The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(December 2013) |
A sports analyst is a person looking through technical, tactical, physiological, and psychological performance metrics [1] working with the sports coach and sports science team to improve athlete performance. They will often use Video motion analysis to help with data collection. Sports commentators or journalists also analyze elements of sports performance, for media companies such as ESPN, NBC Sports, CBS Sports Network, Turner Sports, and ABC.
A sports analyst may perform different jobs within the field and may even hold more than one position at once. A sports journalist reports to the public in the form of writing and includes information about sporting topics, events, and competitions. A sports commentator and sportscaster give play-by-play details of a specific sporting event and game. They also relay information necessary to understand the context of that specific sport. [2] Notable sports commentators include Joe Buck, Brent Musburger, and Max Kellerman.
Sports analysts are typically former athletes and coaches from their respective sports. Sometimes, a sports analyst will cover a sport, even though they have not played that sport previously. An example is Brad Daugherty, who played professional basketball but covers NASCAR racing.
Up until the early 1800s, sports journalism was reserved for the social elite. The high price of newspapers made it so only those of high economic status could afford it. Due to the invention of the penny press and the adoption of mass production throughout the United States, newspapers became more affordable. With newspapers more widely accessible, the demand for sports journalism quickly began to rise.[ citation needed ]
Henry Chadwick is one of the earliest recorded sports analysts. Chadwick is acknowledged for his many contributions to baseball statistics. He created box scores in addition to the statistics of batting average and earned run average (ERA).
Before his invention, sports columnists resorted to tallying runs scored. Chadwick’s baseball box score [3] was based on the cricket scorecard. It debuted in an issue of the Clipper in 1859. The scorecard was a 9x9 grid. Chadwick had numbers representing defensive positions and this method of scorekeeping is present to this day.[ when? ]
During the 1900s, baseball became the national pastime of the United States. Media coverage of sports rapidly increased, specifically in New York. [4] The first newspapers with a reoccurring sports section and a dedicated sports department were the New York Herald and The New York respectively. [5]
In the mid to late 1800s, newspapers only dedicated 0.4 percent of their page to sports or sports-related topics. A little over a half-century later, that percentage rose to 20 percent. [6]
Advancements in print also contributed to the coverage of sports. [6] Sports Illustrated was founded in 1954. Sports Illustrated’s release schedule allowed the writers to study the games thoroughly and host detailed interviews with players, coaches, and sports analysts. [7]
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Technological advancements, such as the television and the internet, helped change the coverage of sports to statistical analysis instead of play-by-plays and general summaries. Player interviews also became more common.[ citation needed ]
A sports analyst's education may include a Bachelor of Journalism or sport communication and master's programs with concentrations in sports reporting. Common courses include news reporting, media ethics, sports psychology, and magazine writing. [8]
There are two types of sports analysts, those who are employed by companies, such as ESPN and other sports broadcast channels, and those who are hired by teams. The analysts on broadcast channels work with automated data feeds and use manual data entry to ensure the delivery of accurate, timely, and insightful sports data. Sports data analysts also are responsible for helping turn stats into digestible storylines. They must be able to recognize statistical events that help explain why a team won or lost.
The sports analysts who are hired by sports teams to help enhance performance collect and analyze training data from individual athletes. They then develop efficient training programs aimed at improving their performance. During a game or competition, a sports analyst will be assisting a coach with the proper decisions to make for the team’s best outcome. [9]
The salary of a sports analyst has a very large margin. The national average sat at $61,673 annually as of March 2023. Some sports analysts make as little as $21,000 a year while some make as much as $126,000 per year depending on their level and recognition. [10]
The number of sports analyst jobs is predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to decrease by 9% between 2014 and 2024. [8]
Henry Chadwick was an English-American sportswriter, baseball statistician and historian, often called the "Father of Baseball" for his early reporting on and contributions to the development of the game. He edited the first baseball guide that was sold to the public. He is credited with creating box scores, as well as creating the abbreviation "K" that designates a strikeout. He is said to have created the statistics of batting average and earned run average (ERA). He was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938.
In sports analytics, sabermetrics is the empirical analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. Sabermetricians collect and summarize the relevant data from this in-game activity to answer specific questions. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research, founded in 1971. The term "sabermetrics" was coined by Bill James, who is one of its pioneers and is often considered its most prominent advocate and public face.
The participation of women and girls in sports, physical fitness, and exercise has been recorded to have existed throughout history. However, participation rates and activities vary in accordance with nation, era, geography, and stage of economic development. While initially occurring informally, the modern era of organized sports did not begin to emerge either for women or men until the late industrial age.
