March 15, 2023, marked the official beginning of the National Football League’s new season. It also meant the start of the free agency period, when teams make deals with players no longer under contract with their former teams; each new contract can literally mean millions of dollars of a team’s budget.
Will AI Replace the Front Office in Pro Sports?
The predictive power of machine learning is a game changer.
June 16, 2023
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Summary.
With accurate player-availability predictions for all active players, AI-powered decision-making is dramatically improved around three dimensions: 1) Risk management: If a productive wide-receiver is likely to get hurt, for example, a team might invest more in talented backups, to minimize drop-off in team performance during injury. 2) Training and targeted interventions: If AI suggests a player is injury-prone, teams can target that player with customized training, nutrition, or other regimens to reduce the likelihood of injury. Alternatively, a team might choose to reduce a player’s workload, also reducing risk. 3) Personnel decisions: By identifying factors that predict injury or other unavailability, teams can draft, trade for, or otherwise acquire players that they believe are more likely to be available season-long. Additionally, teams may choose to trade players for whom injury seems likely.