The idea of a ‘diehard’ sports fan has completely transformed over the years. It used to simply be anyone who never missed a game (who cares if a wedding or a dinner party was going on?), knew about their team’s history, and had a match-day ritual that was stranger than fiction. While those qualities still apply today, a new layer has been introduced—one that’s all about the numbers.
With technology becoming deeply integrated into the sports world in the form of wearable trackers and smart stadiums, data naturally followed. Everything from player movement tracking to referee tendencies is now tracked, and this data is readily available to the public to use at their disposal.
Now and Then: Data in Sports
Sports were a lot less complicated in the past. Fans showed up, cheered on their favourite team, experienced the rollercoaster of emotions during a game, and went home or out to a bar to debrief with their friends. If they were feeling extra bold, they might even place a bet at a betting shop or wager a little cash among themselves. Any referrals to statistics were merely about how many goals were scored, who scored, and whether the team was on a hot streak or not.
The landscape couldn’t be more drastically different today. With a couple of taps on their smartphones, fans have an overwhelming amount of data to scour through if they so choose. They can go back in time and discover head-to-head records over decades, find niche statistics like performance metrics in high-pressure moments, and even look at hypotheticals like expected threat (xT) in football.
And just like someone might comb through reviews and rankings when looking for the best slot website, sports fans will do their homework on these statistics to make smarter betting decisions.
The Rise of the Amateur Analyst
Around the world, betting has become a full-blown hobby. Because of its accessibility and newfound regulation, more and more people are finding fun and opportunities in it. No matter how insignificant, every game is a chance to flex your sports knowledge and win a bit of cash on the side. By digging into the numbers for every match, these fans have essentially become amateur analysts. In Kenya specifically, sports betting has reshaped the economy and intensified the population’s interest in European football.
While breaking down team and player performance and rummaging through data was once the responsibility of coaches and professional analysts, fans are getting just as involved. Head online, and it won’t be long before you find Reddit threads discussing the latest odds or websites that help you develop your own prediction models.
That means ample opportunity to use this data to inform a betting strategy. Rather than guess, go off of gut feeling, or rely on surface-level knowledge, anyone can employ data for a better approach. For example, you might deduce from the data that Real Madrid has a relatively good chance of drawing when they’re not playing at home (33%, according to FootyStats). From there, you might want to take a chance to bet on a draw if they’re not playing at the Santiago Bernabéu. Perhaps you’ve seen that Manchester City has failed to convert any of their 16 penalties so far in the 2024/25 season. That would likely deter you from betting on a penalty conversion in their next game.
What Tools Are Fans Using?
If you’re interested in becoming part of this not-so-secret society, where do you start? Luckily for all new data-backed bettors, there are countless sources to discover online.
The first and most obvious place to start is with statistics databases like WhoScored, TheScore, and Sofascore. These apps and platforms aggregate data from just about every sport in one place. You can quickly and easily sift through all the team statistics, player metrics, and head-to-head comparisons to get an accurate picture of performance. Fantasy sports platforms, where you’ll find built-in projections and insights, are similar.
Want to take it a step further? Sites like Action Network and FiveThirtyEight let you predict outcomes using their tools, considering aspects like schedule strength and recent performance. Need to bolster your decision even more? The sports community is full of people ready to share their knowledge through outlets like X, Reddit, and Instagram. You might find a lucrative parlay with the reasoning behind it or a thread from an expert breaking down why a certain player proposition is a must-bet.
Sports Fans Are Getting Smarter
The average sports fan has become more invested in the game than ever before. All while they’re cheering for their favourite team on the sidelines and enjoying the rush of being part of the crowd, they feel even more like part of the action because of the stakes involved. And although the odds used to heavily favour the house, fans can leverage all sorts of tools to improve their chances of making accurate predictions.
As fans become more analytics-savvy, those casual conversations and debates have slowly become as intense as scouting meetings. But what could this mean for the future of sports betting? In short, a higher level of sophistication. Sports betting platforms will gradually realise that they’re catering to a data-literate audience and adapt accordingly. Could we see smarter tools, features appealing to hardcore fans, and hyper-personalized betting options? Most likely—there’s so much to look forward to in the gambling sphere, especially as tech and data progress.
