The Sloan Sports Analytics Conference showcases cutting-edge research that is frequently featured in top media outlets throughout the world and has even changed the way sports are analyzed. The Research Papers Competition is an ideal way to build your reputation within the field of sports analytics.
This year’s competition will feature six sports tracks – Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Football, Business of Sports, and Other Sports.
Abstract Submissions for SSAC25 are now closed.
Abstracts are selected based on the novelty, academic rigor, and impact of the research.
All submissions are required to be open-source and a link to the author's GitHub repository or other repository supporting the research will be required.
Please refer to our Research Papers Rules page for full details on the submission and evaluation process. We look forward to reading your contribution!
The competition consists of the following phases:
Authors submit abstracts. Based on the judged merits of their abstract submissions, a select group of authors will be invited to submit full manuscripts.
Invited authors submit full manuscripts. Referees will evaluate every manuscript, and authors of the best submissions will be invited to give a presentation on their findings at the conference. The referees will also select a separate set of authors who will be invited to present their work during a poster session.
a. Presentations
Invited authors will present their findings during the first day of the conference. Based on the quality of the presentation and manuscript, one paper per sports track (see tracks below) and one wildcard will be selected to present at the conference in front of a panel of industry experts. The judge scores will be tabulated and the winners will be announced following presentations.
b. Poster Competition
All posters selected for the conference will be entered into a competition for Best Poster, determined by a combination of a fan and judges vote during the weekend of the conference.
Note: this competition is independent of the presentation finals, and none of the posters will advance to the presentation finals.
Abstract submission due – Oct. 01, 2024, 11:59 p.m. EST
Full paper requests sent out – Mid-October 2024
Full paper submission due (if selected) – Nov. 29, 2024, 11:59 p.m. EST
Finalists and posters announced – Mid-January 2025
Submission of poster (if selected) – Early-February 2025
Submission of presentation (if selected) – Mid-February 2025
Conference presentations (if selected) – Conference Day
For the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, the Research Papers competition has been a tremendous opportunity for researchers to both share their work with the community and improve the application of analytics across sports. We are excited to continue requiring all papers to be open-source for SSAC 2025 to further the impact of the great work of researchers in the industry.
Open-source research helps advance our mission to democratize analytics in sports by allowing researchers to build on top of the models and methods of their peers, both amplifying the effect of their research and better enabling widespread adoption of their work. We strongly believe that continued research into sports analytics is what makes our games more exciting and participants more effective.
All papers will be required to submit a link to the team's GitHub repository, or another open-source repository, with the data used to conduct the research. This should include any publicly available data or private data used in the research. For any private / proprietary data, please use your best judgement to anonymize any personal information before sharing publicly. The code running the models is not required to be submitted, but is encouraged, as it contributes to the communal spirit of open-source work by which researchers build off of each other's work to further the application of analytics across sports.
Based on abstract content, all submissions will be entered into one of the following Sports Tracks:
Abstract submissions should be submitted online, and must use the following guidelines:
The conference seeks submissions that report research pertaining to the use of analytics in the sports industry. We are open to contributions ranging from evaluating players and game strategies, to examining the success factors for sports business. In the abstract and full paper submission process, research will be evaluated on, but not necessarily limited to, the following criteria:
In evaluating presentation finalists at the 2024 SSAC, the above factors will be supplemented by the following criteria, as judged by a panel of academics and industry executives from team management and sports business operations:
The Research Papers team will review all abstracts. The Review Committee will evaluate all manuscript submissions. The Review Committee consists of the Research Papers team, as well as academic professors and experts from top universities in fields including statistics, information sciences, and economics. The industry panel that makes the final winner selection will decide on the basis of the paper and the presentation at the 2024 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. In these final evaluations, more weight will be given to the final presentation, specifically the highlighted application and impact of the research.
Our objective is to ensure an unbiased evaluation of submissions throughout the process. We are aware that members of the evaluation committee may have had relationships with authors who have submitted papers. When possible, potential conflicts of interest are avoided by minimizing the review of research by the following:
All potential conflicts of interest will be managed as best as possible while still maintaining the quality of the review process. Final reviews will occur without knowledge of the names of the authors.
