The performativity of sports statistics: towards a research agenda

ABSTRACT

Statistical analysis has become increasingly integral to contemporary sports. Most existing studies, regardless of whether they endorse or criticise the growing influence of statistical analysis in professional sports, attribute agential capacities exclusively to humans. In this conceptual article, we challenge both what we call ‘instrumentalist’ and ‘romantic’ approaches by applying insights from the expanding literature on the performative effects of statistical models in economic markets to the area of sports. Rather than understanding statistics as mirrors of an objective reality, we conceptualise them as interventions in the analysis and conduct of sports. The use of sophisticated techniques for data collection and analysis by scouts, managers, referees and athletes has profound feedback effects on how these sports professionals come to understand their sport and seek to improve their performance. An interdisciplinary performative understanding of statistics allows for an unpacking of the socio-material mechanisms through which data-heavy analytical technologies shape processes of valuation, commercialisation and regulation in professional sports.

KEYWORDS:

• Data
• performativity
• sporting markets
• sports
• statistics

Acknowledgements

We presented an earlier draft of this article at the 10th Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association Sport and Politics Group, Bournemouth University, 4–5 March 2016. We thank Thomas R. Eimer, Jonathan Grix, Jacob Hasselbalch, David Webber and two anonymous reviewers at JCE for their insightful and supportive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCiD

Matthias Kranke http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7693-5748

Notes

1. Available at <http://www.optasports.com/>.

2. Available at <http://prozonesports.stats.com/>.

3. Tim Lewis (2014) similarly sees a confrontation between ‘quantitative analysts’ and ‘traditionalists’.

4. More information at <http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/news-filter-results/all/stats-and-analysis/by-the-numbers/all/all/>.

5. Available at <http://info.scout7.com/en/products/proscout7/>.

6. ‘Xavi’ is short for Xavier Hernández Creus, a long-time former Barcelona midfielder who shaped the team’s distinct style.

7. It is interesting to note that both the ATP and the WTA used to reward wins against players with a high ranking under a bonus points system. Beating the number one was more valuable (i.e. yielded more bonus points) than beating any other player on the circuit; beating the number two was more valuable than the number three and so on.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number 1499886], and the University of Warwick’s Development and Alumni Relations Office scholarship scheme.