Using analytics to predict consumer interest in Qatari sport events

Nicholas M. Watanabe, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Big Data and Analytics, University of South Carolina

Due to the growth and availability of data, organizations have become heavily invested in using analytics to improve various business functions with the goal of developing competitive advantage. Specifically, analytics can be considered the examination of data to understand meaningful patterns within it. In the case of sport, the focus on analytics has predominantly been fixated on improving the on-field performance of players and teams, rather than enhancing the off-field aspects of business operations, such as marketing, sales, and finance. As such, although sport organizations often use advanced statistics to evaluate players in order to increase performance on the field of play, the adoption of analytics to maximize their business operations is still lacking. With this in mind, the current case study focuses on introducing and teaching the use of analytics as a way to improve decision-making and management within sport organizations.