All authors retain ownership rights to the research and the right to publish the research after the conference. Upon submission, authors grant access to 42 Analytics to make their research available for public viewing online and in print, for conference use for the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from third parties to reprint copyrighted information such as data, tables, or figures that may be protected by copyright.
Short Abstract:
In recent years, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and data collection technologies have revolutionized sports analytics, enabling deeper insights into athletic performance that were previously unattainable. Badminton, a fast-paced and strategy-intensive sport, involves rapid decision-making and complex rally dynamics, making it a challenging yet ideal candidate for exploring the integration of AI in sports analysis. Badminton analysis typically focuses on shuttlecock landing trajectories, player movement patterns, shot type selection, and strategic planning. Accurate analysis is crucial for understanding player decision-making and providing actionable insights, both for in-game tactics and pre-match training. Effective sports analytics can help athletes address weaknesses, exploit strengths, and optimize on-court performance through targeted preparation.
Author(s):
Peng, Wen-Chih; Wang, Kuang-Da; Xie, Bo-Zhou; Chen, Yu-An; Tsai, Cheng-Shiuan; Doong, Shao-Jyun; Hung, Jun-Chen
Short Abstract:
In the past decade, Ultimate Frisbee – commonly known as ‘ultimate’ –has transformed from a largely amateur sport to a professional arena with dedicated athletes and multiple leagues including the Ultimate Frisbee Association, the Premier Ultimate League, and the Western Ultimate League. Unlike established professional sports with sophisticated analytical frameworks like baseball's sabermetrics or football's Next Gen Stats, ultimate has historically relied on basic counting statistics such as goals, assists, and blocks, with analysis often limited to post hoc volunteer-tracked metrics. The emergence of professional leagues has been pivotal in driving more thorough data collection, with new tracking systems now capturing unprecedented detail –recording aspects of every throw, including thrower and receiver location, throw outcome, and game time. Despite these advancements, analytics in ultimate are still underdeveloped, leaving room for more refined methods to assess player contributions and team strategy.
Author(s):Eberhard, Braden; Miller, Jacob
Short Abstract:
In recent years, electronic sports (esports) have gained popularity, extending the existing landscape of the sports industry. Counter Strike 2 (CS2), a first-person shooter team game, stands as one of the most prominent esports titles in 2024.In this esport, two teams face off within a match, taking turns as attackers (Terrorists - Ts) and defenders (Counter Terrorists - CTs). A match consists of2-minute rounds where Ts must plant a bomb at one of two bomb sites, while CTs must prevent it or defuse the bomb. The first team to win 13 rounds wins the match. With tournaments organized in front of large audiences and professional teams competing for substantial prize pools, the stakes of the professional scene are high. Despite these facts and the abundance of available data, only a few artificial intelligence-driven solutions have been explored so far regarding individual and team performance enhancement, and it has not yet gained much popularity in practical use.
Author(s):
Sungmin Szmida, Patrik Peter; Toka, Laszlo Hong
Short Abstract:
Offensive linemen play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of pass plays in football, yet their contributions are often undervalued or misunderstood. Traditional analytics tools rely heavily on correlation-based metrics, which can provide insights but fail to capture the intricate cause-and-effect relationships that define the linemen's impact. For example, while correlation may highlight an association between quarterback pressures and incomplete passes, it does not address the causal pathways linking specific offensive linemen actions to these outcomes. This gap in understanding limits the precision and utility of such metrics for decision-making in player evaluation, development, and in-game strategies.
