Career Resources
Articles
Books
- Sports Analytics: A Guide for Coaches, Managers, and Other Decision Makers
- Sport Business Analytics: Using Data to Increase Revenue and Improve Operational Efficiency
Internships/Jobs
Sports Analytics Education
- Analytics Degrees
- Choosing a Sports Analytics Degree
- Data Analytics Certification Guide
- Data Science Programs
- Degrees in Sports
- Guide to Online Master's Programs in Data Science
- How to Become a Data Analyst: A Complete Career Guide
- How to Become a Sports Data Analyst
- Masters in Sports Analytics Guide
Conferences & Journals
- ASA Statistics in Sports Section
- Journal of Qualitative Analysis in Sports
- MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference
- Sportcon: Sports Analytics Conference
- Sports Performance Data & Fan Engagement Summit [Link broken as of 5/2/2022]
- University of South Florida Sports & Entertainment Analytics Conference
Sports Data Sites
NCAA Football
- College Football/Athletics Financial Information Database
- College Football ESPN Fan Happiness Index
- College Football ESPN Stats Site
- College Football Fan Rankings
- College Football FCS Football NCAA Official Stats Site
- College Football Historical Data by Team
- College Football Recruiting ESPN Top 100 Map
- College Football Recruiting Statistics
- College Football Reference (Stats & History)
- College Football Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- College Football Stats (Official NCAA Football Stats Website)
- College Football TV Ratings
NCAA Basketball
- College Basketball/Athletics Financial Information Database
- College Basketball Fan Rankings
- College Basketball Pomeroy Ratings (Advanced College Basketball Stats)
- College Men’s Basketball Bracketology by ESPN and Joe Lunardi
- College Men’s Basketball ESPN Stats Site
- College Men’s Basketball Play-by-Play Stats
- College Men’s Basketball Power Index (BPI)
- College Men’s Basketball Reference (Stats & History)
- College Men’s Basketball Stats (Official NCAA Basketball Stats Website)
- College Women’s Basketball ESPN Stats Site
MLB
- MLB Ball Parks of Baseball
- MLB Baseball Prospectus (Next Gen Stats)
- MLB Baseball Savant (Player Matchups & Statcast Metrics)
- MLB Brooks Baseball (Comprehensive, Realtime Pitching Database)
- MLB Contracts Clearinghouse
- MLB Fan Graphs
- MLB Fan Rankings
- MLB Reference (Stats & History)
- MLB Retrosheet (Pre-1984 MLB Game Stats)
- MLB Seamheads (Ball Parks Database)
- MLB Seamheads (Negro Leagues Database)
- MLB Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- MLB Tango on Baseball Website (Lots of Older Baseball Stats)
NBA
- NBA Analytics 101
- NBA ESPN Stats Site
- NBA Fan Rankings
- NBA Players’ Height, Weight & Density
- NBA Power Index & Forecasts Ratings
- NBA Rest Days Stats
- NBA Reference (Stats & History)
- NBA Referee Stats
- NBA Salary & Roster Data
- NBA Schedule Analysis
- NBA Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- NBA Stats (Official NBA Stats Website)
NFL
- NFL ESPN Stats Site
- NFL Fan Rankings
- NFL Next Gen Stats (Official NFL Next Gen Stats Website)
- NFL Power Index & Forecast Ratings
- NFL Pro Football Focus Stats (Subscription Based Player Performance, NFL Draft Prospect Rankings, etc.)
- NFL Reference (Stats & History)
- NFL Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- NFL Stats (Official NFL Stats Website)
- NFL TV Ratings
NHL
- NHL Equipment Usage Stats (Gear Geek / Equipment Database of the NHL)
- NHL ESPN Stats Site
- NHL Fan Rankings
- NHL Reference (Stats & History)
- NHL Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- NHL Stats (Official NHL Stats Website)
Podcast
- Podcast (Business of Sports with Andrew Brandt)
- Podcast (Counterpoints – Sports Analytics Podcast from MIT)
- Podcast (LEADERS Sports Business Podcast)
- Podcast (Fanalytics)
- Podcast (Statistically Speaking – Sports Analytics Podcast from Center for Sports Analytics)
Soccer
- Soccer Bundesliga ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer Bundesliga Stats (Official Bundesliga Stats Website)
- Soccer Bundesliga Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- Soccer Champions League ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer EFL Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- Soccer EPL ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer EPL Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- Soccer EPL Stats (Official EPL Stats Website)
- Soccer ESPN Global Transfer Portal
- Soccer ESPN Tables, Scores, Stats for over 100 Leagues around the Globe
- Soccer Facts & Stats
- Soccer La Liga ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer La Liga Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- Soccer La Liga Stats (Fox Sports La Liga Stats Website)
- Soccer Liga MX ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer Men’s World Cup ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer MLS ESPN Stats Site [Link broken as of 9/6/2022]
- Soccer MLS Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- Soccer MLS Stats (Official MLS Stats Website)
- Soccer My Footy Grounds (Interactive Global Soccer Map)
- Soccer Power Index & Forecasts Ratings
- Soccer Professional Club Financial Value
- Soccer Professional Club Rankings
- Soccer Reference (Stats & History)
