Game of Edges: The Analytics Revolution and the Future of Professional Sports

Innovation, data analysis, and technology have driven a tectonic shift in the sports business. Franchises that were once expensive hobbies for their owners have now grown into enormous businesses operating at the creative nexus of entertainment, digital content, real estate, retail, and hospitality. In Game of Edges, Bruce Schoenfeld delivers a high-stakes, character-driven narrative of how the analytics revolution has essentially professionalized professional sports--from player selection and in-game strategy to ubiquitous gambling, ever-shifting rule changes, and much more. Drawing on extensive interviews with franchise owners, general managers, executives, and players, Schoenfeld introduces dynamic leaders who are radically reimagining the operations of these decades-old teams--and producing mind-boggling valuations. Yet Schoenfeld also argues that this relentless pursuit of brand value threatens the basic appeal of the games themselves. Essential reading for anyone interested in sports, business, or technology, Game of Edges explores a world where winning the game is only the beginning.