The numbers game

Achieving that elusive extra 1 per cent of performance has become a watchword for elite sports, and technology is the tool of choice to mine for those marginal gains. The growing use of data in sport is changing how sport is played and perceived.

Those changes can be small but significant: the Houston Rockets basketball team adjusted its tactics to create more scoring chances for three-pointers after a statistical analysis uncovered that it was mathematically more valuable to take riskier long shots than supposedly safer two-pointers. Imagine applying that insight to the old GAA saw “take your points and the goals will come”.

Data is also helping fans to deepen their appreciation of the sport they watch. “You see it in tennis where the shot distribution graphic appears on TV at the end of a set, which might tell you that Novak Djokovic has won 63 per cent of serves he put down the left-hand side. If you understand more of the level an athlete is playing at, it adds to your enjoyment,” says Rob Hartnett, chief executive of consultancy Sport for Business.

In many sports, the data that TV companies are integrating into their coverage comes from companies like Opta. Its match analysts capture a range of data in real time such as shots, passes and tackles, which it then makes available in several different ways. It provides information to broadcasters, who use it in their touchscreen graphics or half-time analysis. Journalists can use its query tool when writing post-game analysis pieces.

‘Pub ammo’

One of its more popular venues is Twitter, where the OptaJoe feed gives snappy real-time comments on Premier League matches. "Everyone's obsessed with the terminology of storytelling. OptaJoe delivers little nuggets that give you, as a fan, a bit of 'pub ammo'. Lots of people are interested in the data, but if you can put it into context and make it understandable, they might not even realise it's data that they're engaging with," says Opta marketing manager Peter Deeley.

Since starting more than 20 years ago, the UK company has evolved into capturing performance data for football, rugby union and league, cricket, baseball, American football, NBA basketball and NHL ice hockey. For the past six years, Opta has also provided services and consulting directly to professional teams that want to analyse data at a deeper level. That’s no coincidence: there’s a growing correlation between using data in the backroom and achievements on the pitch.

Leinster Rugby has enthusiastically adopted technology over the past decade – just as it's happened to enjoy a run of success in domestic and international competition. It uses uses technology developed in Ireland by Statsports, which is at the vanguard of tech companies bringing new levels of insight to sport. It has developed a wearable device that measures a player's training or game performance in real-time. The technology captures millions of data points per player per session, from simple measures like distance, speed, acceleration and deceleration to more complex metrics like step balance, which is the weight that a player places on their left and right foot. High metabolic load distance is another measure that checks all aspects of a player's movement – the short, sharp bursts that can take a heavy toll on the body.

‘Peak condition’

The goal of collecting all this data is simple, says Richard Byrne, Statsports’ head of business development. “For us, it’s about having players in peak condition for match day, and conditioning the training and physical load on individuals during the week. If you have certain players who are more prone to injury, this helps to tailor their training. You want them as fresh as they can be.”

One European football team used Statsports' data to reduce soft tissue injuries by 50 per cent in a single season. That same year, the team won the Champions League. Statsports doesn't claim credit for a team's success; all Byrne will say is: "Our technology keeps the better players on the pitch for longer."

Statsports recently launched a consumer version of its wearable vest, joining the ranks of tools like fitness tracking apps, smart watches and other wearable tech that lets amateur athletes and enthusiasts emulate their sporting heroes. The research company IDC estimates this market is worth close to $5 billion.

Rob Hartnett says this trend echoes how parts of Nasa technology subsequently found their way into everyday life. "Sport has always been very traditional, yet it's at the cutting edge of media, physical performance and health. Sport in 2018 is almost what the space race was 50 years ago. It's where innovation is happening, and where the most remarkable technology is being tried, tested and adopted," he says.