Date of Award

Spring 5-11-2026

Document Type

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Administration

Department

Economics

Advisor

Dr. Wenli Xiao

Abstract

At the turn of the 21st century, technological advancement reshaped industries worldwide, including professional sports. Organizations increasingly adopted analytical frameworks, leveraging advanced software systems and performance metrics to inform and optimize decision-making on and off the field. Industry professionals frequently cite the film and book, Moneyball, as a cultural turning point that brought data driven methodologies to the forefront. Since that period, professional sports, especially baseball, have evolved from foundational sabermetric theory into a complex data ecosystem characterized by high-resolution tracking technologies, pitch modeling, player valuation systems, and matchup optimization models.

My thesis examined how sports organizations operationalized data-driven platforms and how it has shifted sports. Through qualitative interviews with executives and analysts, supplemented by analysis of public analytical resources, the research evaluated the impact of analytics on organizations. My findings indicated that analytics emerged as central mechanisms of competitive advantage and will continue shaping strategic decision-making in professional sports.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a CC BY License.

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