as make the ever-important decision of whether to tag or move on from a player.

Jennifer Shahade - Chess Grandmaster and Director, US Chess Women

 

Hikaru Nakamura - Chess Grandmaster

 

Robert Hess - Chess Grandmaster, Coach, and Commentator

 

Daryl Morey - President of Basketball Operations, Philadelphia 76ers

 

Danny Rensch (moderator) - Chief Chess Officer, Chess.com

 

The queen is arguably the most important piece on the chess board, and The Queen’s Gambit has been the sport’s MVP in a year of surging popularity. More than the flavor of the moment, strategic nuances have kept chess relevant for centuries while an institutional embrace of technology has transformed competition for the 21st century. New formats bring new opportunities for strategies and analytics while the current momentum begs us to ask, what’s next? And even more importantly, what can other sports learn from chess? Hear from the most forward thinkers in chess as they discuss these issues.

Mark Walker - Senior Vice President Content Business Development and Innovation, ESPN

 

Jeff Bennett - VP Stats and Information, ESPN

 

Dayveon Ross - Co-Founder and President, Shot Tracker

 

Kevin Lopes (moderator) - Senior Director of Content Business Development & Innovation, ESPN

 

Data analysis and presentation is an increasingly important part of fan expectation and sports consumption. This discussion will be rooted in how ESPN can create new high-quality analyses to enhance fan experience powered by low latency player tracking tech. Tune in to hear our executive panel discuss how they plan to innovate the presentation of live sports leveraging partnerships with industry leading technology companies.

Rob Smedley - Director of Data Systems, Formula One Management Ltd.

 

Jennifer Langton - Senior Vice President of Health and Safety Innovation, NFL

 

Priya Ponnapalli - Senior Manager and Principal Scientist, Amazon Machine Learning Solutions Lab

 

Will Lopes - CEO, Catapult

 

Ben Fischer (moderator) - Writer, Sports Business Journal

 

How are advances in technology and data changing the sports world? In this panel, we dissect the impact of improvements in data technology on sports innovation. We will dive deeper into how advances such as NFL Next Gen have allowed for improved strategy and how advancements in digital products allow for better fan experiences. Sports teams and organizations are ingesting more data than ever and at a faster pace -- what does this mean for the future of sports?

Isa Guha - Presenter & Commentator, BBC Sport

 

Gary Kirsten - International Cricket Coach

 

Rahul Dravid - Director of Cricket Operations, National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru

 

Alok Singh - Director Global Strategy & Transformation, Dell Technologies

 

Cricket has grown in popularity as a sport throughout the years. In 2020, the Indian Premier League (IPL) became the first sports tournament to surpass 400 billion viewing minutes and new leagues continue to be created in new markets. But can this old sport catch up to less-tenured leagues that have leaned on analytics and advanced technologies to elevate their level of play? Hear from players and change agents from the world of cricket discuss how this globally beloved sport is playing catch up by using data and in-game technology to further develop the sport.

Wendell Holland - Founder, Beve Unlimited

 

Rick Devens - Former Contestant, Survivor

 

Sophie Clark - Former Winner, Survivor

 

Christian Hubicki - Roboticist and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

 

Rob Cesternino (moderator) - Host and Creator, Rob Has a Podcast

 

Since it first aired on American television screens in 2000, Survivor has captivated audiences. With over 40 seasons and nearly 600 episodes, Survivor boasts 7 Emmys on 63 nominations, and was listed as one of Time magazine’s 100 greatest TV shows of all time. The show has gone to incredible lengths to ensure that previously successful strategies aren’t repeated - but what does the data say? From finding immunity tokens to forming alliances, this panel brings together some of the most famous Survivor players to examine what it takes to be Sole Survivor.

Brian Burke - Senior Sports Analyst, ESPN

 

Nick Caserio - General Manager, Houston Texans

 

Kevin Demoff - Chief Operating Officer, Los Angeles Rams

 

Kevin Clark (moderator) - NFL Reporter, The Ringer

 

With COVID nearly cancelling the college football season and ruling out pro-days for many schools, NFL front offices were left scrambling to fill out their draft boards. However, the rise of tracking data in college football, as well as indications that traditional metrics, such as the 40 yard dash time, may not be as predictive of pro success as once thought, has changed the way front offices evaluate talent. Our panel of analytics writers, coaches, and front office executives provide their unique perspectives on the current and future states of analytics for player evaluation and development in the NFL.

Nate Silver - Editor-in-Chief, FiveThirtyEight

 

Andrew Friedman - President of Baseball Operations, LA Dodgers

 

Sue Bird - Athlete, Seattle Storm

 

Daryl Morey - President of Basketball Operations, Philadelphia 76ers

 

Jessica Gelman - CEO, Kraft Analytics Group

 

15 years ago, the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was launched and massively accelerated the phenomenon of sports analytics. As we look ahead 15 years, this panel of analytics leaders and luminaries will make bold predictions about the future of sports analytics...all with a side of Trash Talking. Joined by Nate Silver, Andrew Friedman, and Sue Bird, SSAC Co-Founders and Trash Talking podcast hosts Jessica Gelman and Daryl Morey will bring the fun with predictions, games, and finally settling, which sport has the best rules.