Seven years ago, when I arrived at Syracuse University as a freshman, I knew I wanted to work in sports, but had no idea what field within the industry would be best for me. By the time my senior year rolled around, I was completing an independent study with Dr. Rodney Paul using analytics to quantify the impact that Major League Baseball player agents had on their clients’ salaries. It was then that I knew sports analytics would be my career focus.
I graduated with a dual degree in Sport Management and Finance, and completed my senior Capstone at Bloomberg Sports. I then worked in finance for about two years with The Doman Group, before transitioning to Nielsen Sports in early 2016.
When I started at Nielsen Sports, I focused on analyzing TV ratings. I have analyzed how sports properties can strategically boost their TV ratings, helped them understand the demographic characteristics and media consumption habits of their fans, and created fan segmentation groups to help properties more effectively target different groups of fans across the country.
I have taken on projects analyzing sponsorship exposure data, alongside TV ratings, to value the exposure sports sponsorships drive from sponsors’ exposure on television broadcasts. In addition to analyzing TV ratings, I work on MLB and NBA sponsorship valuation data, and have built projections for teams on how the value of their sponsorships may change in the future.
Overall, my time at Nielsen Sports has been focused on analyzing data to provide insights on sports fans – whether we are looking at how fans consume sports on television, or how a sponsor’s sign on a field/court will resonate with those fans, it’s all about quantifying the sport business. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to work on analytical projects at SU to spark my interest in the field, and am excited to see more students involved in this field with the new Sport Analytics degree program.