Popularised in the Brad Pitt film Moneyball, groundbreaking analytics almost saw the Oakland A's crowned the kings of baseball back in 2002.
General manager Billy Beane's evidence-based, sabermetric approach allowed the small-market franchise to compete against teams with much bigger budgets by finding undervalued players through revolutionary statistical analysis.
The concept sparked the adoption of more data-driven principles across a myriad of sports – with teams and coaches all trying to gain a competitive advantage – but the latest innovation may be the biggest game-changer of the lot.
Invented by artificial intelligence company Zone7, the new Silicon Valley algorithm is being used by teams in the NBA, NFL and Premier League as a way to detect injury risk and recommend pre-emptive action.