It’s All About the Data: Bloomberg Sports Launch Event Recap

Ah, data. No, this hasn’t turned into a Star Trek The Next Generation blog post. Data is the lifeblood of sports. And as data and analytics have become increasingly important in sports fields and arenas, of course it’s becoming big business. Enter Bloomberg. Yes, that Bloomberg. The same Bloomberg that changed the financial analysis game is looking to do the same in sports (as was reported in the New York Times last December). And it starts with baseball. Ladies and gentlemen, the future of baseball analytics is here. And it’s called Bloomberg Sports.

Bloomberg Sports Launch Event

On Sunday, January 31, I attended the official Bloomberg Sports launch event, hosted at the financial giant’s stupendous offices on 59th and Lexington in New York City. I had been invited by my Twitter and real life friend Jonah Keri, who  recently announced that he’s joining Bloomberg Sports as the head of content and one of its lead writers. The Bloomberg Sports product, which is baseball only, results from an exclusive partnership with MLB.com, which will provide Bloomberg with every stat needed. As well as streaming video (this wasn’t announced at the event, but I’ve been told it’s part of the package).

Bloomberg’s baseball product represents the next level of baseball data analysis and analytics and leaves no stone unturned. You want splits for every hitter against every lefty pitcher? No problem. Pretty charts and graphs? Absolutely. The ability to almost predict what type of pitch will come next? Check. The room of baseball bloggers, fantasy sports experts and other sports media types could be seen gawking and, in some cases, drooling. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but this was an impressive product.

What is it and how much will it cost?

What will these fancy toys cost? On the consumer (i.e., fantasy baseball player) side, two fantasy-focused products will be made available on February 18: a draft kit for $19.95 and a suite of in-season tools for $24.95. Or you can buy both for the low low price of $31.95. It’s actually a fantastic price for this product. No price was provided for the professional product (which was pretty pretty pretty good).

For excellent recaps of the day and details regarding both the consumer and professional products, check out these posts from my friends at River Avenue Blues, my good friend (and Twitter husband) Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites and Subway Squawkers. Special baseball blogsphere shout-outs also go to Jason Rosenberg of It’s About the Money, Eno Sarris of Fangraphs.com (and a bunch of other roto sites), Jay Gargiulo of Fack Youk and James Quintong of ESPN Fantasy.

Bottom Line Impressions

There is no question that the data and analytics in these products is top of the line. On a personal note, I loved the ability to exclude certain teams from your lists of available players. That means that if you want to avoid all Red Sox players (as a Yankee fan, a strategy I employed last season), just one click of a button and they’re no longer on the board. Just like that.

Whether the consumer product appeals to anybody other than a hard-core fantasy player remains to be seen.  The pricing for the fantasy product is competitive and seems to be a great value for the level of technological and data sophistication included.  Bloomberg thinks that baseball fans (i.e., non-fantasy baseball players) will be interested, and I’m not so sure about that. However, as a long-time resident of New York City, I know that Bloomberg would not be venturing into this area if they didn’t think it was a win. And they’re the financial and business experts. I’m just a woman who won her fantasy baseball league wire to wire and went 17-0 in my survivor pool, so what the hell do I know?

As for the professional product, it seemed incredible and any team would have to have fools in the front office if they opted not to invest. Yes, I’m looking at you Kansas City (feel free to insert whatever other team you feel is appropriate, I don’t mind).

Enough of my blabbing, let’s get to my event recap via the Tale of the Tweets.

Tale of the Tweets: Bloomberg Sports Launch

Bloomberg Sports launch event with a star-studded cast. #BBGSports (@ Bloomberg w/ 2 others) http://4sq.com/6DANXZ

Dan Doctoroff on Bloomberg Sports Baseball: “We want you to win using this tool.” Gamechanger. Literally. #BBGSports

Bloomberg Sports launch event. RT @fangsbites You can follow what’s going at the event by searching #BBGSports

Congrats, eh! RT @Jason_IIATMS @Jonahkeri to be lead writer for #BBGSports, a nice gig if you can get it

RT @enosarris The #BBGsports fantasy product will marry with your league page to give you better analytics on top of your existing game

Draft kit to update real time as things happen. Magazines? Useless. #BBGSports

Totally customizable. And always evolving. #BBGSports

Ooh! Exclude lists. No Red Sox for Yankees fans. No Phillies for Mets fans. #BBGsports

Exclusive partnership with MLB.com gives #BBGSports access to all the data they need.

In-season tool kit. Create lists. Create aggregates. Stats and splits. All kinds of data. Data. Data. Data. #BBGSports

My question is whether they will expand to fantasy football. IMO, NFL won’t be as generous with data as MLB.com. #BBGSports

Come on. Just tell us how much this new toy will cost. Then we can talk about value. #BBGSports

It sure looks pretty. And the data is impressive. But this is very hard core. #BBGSports

Pricing: Draft kit $19.95. In season service $24.95. $31.95 for both. MLB.com accepting orders for delivery Feb. 18. #BBGSports

Lunch! Lunch is here!!!! #BBGSports [Should have credited @schwartzslaw for that)

I’m down with OBP RT @RiverAveBlues Best part of #BBGSports? T-shirts with OBP equation on the back. http://twitpic.com/10q5mp

It’s @schwartzstops on the podium now. And he made a Pro Bowl joke! Well done. #BBGSports

Yay! It’s Canadian ne’er do well @jonahkeri! Head of content for #BBGSports

Endorsement by @jonahkeri: “I will use this product and will crush my league.” (Paraphrasing). #BBGSports

Blog to have content from several writers TBA. Daily analysis. Real life baseball and fantasy. #BBGSports

Pecota pecota pecota pecota pecota pecota pecota pecota RT @sportsfrog @RiverAveBlues PECOTA hates Posada.

Attention #BBGSports coordinators: turn on the heat!!!! #brrr

RT @fangsbites Coming up next at Bloomberg HQ, a demonstration of curling because ice is forming on the floor. #BBGSports

This isn’t about providing answers. It’s about providing the tools for you to make your own decisions. #BBGSports

Report: officials have been notified and the heat is on. #notaglennfryreference #BBGSports

Whoa. Pro product comes with biometric device. #BBGSports

OH re: professional product: “The Mets are obviously not using this.” #BBGSports

Showing Luis Castillo’s stats. Not listed: dropped pop-ups. #BBGSports

Every possible statistical permutation and combination is possible. Vs. pitchers, teams, lefties, righties. Head. Exploding. #BBGSports

Teams are getting a 6 month free trial. Royals decline. It’s “too expensive. And we have Jason Kendall.” #BBGSports

This is a set of tools, so it’s only as good as the people using them. This will not save idiots in front offices. #BBGSports

Great seeing everybody at #BBGSports today. And special thanks and congrats to @jonahkeri.