- Soccer Serie A ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer Serie A Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- Soccer Serie A Stats (Official Serie A Stats Website)
- Soccer Smart Scout Stats
- Soccer Stats (Stats on Over 100 Professional Soccer Leagues Around the Globe)
- Soccer Team Search Engine for Teams in England
- Soccer TV Ratings
- Soccer UEFA Europa League ESPN Stats Site [Link broken as of 9/19/2022]
- Soccer USL Championship (Official USL Stats Website)
- Soccer USL Championship ESPN Stats Site [Link broken as of 10/6/2022]
- Soccer U.S. Men’s National Team ESPN Stats Site
- Soccer World Cup / National Teams Qualification
- Soccer World Cup Social Media Team Relevance Rankings
- Soccer World’s Fiercest Rivalries
- Sports Market Analytics/Sports Business Research Network (Must be a Current Samford Student)
Miscellaneous
- College Athletics Financial Information Database
- Miscellaneous Canadian Football League ESPN Stats Site
- Miscellaneous – Consumer Behavior
- Miscellaneous – Consumer Brand Analytics
- Miscellaneous ESPN Cricket Stats (Covers Tests, One-Day Internationals, Twenty20 Internationals and Women's)
- Miscellaneous ESPN F1 Stats (Results of Every Race Since Birth of F1 Championship in 1950)
- Miscellaneous NCAA College Sports Stats (Stats for all NCAA Sports)
- Miscellaneous Racing Reference (Comprehensive Racing Stats for NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, etc.)
- Miscellaneous Rugby ESPN Stats Guru (Data on Every Test Match Ever Played)
- Miscellaneous – Samford Library Sports Data Guide Website
- Miscellaneous - Social Media Relevance Rankings for Professional Leagues
- Miscellaneous Sports Stats (Rivalry Data – Know Rivalry) [Link broken as of 5/2/2022]
- Miscellaneous Sports Stats (Sports TV Market Size)
- Miscellaneous Stats on Sports & Other Subjects called Statista (Must be a Current Samford Student)
- Miscellaneous Team Rankings/Predictions for Multiple Leagues (Subscription Required)
- Miscellaneous – Who’s Buying
- Miscellaneous WNBA ESPN Stats Site
Guest Bloggers
Thanks for considering being a guest blogger.
Objective
The center seeks to be an international thought leader in the emerging field of sports analytics by providing a forum for industry professionals and students to learn about the increasing role of analytics in the global sports industry. This goal is partially achieved via the creation and distribution of innovative, current content related to sports analytics.
Over one hundred thousand unique visitors have read the content published on the Center and its predecessor’s websites over the last two years. Content published has been republished by numerous news media outlets such as the ABC 33/40, Fox 6, Saturday Down South, AL.com, Birmingham Business Journal, Sports Business Journal, etc.
Possible Subject Matter
The center's mission encompasses all areas where analytics impacts sports including fan engagement, sponsorship, player tracking, sports medicine, sports media, operations, athlete performance analytics, Sabermetrics, and in-game strategy.
- The Business of Sports: Winning Off the Field
- Analytics Related to a Specific Sports or Leagues
- Articles discussing finds related to the Center for Sports Analytics’ Sport/Team Relevance Rankings
- Analytics and the Future of Sports
- Fantasy Sports Analytics
- eSports
- Analytics Driving New Safety Precautions in Sports (Head Injury, Hydration, etc.)
- Social Media Big Data and its Impact on Sports
- You can find dozens of free sports data websites at the Center’s Resource Page.
- You can find hundreds of topic ideas at MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Annual Recap pages.
Required
- Word document
- Excel file with data, charts, tables
- A JPEG headshot – minimum size 200 X 200 (make sure you have permission from photographer)
- A short one or two sentence bio
- E-mail to Dr. Darin White at darin.white@samford.edu
- An image or video to feature the article on social media and the Center’ main web page. You must provide permission for us to use the image/video. If image/video is from a team, league, other third party, please seek permission from their social media manager. Once received, please forward the permission email to us. Alternatively, visit the Openverse website to search for images that are free to use.
- Alternatively, you can select an image at SoCon Photo Shelter website. Please provide the web link to selected photo (the Center has permission to use any of the photos on the SoCon website).
- All articles must include charts/tables with new and interesting data. Many of the best articles will be built around what the reader can learn from the data presented. There are plenty of good examples on the Center’s website.
- All citations, photo credits, etc. should be listed at the bottom of the article in APA format.
Length
- I don’t count words
- Some of the most popular articles have been short–others much longer
- Short paragraphs–plenty of white space improves readability since many people view on smartphones or tablets
Editorial Tips
- If you have images/tables/charts (which we highly encourage) in the article, send the images as separate JPEG files and indicated in the document where they should be inserted. Send the tables/charts in an excel file.
