Sport is Data Now

I have realised that all the sports I grew up with were 'data' sports. Cricket very much so. Statistics and probabilities are a key part of the game and always have been. Formula 1, obviously. Skiing a bit, and rallying too. But not as much. What has changed in recent years is that all sports are now data sports.

As I watch Millwall and Hull limp towards another no-score draw, I am presented with baffling statistics, only a few of which really add any value. Every player has a tracker. The ball is tracked. The officials are tracked. There is goal line technology somehow. It's both depressing and thrilling for different reasons. Let's not talk about VAR today.

Meanwhile, over in F1, we find things are still ahead of football. We now find that AI can predict when the pit window will open. How many laps before Lewis catches Max? Great, see you in twenty minutes. Has it changed the sport? Not really.

We still watch sport because there is absolutely no way to predict the stuff that matters. Be reassured: AI will never be able to predict football results. Yes, on the average it can better predict performance over the medium term. But sport is not a world where people talk like that. EBITDA in Hull is a form of greeting. No, sport is safe. All the things we love about sport are beyond the reach of AI.

As if to prove my point, Hull managed to sneak a goal to win the match 1-0.