SSAC

Basketball Analytics: Hunting for Unicorns

Zach Lowe – Senior Writer & NBA Columnist, ESPN

Mike Zarren – Assistant General Manager & Team Counsel, Boston Celtics

Paul Pierce – NBA Analyst, ESPN

Bob Myers – GM & President of Basketball Operations, Golden State Warriors

Howard Beck (Moderator) – Senior Writer, Bleacher Report

 

The game of basketball changes quickly – so in an era of three-point shooting, floor spacing, and versatility, it’s natural to wonder what the next iteration of the game will look like. Forecasting the relative value of future player types will be of the utmost significance for any franchise looking for that one special player to take the next step in their evolution. This panel will examine the ways in which teams are leveraging analytics to answer these questions and address other top-of-mind issues such as lineup optimization, “position-less basketball”, as well as finding and exploiting inefficiencies in an increasingly intelligent NBA.

Soccer Analytics: Shaping the Future of the Game (Presented by OptaPro)

Brian Bilello – President, New England Revolution

Kristine Lilly – Former United States Women’s National Soccer Team Member

Ben Mackriell – Head of OptaPro

Isaac Guerrero – Technical Director, FC Barcelona Football School

Grant Wahl (Moderator) – Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated

 

As the beautiful game continues to adapt to the rise of analytics, player positions are evolving in accordance with these changes. With the rise of data collection at the back of this impending revolution, new methods of evaluating player value, contracts, and incentives are coming to the forefront. While the game moves away from formal positional roles, teams uncover what skillsets were previously under- or overvalued. As the sport sits at the precipice of thrilling analytical revolution, every element of the sport from training to game strategy stands to change. This panel brings together perspectives from across the sport to discuss the state of the game today and where soccer goes from here.

Data is the New Black: Building Data-Driven Organizations

Maryann Turcke – COO, NFL

Amy Howe – President of Ticketmaster, North America

Jessica Gelman – CEO, Kraft Analytics Group

Mike Zarren – Assistant GM & Team Counsel, Boston Celtics

Michele Steele (Moderator) – Studio Anchor & Reporter, ESPN

 

Traditional management principles need to be revised—data is shaping the way in which best-in-class organizations build teams, drive strategy, maximize revenue, and create culture. What are the challenges in acquiring and analyzing data in sports? How can organizations be best structured to ensure consistency of data across the organization and the ability sift through endless quantities of information to define impactful insights about their businesses? This panel brings together industry leaders who have led, are leading, and are at the forefront of redefining how data can be the heart of decision-making and innovation.

Making the Modern Athlete: A Conversation with David Epstein and Malcolm Gladwell

David Epstein – Science Writer & Investigative Reporter

Malcolm Gladwell - Author

 

Authors Malcolm Gladwell and David Epstein meet again, five years since their initial 10,000 Hours vs. The Sports Gene talk, to resurface the important and long-standing question of whether nature or nurture determines one’s athletic success. In this one-on-one discussion, Gladwell and Epstein sit down to evaluate what has changed, including Epstein’s latest argument that contrary to popular belief, generalists are the ones who actually succeed in a specialized world.

Direct-to-Consumer: Disrupting & Engaging Today’s Sports Fans (Presented by Rakuten)

Kat Frederick – CMO, Ticketmaster

John Forese – Chief Product & Data Officer, Rakuten Intelligence

Portia Archer – VP of Direct to Consumer Services, NBC Sports

Jennifer Ferron – Chief Marketing Officer, Kraft Sports & Entertainment

Carolyn Tisch Blodgett – Senior VP & Head of Global Brand Marketing, Peloton

Kristen Bernert (Moderator) – SVP Business Operations, MSG Sports

 

The ability to create and view content on-the-go has changed how fans engage with their favorite teams on game days and beyond. With closer access and more real-time insights, the amount of data available to personalize and customize the fan experience has evolved as quickly as the emerging technologies giving teams, media companies, partners, and brands unparalleled consumer insights. Learn how companies are broadening their content offerings and define how best to engage an audience accustomed to microtargeted suggestions and on-demand experiences. This panel will explore how companies are differentiating themselves through their content offerings, fostering customer loyalty, and using a growing fan desire to be continuously engaged to generate revenue, subscriptions, and sales.