Author(s):
Jenkins, Ben
Short Abstract:
In soccer, penalty kicks (PKs) are taken with fair regularity (~ once in four matches) and often constitute high-leverage, or game-pivotal, events given the sport’s low-scoring nature. In a tabulation of 294,970 international, professional league, and professional cup match results recorded on footystats.org, we find that 1-0 and 1-1 are the most common professional full-time match scorelines, occurring 17.9 and 11 percent of the time, respectively. These outcomes are followed by 2-1 (8.5%) and 0-0 (7.7%). Across all recorded match outcomes, average full-time goals per professional match are 2.85. In the 2022-23 EPL, matches averaged 0.26 PKs and 0.194 PK conversions, equivalent to about 6.8% of goals scored according to tabulations of data from transfermarket.com. In 2023-24, this percentage rose to 7.6%. Herein, we examine whether professional penalty-takers strictly optimize on expected conversion-rate when choosing shot location, or whether behavioral considerations, such as “looking credible” by not missing the goal space entirely, are also at play.
Author(s):
Uribe, Alivia; Sanders, Shane; Ehrlich, Justin; Reade, James J.; Singleton, Carl
Short Abstract:
The intricate duel between pitcher and batter lies at the heart of baseball, where each pitch can significantly alter the trajectory of a game. Predicting the outcome of individual pitches is a fundamental challenge with profound implications for optimizing defensive alignments, pitch sequencing, and overall game strategy. Traditional analytical methods have predominantly relied on aggregate statistics or heuristic strategies, such as evaluating player-specific batting averages by pitch type or adhering to conventional pitching philosophies like "hard in, soft away". While these approaches offer some insights, they often lack the granularity and adaptability needed to capture the rich context and temporal dependencies inherent in sequences of pitches.
Author(s):
Kneita, Declan
Short Abstract:
Risk assessment of potential recruits is of prime importance to all NBA franchises. Although most scouting focuses on physical performance statistics, there is general agreement that psychological factors also play an important role in determining success. Accurate psychological assessment of potential recruits can be difficult due to limited access to athletes, the time required to complete the assessments, and the self-reporting nature of traditional psychology questionnaires. In this paper we explore applications of language psychology metrics using machine learning and survival analysis techniques to predict success in the NBA. We found that we could predict which athletes would make it onto an NBA roster with an accuracy of 63% without any physical attributes included in the model. In contrast, a model built just using NCAA playing statistics achieved an accuracy of 78%, and combining physical statistics with the psychological features boosted the performance to 83%. Adding in physical attributes such as age, height and weight, along with the NCAA conference the athlete played in increased the accuracy further to 87%.
Author(s):
Farrell, Sean; Laity, Ethan; Laughlin, Dave; Pennebaker, James W.
Short Abstract:
Methods to assess the ongoing financial performance of invested monies are essential for financial analysts. Examples are ubiquitous: mutual fund fact sheets report historical returns, publicly-traded companies report quarterly earnings to shareholders, and lenders report on defaulted and delinquent loans. In the vast majority of these cases, both the cash inflows and outflows of invested capital may be recorded as market prices. This makes the financial return calculations rudimentary.
Author(s):
Lautier, Jackson
Short Abstract:
It’s the last five seconds of regulation, and your team trails by one point, but the ball is in your hands. Tick, tick. The defense is physical and smothering. Tick. You pull up for the game winning shot. Tick. Ball hits back rim and bounces out... BEEP! What happens next? Hopefully your big got the putback, otherwise, time to pray to the refs for a foul. Everything comes down to Plan B. Traditional shot charts, which focus solely on made baskets, fail to capture these crucial dynamics.
Author(s):
Stephanos, Dembe
Short Abstract:
Pressing is a critical tactical component in modern soccer, enabling teams to disrupt their opponents’ build-up play and create advantageous scoring opportunities. Its prominence has grown in recent years, exemplified by high-performing teams like Liverpool and Manchester City, whose aggressive pressing systems have been instrumental in their success. By applying coordinated pressure on the ball carrier and surrounding players, pressing not only forces errors but also facilitates quick transitions to offensive plays.
