Opinion: Making sports data work for you

The advent of the theory of Moneyball and all that it brought with it in terms of how we understand sports statistics meant that performance data long ago transitioned from being a specialised and arcane area of sports analysis into a basic element of how sports are consumed by the fans.

It wasn’t all that long ago, for instance, that the term ‘assist’ entered the football fan’s lexicon; yet now it is an accepted part of the sports analysis mix. Data frames both our sports consumption and the conversation that surrounds it, and not just via the traditional media – indeed it might be said that sports statistics have found their natural home in the milieu of social media.

Big data has entered the mainstream and sports fans have come to rely on it both to educate and entertain. This is all the more so in the arena of sports betting.

Knowledge is power

The amount of data that is produced around sport today is rising exponentially, and as much as these data points are already being utilised by the sportsbooks to provide the building blocks of information that power their algorithms, it is also now being seen as a resource that can be tapped into when it comes to enticing, engaging and retaining the customer.

This democratisation of data offers sports betting operators an opportunity to enhance their offer with contextual content that can encourage greater loyalty even as it taps into the existing passion of sports fans. And because of the sheer amount of sports data available the opportunity exists to customise that stream to suit individual users.

It might even hold the key to personalisation. Sports data triggers additional betting activity and if those triggers are tailored to individual users then it provides an extra stimulus.

Personal touch

We know that you can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to sports-betting customers, so the ability to provide filters that can sort data according to a user’s preference – whether that is looking into recent home or away form or working out how selected teams perform in certain conditions or after a short break – means customers can mould the data experience according to their own choices.

Basic form guides are one thing, but rather than the one-to-many route taken by the traditional broadcast sports media, providing customisable data means users are active in the discovery of statistics and the end result is more meaningful to them as a consequence.

Conversely, giving the opportunity to drill down also avoids the issue of bombarding customers with too much information. Complexity can work for many, but it needs to be delivered in a user-friendly fashion. This is particularly important when it comes to betting via mobile devices.

Betting better

The emphasis here lies with providing specific data that enhances the betting experience – on mobile you need to make every pixel count to deliver insightful content on a small screen.

The filters that can be provided give the user bite-sized slices of information – enough to enlighten, but not too much so as to make the information impenetrable. The limited screen space available means it is vital that the data is cut down to succinct yet informative chunks.

And UX is vital – everything from the level of information displayed to the colours utilised will play a part in making a data offering explicable. What is shown, in which way and where on the screen are vital decisions.

We know that betting customers increasingly expect more from their betting experience. Everything about how sports media has developed in the past few years indicates a greater willingness on the part of consumers to get more involved in their sport of choice, and their sports-betting.

Basic form guides are not enough when an increasingly nuanced picture is available via quality data that can be delivered. A consumer who is more attuned to data being offered around sporting events will increasingly see it as a part of the package.