This course explores how football evolved from intuition-driven decision-making to a fully data-powered sport. Learners will uncover the origins of sports analytics through the “Moneyball” revolution in baseball, the rise of shot-quality models in basketball and hockey, and the early pioneers who first applied scientific thinking to football. From Charles Reep’s handwritten data charts to Lobanovskyi’s cybernetic model, the course traces how ideas from statistics, engineering, and computer science gradually reshaped how the game is played and understood.
How Did We Get Here?The Development of Analytics in Football
How Did We Get Here?The Development of Analytics in Football
This course is part of Maximum Performance and Technology in Sports Specialization
Instructor: Marisa Sáenz
Included with
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level
Recommended experience
2 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
What you'll learn
Understand how analytics evolved from early pioneers to modern football data systems.
Explore how clubs use data for scouting, tactics, and competitive advantage.
Learn the foundations of event data, tracking data, xG, xT, and modern value models.
Skills you'll gain
- Descriptive Analytics
- Analytics
- Media and Communications
- Data-Driven Decision-Making
- Mathematical Modeling
- Performance Analysis
- Communication
- Innovation
- Analysis
- Learning Styles
- Performance Measurement
- Data Analysis
- Spatial Analysis
- Performance Reporting
- Business Analytics
- Leadership
- Data Collection
- Research
- Computer Vision
Details to know
Shareable certificate
Add to your LinkedIn profile
Recently updated!
December 2025
Assessments
8 assignments
Taught in English
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This course is part of the Maximum Performance and Technology in Sports Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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There are 4 modules in this course
Discover how American sports like baseball, basketball, and hockey pioneered data-driven approaches. This module highlights the game-changing impact of analytics, from the Moneyball era in baseball to the mathematical revolutions in basketball and hockey, revealing lessons that set the stage for football’s own data transformation.
What's included
6 videos4 readings2 assignments
Trace the journey of analytics in football, from early innovators to today’s most data-savvy clubs. Learn how advances in video analysis and event data tagging fueled a new era of evidence-based decision making, and dive into case studies of teams that have redefined success through analytics.
What's included
6 videos3 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt
Meet the companies, clubs, and media outlets that have shaped the landscape of football analytics. This module explores the rise of major data providers, the evolution of club strategies, and the powerful role media and public discourse play in driving the analytics movement forward.
What's included
6 videos3 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt
Unpack the academic breakthroughs behind today’s most influential football metrics. Explore the origins of expected goals (xG), the rise of possession-based value models, and the introduction of pitch control and spatial analysis through tracking data—concepts that continue to shape the future of football analytics.
What's included
4 videos3 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt
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Instructor
Explore more from Data Analysis
Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea
Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea
Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea
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