Author(s):Lee, Minho; Jaemin, Lee; Geonhee, Joe; Miru, Hong; Pascal, Bauer; Sang-Ki, Ko
Short Abstract:
Data analytics in soccer has seen significant development in recent years. Most elite football clubs employ data analytics departments and many use data to motivate their decisions. The product that is delivered to fans has also changed, with pundits and commentators now regularly citing advanced statistics in broadcasts. In this time many statistics have been developed to judge player performance, but comparatively few to analyze team managers
Author(s):
Ferrridge, George
Short Abstract:
Kickers account for over 30% of scoring in the NFL. All 20 of the NFL’s all-time leading scorers have been kickers. Made and missed field goals commonly determine the outcomes of drives, games, and even entire seasons. Unfortunately, analyses of these vital performances remain inadequate, and conventional place-kicking metrics fail to accurately characterize some of the most noteworthy performances in professional football.
Author(s):
Dube, Lorenzo; Queralt, Samuel; Fink, Joshua; Goldsberry, Kirk
Short Abstract:
At numerous points throughout the course of a baseball game, a team's manager must choose an action from a set of multiple possible actions. For example, before every at-bat they must decide whether to stick with the current batter or replace them with a pinch hitter. They must also decide when to relieve their current pitcher and which reliever to use. These decisions can have a significant effect on the outcome of a game and are often heavily scrutinized and criticized when they seemingly backfire, like Kevin Cash's decision to relieve a hot-handed Blake Snell in Game Six of the 2020 World Series or Aaron Boone's decision to use Nestor Cortes against Freddie Freeman in Game One of the 2024 World Series.
Author(s):
Melville, William; Grimsman, David; Archibald, Christopher
Short Abstract:
Virtual Advertising, first introduced in the mid-1990s in the USA (Sander & Altobelli, 2011; Porter, 2022; Leadsom, 2023a; Goldman,2023), has been significantly advanced by companies such as Supponor, Vizrt, HEGO, Broadcast Virtual, UniqFEED and AE Live, which are at the forefront of its development. This technology allows for the real-time replacement of physical perimeter boards with virtual ones, presenting targeted ads to local broadcast audiences (Supponor, 2020; Turner & Cusumano, 2000; Burgi, 1997). In-person spectators do not see these virtual advertisements, as they are overlaid only on the broadcasted version of the event (Cianfrone et al., 2006). The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of virtual advertising, enabling advertisers to deliver region-specific advertisements tailored to diverse global audiences. As a result, viewers in different parts of the world, such as America and Germany, were presented with different advertisements displayed on the stadium boards (Goldman,2023). Similarly, the 2024 UEFA European Championship highlighted virtual advertising's success, with Coca-Cola tailoring region-specific ads to appeal seamlessly to local preferences in Europe and Asia (PTF Blog, 2024). From then until today, numerous prestigious sports organizations, leagues, and teams across various disciplines, including Football (e.g., UEFA, La Liga, Serie A), Hockey (NHL, IIHF), Rugby (World Rugby, NRL), Cricket (Cricket Australia, New Zealand Cricket), and others, have adopted virtual advertising. Virtual advertising has since expanded its possibilities, offering dynamic, region-specific content delivery, innovative solutions like virtual billboards, seat covers, and on-field graphics, and enabling advertisers to optimize revenue while enhancing viewer engagement and broadcast quality (Broadcast Virtual, Website).
Author(s):
Alexopoulos, Konstantinos; Mochla, Vagia; Tsourvakas, George
Short Abstract:
Since the “super team” era in the NBA started, understanding a basketball player’s offensive adaptability has been crucial to team construction. This holds true of all positions, skill levels, and usage rates. The best, highest usage players are expected to team up with other high usage players and must adapt to each other’s playstyles in a way that maximizes the output from all players. Power forwards and centers are not only expected to grab rebounds and score from in the paint, but also space the floor and score further away from the basket more than ever. The “3” or small forwards are increasingly taking advantage of all the space, running offenses and creating opportunities for others as well as creating their own shots from all areas of the court. Even point guards are getting bigger and stronger, not just shooting from the perimeter but also scoring in the paint when available. Without at least a couple players on the team that are adaptable, it seems that offenses can become stagnant and predictable and star players’ potentials can be wasted.
Author(s):
Mbeledogu, Dubem
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