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1980s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the news business with newspapers having dedicated sports sections. The increased popularity of sports amongst the middle and lower class led to the more coverage of sports content in publications. The appetite for sports resulted in sports-only media such as Sports Illustrated and ESPN. There are many different forms of sports journalism, ranging from play-by-play and game recaps to analysis and investigative journalism on important developments in the sport. Technology and the internet age has massively changed the sports journalism space as it is struggling with the same problems that the broader category of print journalism is struggling with, mainly not being able to cover costs due to falling subscriptions. New forms of internet blogging and tweeting in the current millennium have pushed the boundaries of sports journalism.
James Lee Kaat is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (1959–1973), Chicago White Sox (1973–1975), Philadelphia Phillies (1976–1979), New York Yankees (1979–1980), and St. Louis Cardinals (1980–1983). His playing career spanned 25 years.
A box score is a structured summary of the results from a sport competition. The box score lists the game score as well as individual and team achievements in the game.
Taylor Timothy Twellman is an American former soccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser or analyst. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the main commentator is not describing the action. The color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy, and injury reports on the teams and athletes, and occasionally anecdotes or light humor. Color commentators are often former athletes or coaches of the sport being broadcast.
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was the first medium for sports broadcasts, and radio commentators must describe all aspects of the action to listeners who cannot see it for themselves. In the case of televised sports coverage, commentators are usually presented as a voiceover, with images of the contest shown on viewers' screens and sounds of the action and spectators heard in the background. Television commentators are rarely shown on screen during an event, though some networks choose to feature their announcers on camera either before or after the contest or briefly during breaks in the action.
Cheryl D. Miller is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports, and ESPN. She was also head coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
Tim Kurkjian is a Major League Baseball (MLB) analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter. He is also a contributor to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com.
Terrance Patrick Gannon is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, currently announcing golf, gymnastics, and figure skating.
Tom Tango and "TangoTiger" are aliases used online by a baseball sabermetrics and ice hockey statistics analyst. He runs the Tango on Baseball sabermetrics website and is also a contributor to ESPN's baseball blog TMI . Tango is currently the Senior Database Architect of Stats for MLB Advanced Media.
The Elias Sports Bureau is an American privately-held sports data company providing historical and current statistical information for the major professional sports leagues operating in the U.S. and Canada.
Jessica Ofelia Mendoza is an American sportscaster and former softball player. Currently, she serves as a color commentator and analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA. As a softball outfielder, Mendoza was a collegiate four-time First Team All-American and two-time Olympic medalist. Mendoza played from 1999 to 2002 at Stanford and was a member of the United States women's national softball team from 2004 to 2010. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch and was named 2011 Player of the Year and currently ranks in the top 10 for career batting average and slugging percentage.
Joel Klatt is an American college football color commentator and analyst for Fox Sports. Klatt played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes. He was the first three-year starter at quarterback for Colorado since Kordell Stewart ('92–'94). He also played minor-league baseball for two seasons.
Michael Carlson is a pundit of National Football League (NFL) coverage in the United Kingdom. He worked on Channel Five's coverage of the sport from 1998–2010 and Channel 4's coverage of the sport from 2010-2015. He was also the main analyst for BBC's coverage of the Super Bowl between 2008-2013 and 2016-2017. He also commentated on BBC's coverage of basketball at the 2012 Olympics and the 2016 Olympics. He is originally from Connecticut, US.
Joaquin M. Henson, also known as Quinito Henson, is a Filipino sports analyst and television color commentator. His newspaper column, Sporting Chance, has appeared in the Philippine Star since the 1980s. Self-dubbed as "The Dean", he himself has laced his writing with nicknames given to various athletes, such as "Captain Lionheart" for Alvin Patrimonio and "Tower of Power" for Benjie Paras.
Clutch performance in sports refers to the phenomenon where athletes excel under pressure, commonly known as "in the clutch". These moments can occur at any point during the game, and involve plays that significantly impact the outcome of the game. Athletes are required to summon strength, concentration and any other qualities necessary to succeed and perform well. This phenomenon is observed in many sports including basketball, hockey, football, and esports, but the phrase is most commonly used in baseball.
Sports analytics are a collection of relevant, historical, statistics that can provide a competitive advantage to a team or individual. Through the collection and analysis of these data, sports analytics inform players, coaches and other staff in order to facilitate decision making both during and prior to sporting events. The term "sports analytics" was popularized in mainstream sports culture following the release of the 2011 film, Moneyball, in which Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane relies heavily on the use of baseball analytics, building upon and extending the established practice of Sabermetrics, to build a competitive team on a minimal budget.