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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.

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:

  1. Guest Posts must be your own original work that has not been published on any other website, forum, chat or social media network.
  2. Plagiarism or copyright infringement is not permitted.
  3. When quoting others, please make sure to properly cite your source.
  4. Posts will acknowledge your authorship, but will be the property of the Center
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Affiliate links shall not be included in guest post submissions.
  8. The Center reserves the right to add its own affiliate links where appropriate.
  9. Guest Post writers will receive writing credit as author of their post at the beginning of the article.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Guest Post writers may provide a photo that may or may not be used.
  13. 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.
  14. The Center welcomes images and/or video to accompany your guest post as long as they meet the following requirements:
    1. 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.
    2. The Center reserves the right to change/edit the image/video if necessary.
    3. If people are included in the image/video, then the Guest Post writer must provide a written release allowing use of likeness.
    4. Video/image submissions must be relevant to the post.
    5. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Links to any third-party site must be relevant to the topic and approved by the Center.
  17. 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.
  18. Excessive links or links that appear to be affiliated or spam related will be removed at the discretion of the Center.
  19. All Guest Posts are reviewed and approved by the Center prior to posting.
  20. The Center reserves the right to edit Guest Posts where necessary.
  21. The Center reserves the right to refuse publication or remove a Guest post without prior notice to the Guest Post writer.
  22. 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.
  23. 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

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.