Business Analytics graduate students put their skills to the test and competed for a chance to win cash prizes provided by sponsor Athletes Unlimited.
For someone who’s been living these questions for the last few years, it was both really entertaining and really useful to get these new perspectives.
— Athletes Unlimited founder Jonathan Soros
Last month Fairfield Dolan hosted the first Sports Analytics Hackathon sponsored by Athletes Unlimited. Business Analytics professor and director of the Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program, Philip Maymin, PhD, serves on the advisory board for Athletes Unlimited and hosted the event as an opportunity for his graduate students to put their skills to the test and participate in a live hackathon event.
“Five teams of students from our graduate sports analytics course presented their research findings and insights, based on the unique and innovative data that Athletes Unlimited has been able to collect over the past few years,” said Dr. Maymin. “A panel of judges including both Fairfield faculty and Athletes Unlimited leadership awarded a total of $10,000. The event went really well and was very exciting to watch.”
First place and $5,000 was awarded to Team Basketball: Rachel Hakes, Conor Fletcher, Chase Judkins, Andrew Mahoney, and Tyler Zikias. Second place and $3,000 was awarded to Team Field Hockey: Daniel Anusic, Pranav Bhattessa, Euan Brown, Mica Diaz, Daniel Enright, and Gabby Sax. In third place was Team Value who won $2,00: Matt Dziemian, Nick Palazzi, Lila Pfohl, and Connor Wolff.
Athletes Unlimited (AU) was founded in 2020 by Jonathan Soros, chief executive officer of JS Capital Management LLC, and Jon Patricof, former president of New York City Football Club (FC). AU is a network of new professional sports leagues where athletes compete in fantasy-inspired games in softball, volleyball, and lacrosse. Soros and Athletes Unlimited CTO John Spade accompanied Dolan Analytics Professor and Director of Fairfield StartUp, Chris Huntley, PhD, and Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management Jie Tao, PhD as judges for the event.
“The work done by all of the teams was really amazing,” said Soros. “They each took on a different, really hard problem and went all the way to the heart of it. For someone who’s been living these questions for the last few years, it was both really entertaining and really useful to get these new perspectives.”
“Five teams of students from our graduate sports analytics course presented their research findings and insights, based on the unique and innovative data that Athletes Unlimited has been able to collect over the past few years,” said Dr. Maymin. “A panel of judges including both Fairfield faculty and Athletes Unlimited leadership awarded a total of $10,000. The event went really well and was very exciting to watch.”
First place and $5,000 was awarded to Team Basketball: Rachel Hakes, Conor Fletcher, Chase Judkins, Andrew Mahoney, and Tyler Zikias. Second place and $3,000 was awarded to Team Field Hockey: Daniel Anusic, Pranav Bhattessa, Euan Brown, Mica Diaz, Daniel Enright, and Gabby Sax. In third place was Team Value who won $2,00: Matt Dziemian, Nick Palazzi, Lila Pfohl, and Connor Wolff.
Athletes Unlimited (AU) was founded in 2020 by Jonathan Soros, chief executive officer of JS Capital Management LLC, and Jon Patricof, former president of New York City Football Club (FC). AU is a network of new professional sports leagues where athletes compete in fantasy-inspired games in softball, volleyball, and lacrosse. Soros and Athletes Unlimited CTO John Spade accompanied Dolan Analytics Professor and Director of Fairfield StartUp, Chris Huntley, PhD, and Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management Jie Tao, PhD as judges for the event.
“The work done by all of the teams was really amazing,” said Soros. “They each took on a different, really hard problem and went all the way to the heart of it. For someone who’s been living these questions for the last few years, it was both really entertaining and really useful to get these new perspectives.”
