Sport Analytics Trailblazer Ben Alamar Joins McCormack Faculty for Spring 2022

Ben Alamar, who for the past 15 years has spearheaded the growth of data science and analytics within the sport industry, has joined the McCormack Department of Sport Management faculty in an adjunct role for the 2022 spring semester. Alamar will teach the undergraduate-level Advanced Sport Analytics course.

Alamar has developed cutting-edge analytics tools and built analytics teams for numerous sport organizations, and he worked for four years as the director of sport analytics at ESPN. His work includes creating innovative models that have informed decisions on both the sport and business side of organizations. He has published several research studies in sports analytics, and he is the founding editor of the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, the first peer-reviewed academic journal for research in sports analytics.

Alamar excels at building high-performing teams; his ability to work with top-level executives leads to effectively incorporating data and analytics into the decision-making process.

The Advanced Sport Analytics class provides a hands-on dive into the sport analytics world. Upon completing of the course, students will understand how to formulate a meaningful sport-related question, identify and collect appropriate data to address their questions, determine a suitable analysis plan, execute a range of statistical analysis techniques, and communicate the results through a variety of media.

Alamar earned his PhD in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has had a distinguished teaching career as an adjunct at Columbia, MIT, University of San Francisco, and Menlo College.

“Our students are extremely fortunate and in for a real treat to have Ben Alamar on our adjunct faculty this spring,” said Department Chair Steve McKelvey. “As one of the leading trailblazers in the ever-growing field of sport analytics, Ben will bring tremendous insights and instruction to our students who aspire to enter this space upon graduating.”

“I am very excited to work with the students at UMass Amherst in this fast growing and innovative space,” said Alamar.

About the McCormack Department of Sport Management

The McCormack Department of Sport Management at UMass Amherst is the second oldest degree program of its kind in the world and is currently ranked by SportBusiness as the #2 graduate sport management program in the world. One of the few sport management programs housed in a business school (the Isenberg School of Management), the McCormack Department of Sport Management is also considered one of the nation’s leading undergraduate programs. UMass Amherst also houses the papers of Mark H. McCormack and the company that he founded, IMG. For more information about the McCormack Department of Sport Management, please visit https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/programs/depts/sport-mgmt