Tyler Heaps is U.S. Soccer’s director of sporting analytics, and in this episode he’ll talk about… - Working with national teams from the senior level through the youth ranks - How they’re handling work during the pandemic - Thoughts on what Gregg Berhalter said in the previous episode - Factoring league quality into analysis - Dealing with small s…

Gregg Berhalter has been the head coach of the United States men’s national soccer team since December 2018, following a playing career that spanned 18 years and four countries (Netherlands, England, Germany, U.S.). He then managed Swedish club Hammarby and the Columbus Crew before taking the USMNT job. In this conversation, Berhalter discusses… - …

Corrie van Zyl is a Cricket South Africa consultant who previously served as CSA’s general manager and the head coach of the South Africa national team, and he played for South Africa in the early 1990s. He talks about… - How cricket data has evolved and what tracking data is now available - How teams use data in player selection, match prep, batti…

Ben Mackriell is the Head of Team Performance Product Strategy at Stats Perform, which owns the data-tracking company Opta. In our conversation, Ben discusses… - What teams are doing with data while leagues are shut down - How he got into sports analytics - His first club job with Everton - Working at Everton, Fulham, Reading, Norwich City & Burnle…

Steve Fenn is a data visualization architect who specializes in Tableau. In our conversation, he’ll talk about… - The importance and usefulness of data visualization - What Tableau is, how it’s used to create data viz, and why it’s popular - Principles of good data viz - Common mistakes he sees - Good visualizations he’s created and mistakes he’s m…

Cynthia Frelund is a data scientist for the NFL Network, where she brings analytical insight to all aspects of the network’s coverage, including this week’s NFL Draft. In this episode, Cynthia talks about… - Her analytics-based mock draft and how it differs from traditional mocks and big boards - What prospect jumps out to her from a data perspecti…

The third guest in Expected Value’s Champions series is Eric Thibault, associate head coach of the reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics. He’s been with the Mystics since 2013, and he’s involved in most every aspect of coaching the team. In this conversation, he talks about… - What he does as an associate head coach - Using data in advance scou…

The second guest in Expected Value’s Champions series is Jonathan Tosches, Manager of Advance Scouting for the reigning World Series champion Washington Nationals. In this episode, we talk about… - What MLB advance scouts do - Data he uses and what he produces - Communicating and building relationships with players and coaches - Working in the repl…

To kick off Expected Value’s Champions series, our first guest is Ravi Ramineni, director of soccer analytics for the reigning MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders. Ravi talks about… - His role, which covers on-field strategy, player recruitment & salary cap - What he does on a matchday - How his job has evolved in seven years with Seattle - Descripti…

The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia mixes journalism and data as well as anyone covering the NFL. At last month’s NFL combine, he talked about… - His career path to ESPN and The Athletic - How he started manually tracking data - Using numbers in journalism - Evolution of NFL data during his reporting career - How teams are using analytics better - Advice …

Dmitry Gordeev and Philipp Singer won the NFL’s second Big Data Bowl, which asked competitors the question: When an NFL ball carrier takes a handoff, how many yards should we expect the play to gain? Expected Value spoke with the winners at the NFL Combine, covering topics including… - How two Europeans with minimal NFL knowledge won the Big Data B…

By Paul Carr - TruMedia Networks

By Paul Carr - TruMedia Networks

By Paul Carr - TruMedia Networks

By Paul Carr - TruMedia Networks

By Paul Carr - TruMedia Networks

By Paul Carr - TruMedia Networks

James Tippett is the author of The Expected Goals Philosophy: A Game-Changing Way of Analysing Football. Among the topics discussed in this episode: - His initial exposure to expected goals - What prompted him to write this book - An overview of the expected goals statistic and how it’s calculated - Using expected goals both descriptively and predi…

Spencer Anderson is the Director of Basketball Analytics for the Indiana Pacers, and he’s one of few sports analytics people with both a master’s degree and a law degree. Among the topics covered: - His career path to his current job - What he does with the Pacers - State of analytics in the NBA - Keys to communicating data - Load management in the…

A Senior Research Analyst at Sports Info Solutions, Mark Simon is as passionate and knowledgeable about baseball as anyone you will meet, and he is one of 12 voters for the Fielding Bible Awards. Among the topics covered: - Mark’s career path to ESPN and Sports Info Solutions - Communicating data to former players - Advice for people looking to adv…

Mike Goodman is a soccer writer and managing editor of StatsBomb.com, and last week he wrote a good piece entitled, “A case study on using data to prepare to administer the eye test,” reacting to an MLS playoff game in which data and the eye test seemed to differ. Mike is one of the better writers at bringing together data and a tactical eye, and t…

Asmae Toumi is the editor-in-chief of Hockey-Graphs, a site that analyzes and visualizes the NHL, and she’s a prominent member of the online hockey analytics community. Among the topics discussed. - How to get started in the field - Challenges of hockey analytics - What puck- and player-tracking data might do for the sport - Hockey-Graphs’ mentorsh…

Taylor Twellman has been ESPN’s lead soccer analyst for nearly a decade, and he provides perspective on using data in television and communicating with non-analytics types. Among the topics discussed… - The objective information he looked for as a player - His prep process for broadcasting a game - What makes a stat good and useful for him - Challe…

Jeff Bennett oversees ESPN’s Stats & Information Group, which produces statistics and analytics that power all of ESPN’s platforms. Having been at ESPN for 25 years, Jeff’s career parallels the rise in sports data and analytics, and he is one of the most influential people in mainstream sports stats over the last quarter century. In this podcast, h…

This episode features two soccer-related presenters from last weekend’s NESSIS conference in Boston: Laurie Shaw and Sam Gregory. Both guests talk about their presentations and research, which use player-tracking data. Harvard’s Laurie Shaw (@EightyFivePoint) presented on using player-tracking data to classify and analyze team strategy, by identify…

This episode features two NFL-related presenters from last weekend’s NESSIS conference in Boston: Ron Yurko (@Stat_Ron) and Dani Chu (@chuurveg). Both guests talk about their presentations and research, which use NFL player-tracking data. Ron Yurko’s presentation focused on in-play valuation, which can lead to live models for expected points and wi…

Jared Hughes has been pitching in the majors since 2011, and the new wave of data is crucial to his preparation process. Among the topics covered: - How he uses analytics to prepare and review - Pitching during the launch-angle revolution - Statcast numbers he finds interesting - What he wishes could be quantified - Communicating analytics to playe…

Michael Lopez has been the NFL’s Director of Football Data & Analytics for over a year, and he’s also a statistics professor at Skidmore College. He brings a strong academic background and a coaching perspective to his NFL job. Among the topics covered: - What he does in his role for the league - State of analytics in the NFL - The league’s relativ…

Lucy Rushton is the Head of Technical Recruitment and Analysis for Atlanta United, which has won three trophies in its first three MLS seasons, including last year’s MLS Cup. Before joining Atlanta in 2015, Lucy was Head of Technical Scouting at English club Reading, and prior to that, she was a Player Recruitment Analyst for Watford. She also grew…

The first guest on Expected Value is Daniel Adler, the Minnesota Twins Director of Baseball Operations, who previously worked in the NFL with the Jaguars, Browns and Patriots. Among the topics covered… - What a Director of Baseball Operations does and how analytics are involved - The Twins home run explosion this season - Differences in baseball an…

Expected Value features conversations with sports analytics insiders about what they do, how they do it, and how they got there. Guests include people working for teams, leagues, media and more, covering sports including baseball, football, soccer, and basketball. Please subscribe, spread the word, and enjoy!…