- Articles should be written in third person.
- Check out the content at FiveThirtyEight and Fan Graph. The Center tends to publish content that is similar in style to these two websites.
- Blog posts should include a title that is “tweetable” (under 140 characters) and grabs the audience’s attention. This will be the most read part of your blog, so make it good!
- Research shows that most people stop reading a blog post after the first 3 or 4 sentences. Thus, you need to make sure the opening few sentences of your blog posts does a great job of “hooking” your reader.
- Blog posts should be “chunkable”. People do not like reading text that goes on and on. Thus, it is important that you break your blog up into “chunks”. Do this by adding attention-grabbing, tweetable subheadings every 100 to 200 words.
- Inserting quotes from prominent experts and placing their Twitter handle next to their name is a great way to get the expert to tweet your article. Like this: Professor Darin White (@Sports_Biz_Prof) says, “Sports analytics is a growing field.”
Please Note
- Not all pieces will be accepted because of abundance of submissions
- We can’t guarantee publication date on time-sensitive material
- We reserve right to approve content
- Previously published pieces are not accepted
- Center Web Content Editor will determine the title – though we encourage you to make a suggestion
- We do not accept content with grammatical errors
Guest Blogger Agreement
Samford University’s Center for Sports Analytics (the “Center”) welcomes guest blog posts that cover a variety of topics relating to sports, statistics and big data.
All Guest Posts must comply with the following criteria:
- Guest Posts must be your own original work that has not been published on any other website, forum, chat or social media network.
- Plagiarism or copyright infringement is not permitted.
- When quoting others, please make sure to properly cite your source.
- Posts will acknowledge your authorship, but will be the property of the Center
- Once the post has been submitted to the Center you may not publish it anywhere online, in part or in whole, including your own website or blog.
- If we use your guest post, you may promote it on your own website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or other social media forums. Promoting does not mean you post the entire article on these forums. You may include a link to your guest post and a short sentence or two explaining what the article is about.
- Affiliate links shall not be included in guest post submissions.
- The Center reserves the right to add its own affiliate links where appropriate.
- Guest Post writers will receive writing credit as author of their post at the beginning of the article.
- Guest Post writers may submit a short bio statement (no more than 50 words) that may or may not be used at the end of the article.
- Guest Post writers will be allowed to have one link to their website or LinkedIn page within the author bio. This may not be an affiliate link or point to an affiliate site. If the writer does not have a website, one link will be provided to either Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. If there is not an appropriate profile for linking, only a name will be provided. The Center reserves the right to remove the author link within the Center’s sole discretion.
- Guest Post writers may provide a photo that may or may not be used.
- We do not pay for submissions. If you decide to submit a post to our site, you do so with the knowledge that you shall not be entitled to any compensation for writing the post or for any other compensation related to the post.
- The Center welcomes images and/or video to accompany your guest post as long as they meet the following requirements:
- The Guest Post writer must be the copyright holder of the image/video OR the image/video must be licensed under an appropriate creative commons license or in the public domain. Proof must be submitted along with any image/video showing that it does not infringe on copyright laws.
- The Center reserves the right to change/edit the image/video if necessary.
- If people are included in the image/video, then the Guest Post writer must provide a written release allowing use of likeness.
- Video/image submissions must be relevant to the post.
- The Center reserves the right to deny or remove any image/video it deems inappropriate or contrary to the values of Samford University or the Center.
- The Center will share and promote the Guest Post on a variety of social media networks, but does not guarantee any particular site or audience reach.
- Links to any third-party site must be relevant to the topic and approved by the Center.
- All search engine optimization (“SEO”) information, such as anchor text or alt tags, will be reviewed and subject to inclusion at the discretion of the Center.
- Excessive links or links that appear to be affiliated or spam related will be removed at the discretion of the Center.
- All Guest Posts are reviewed and approved by the Center prior to posting.
- The Center reserves the right to edit Guest Posts where necessary.
- The Center reserves the right to refuse publication or remove a Guest post without prior notice to the Guest Post writer.
- By providing a Guest Post to the Center, you agree that you are in no way becoming a part of the website or company, nor shall you hold yourself out to be a member of the Center website or company.
- If a Guest Post submission is inappropriate or needs improvements, a Center representative will let you know and may offer suggestions so that it may be published at a later time. The Center will review your submissions in a timely manner. The Center reserves the right to refuse publication of any Guest Post.
By submitting a Guest Post to the Center, you agree that you have read and understand this agreement and agree to be bound by it.
News & Blogs
- Block Six Analytics
- Harvard Sports Analysis
- Mike Lewis Sports Analytics Blog
- MIT Sloan Analytics Sports Conference Blog
- Stat Sheet Stuffer
- Inside Sports Analytics Blog [Link broken as of 9/6/2022]
- Reddit Sports Analytics
- Master's In Data Science
- Discover Data Science
If you know of other sports stats websites that should be added to our site, please email Dr. Darin White, Executive Director for the Center for Sports Analytics, at darin.white@samford.edu.