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Master’s Degrees | Sport Analytics

Online Master of Science in Sport Analytics

As a long-time fan, you know how dynamic the sports industry can be. Team performance peaks and wanes, promising recruits end up on the bench or get traded, and predicted game attendance falls below expectations, leading to blackouts.

The rise of predictive analytics and big data are gradually shaping several industries, from how decisions are made to identifying potential outcomes. Sports is no exception. With global demand steadily rising, entities from professional and college teams to media organizations to ticket sales have started harnessing the power and possibilities of data analytics and applied statistics. The University of Mississippi recognizes this trend and launched the fully Online Master of Science in Sport Analytics.

Why Earn a Master’s in Sport Analytics?

By their nature, sports appear unpredictable. Season performance hinges on how well players train and collaborate. This, along with local market trends, ultimately dictates game attendance. In between, online chatter can shape attitudes.

As a discipline, data science attempts to identify trends among the growing amount of structured and unstructured information available. Professionals use key tools and techniques like predictive analytics, statistical modeling, data acquisition, and machine learning to synthesize and draw insights from these forms. These points have potential to inform key decisions, illuminate seasonal trends, and better serve fans to increase game attendance.

Students enrolled in the online MS in Sport Analytics program:

  • Build analytical skills, including measurement, data acquisition, database management, statistical modeling, predictive analytics, and big data analyses.
  • Gain practical, hands-on experience with software for measurement and statistical analysis (SPSS, GENOVA); data visualization (Tableau, Jamovi, Canva); and big data and machine learning platforms and tools (R, Python, and their libraries, C, Java, Lua, KNIME, Orange).
  • Learn to use research methods and analysis techniques to influence decisions or foresee performance outcomes.
  • Understand how to provide predictive insights for various aspects of the sports and entertainment industry, including for scouting and recruiting, analyzing the competition, forecasting ticket sales and attendance, betting, optimizing individual and team performance, improving injury recovery and prevention, and catering to fans and a team’s local market.
  • Develop an understanding of the ethics around data analytics, including in the context of the sports industry.

Online Master’s in Sport Analytics Curriculum

The Online Master in Sport Analytics involves 30 credit hours that students can complete through a year of full-time study or part time within two years. The program consists of 24 credit hours of core courses covering essential data analytics competencies and 6-12 credit hours of an emphasis area.

Review all required courses for the Online Master in Sport Analytics

Core courses

provide insight into the following:

  • Descriptive and inferential statistics, correlation, and regression
  • Measuring, evaluating, and interpreting data for the purpose of making decisions
  • Designing tests to conduct evidence-based assessments
  • Translating data into graphs and other visualizations to communicate your findings to various audiences
  • Predictive analytics and applied statistics in sports
  • Industry-specific applications of analytical methods, R language, data mining, machine learning, and visualizations

Emphasis Areas

Students can tailor their degree to their careers and have the option to choose between two emphases (6 credits) —or complete both (12 credits).

Build Your Future with an Online MS in Sport Analytics from Ole Miss

Don’t just dream of a rewarding career: Take the steps, and gain experience to get there with the Ole Miss Online Master of Science in Sport Analytics.

For questions about the program, contact Graduate Enrollment Manager Megan Black at meblack@olemiss.edu to set up an appointment to talk more about the program, your interests and needs, and your future.