Metrics are the Mike: Football Analytics

Kevin Demoff – COO & EVP of Football Operations, Los Angeles Rams

Warren Sharp – Founder, Sharp Football Analysis & Sharp Football Stats

Karim Kassam – Analytics Coordinator, Pittsburgh Steelers

Mina Kimes (Moderator) – Senior Writer & Columnist, ESPN

 

Football is rapidly shedding its reputation for being slow in the uptake and application of advanced analytics, as today’s teams are more readily harnessing the power of data to inform their decision making. Hear from some of the brightest minds in the game as they tackle today’s most pressing topics, including how newly available league-wide tracking data is shaping in-game strategy and team building, what mechanisms are being put in place by teams to handle today’s onslaught of information flow, and of course debate over which stats matter most for player evaluation in the modern game.

Achievement Unlocked: Esports Analytics

Nicole Pike – Global Managing Director, Nielsen Esports

Sebastian Park – Vice President of Esports, Clutch Gaming

Doug Watson – Head of Esports Insights, Riot Games

Kasra Jafroodi – Senior Business Analyst, Strategy & Analytics, Activision Blizzard

Ed Chang – Director of Business Strategy, EA

Ryan Garfat (Moderator) – Senior Editor – Esports, ESPN

 

A multitude of esports leagues and tournaments are thriving globally across various blockbuster games. With the start of another exciting year for the esports industry, sponsorship, marketing, and activation agreements with the leading games continue to grow. Getting visibility into the performance and ROI of these partnerships isn’t always simple. Esports leagues and teams navigate performance metrics in unique ways in the online digital space – coming up with creative, but fair methods of measuring value and league health. In this panel, industry thought leaders will shine a light on how esports league work with sponsorship partners to generate insights, establish trust, and help brands find the best opportunities to engage with fans.

Do Athletes Need the Media?

Larry Fitzgerald – Wide Receiver, Arizona Cardinals

Jeanie Buss – Owner, Los Angeles Lakers

Adam Hansmann – Founder, The Athletic

Katie Nolan – Host, ESPN

Jack McCallum (Moderator) – Special Contributor, Sports Illustrated

 

Until recently, athletes were completely reliant on journalists to communicate with fans, and consequently their stories were told through someone else’s lens. Today, the media landscape has fundamentally shifted. Athletes own and curate their image, leading to many channels of direct interaction and unprecedented proximity to fans. A number of athletes have clearly reaped the benefits, making their personalities and the work they do on and off the field more visible than ever. However, it is not just the good side that has become more visible, and the absence of the media’s filter has led to regretful mistakes and miscommunication. While athletes today have more ways to tell their own stories, does that replace the role of traditional sports media? This panel brings together the pioneers of this movement and those that leverage the new paradigm to its fullest.

Unlocking Potential: The Next Generation of Tracking Data (Presented by STATS)

Patrick Lucey – Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, STATS

Kirk Goldsberry – NBA Analyst, ESPN

Rachel Marty Pyke – Data Scientist, Noah Basketball

Chris Capuano – Former MLB Pitcher

Shira Springer (Moderator) – Sports and Society Reporter, NPR & WBUR

 

Player tracking technologies in the past decade have provided information that was once unattainable—the distance and speed a player runs in a game, effectiveness against certain defenders, the game situations which are most likely to produce a fast break, and so much more. As the technologies behind player tracking improve, much more information can now be captured: the skeleton of every player in every frame; tracking data for every college or high-school game; or data from historical games (e.g. comparing the performance of Jordan, Gretzky or Maradonna against the current greats). What does this evolving category of information mean for sports? How can teams, leagues, media and fans benefit from the next generation and scale of data being captured? This panel brings together thought leaders across sports and the tracking-data space to discuss these questions and explore the implications of this rapidly expanding industry.

Skin in the Game: Sports Gambling’s Emergence in the US

Sharon Otterman – Chief Marketing Officer, William Hill

Doug Kezirian – Sports Betting Analyst, ESPN

Matteo Monteverdi – President, Sportradar US

Andrew Ashenden – CCO, Perform

Kip Levin – President and COO, FanDuel

Jeff Ma (Moderator) – SVP, Product & Analytics, Duetto

 

The moment millions of fans have been waiting for is finally here: sports betting is legal in a few of the 50 U.S. states and is only expected to become more widely accepted. The implications of this new era for fans and leagues are massive. This panel will explore the opportunities and pitfalls that legalized sports betting has for organizations including how the growth of gambling will impact the fan experience, its effectiveness at increasing engagement in low-viewership sports, how entities will keep gambling democratic, and who the winners and losers will be after the dust settles.