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Open research questions in Sports Analytics and Performance

307 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 3,347 Sports Analytics and Performance papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Persistent measurement errors in polling averages pose an identification challenge. The need to differentiate between the end of the estimation sample and the final election date. The complexity of the US electoral system with 56 simultaneous regional elections.

    The comovement of voter preferences: Insights from U.S. presidential election prediction markets beyond polls · 2026 · DOI

  • The model is applied only to the 2024 Presidential Election. The estimation sample is limited to the period from June 1 to October 25, 2024. The model uses a simplified approach by excluding state-specific fundamental factors and using national ones instead. The model assumes that markets are efficient and traders are risk-neutral. The model does not account for potential biases in the polling data or prediction market prices.

    The comovement of voter preferences: Insights from U.S. presidential election prediction markets beyond polls · 2026 · DOI

  • The challenge of quantifying the relationship between shot allocation and game tempo. The need to account for potential serial correlation and heteroskedasticity in the league-level time series. The challenge of interpreting the results of the segmented regression model in the context of the NBA's 'space-and-pace' approach.

    Shot-location polarization and post-2018 pace stabilization in the NBA: Evidence from 21 seasons of team and shot-coordinate data (2004–2025) · 2026 · DOI

  • further research on the effects of the 2018-19 shot-clock reset rule, - investigation of the relationship between defensive geometry and offensive efficiency, - analysis of the impact of spatial allocation on team performance

    Shot-location polarization and post-2018 pace stabilization in the NBA: Evidence from 21 seasons of team and shot-coordinate data (2004–2025) · 2026 · DOI

  • The study notes that football KPIs are interdependent and context-sensitive. The study mentions that the dataset consists of a small number of team-level observations from a single tournament. The study highlights the need to interpret the results cautiously due to the limited dataset.

    Multidimensional team performance indicators in men's UEFA EURO 2024: an exploratory analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research could investigate the application of multidimensional team-level indicators in other tournaments - The use of larger datasets could provide more robust results - The development of more advanced machine learning models could improve classification accuracy

    Multidimensional team performance indicators in men's UEFA EURO 2024: an exploratory analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • Third, the analysis is limited to a single season, which constrains the sample size and reduces the generalizability of the findings across competitions or years.

    Kicking for goal or touch? An expected points framework for penalty decisions in rugby union · 2026 · DOI

  • Attendance underpins the commercial sustainability and visibility of women's football, yet research on attendance demand in emerging markets remains scarce.

    Digital engagement, competitive balance, and stadium attendance in Indian Women's Football: An explainable machine learning and PLS-SEM framework · 2026 · DOI

  • Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods have been increasingly applied in football to support complex managerial and performance-related decisions; however, a comprehensive mapping of the research landscape is still lacking.

    Multi-criteria decision-making in soccer: a bibliometric analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • Prior research finds conflicting results regarding the impact of sporting events on the lodging industry.

    The Impact of College Football Games on the Hotel Industry: A Market Comparison · 2025 · DOI

  • This study provides sport practitioners with a training technique to improve specific skill acquisition and enables research in understudied Twenty20 batting.

    Novel Twenty20 batting simulations: a strategy for research and improved practice · 2024 · DOI

  • Twenty20 cricket and batting in particular have remained vastly understudied to date.

    Novel Twenty20 batting simulations: a strategy for research and improved practice · 2024 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on the development of new methods and tools for football analysis. The use of big data and artificial intelligence in football analysis is a promising area of research. The study suggests that expert judgement will continue to play an essential role in football analysis.

    Evolution of Performance Analysis in Football: From Intuitive Observation to Big Data and Artificial Intelligence · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to review the literature on the evolution of performance analysis in football. The use of big data and artificial intelligence in football analysis is a relatively new development. The study highlights the importance of expert judgement in football analysis.

    Evolution of Performance Analysis in Football: From Intuitive Observation to Big Data and Artificial Intelligence · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a framework for understanding the governance of sports public opinion. The need for a model that can elucidate how opinion salience, adverse impacts, policy-based incentives and sanctions, and multi-actor coordination shape strategy selection and evolutionary trajectories.

    Evolutionary game and simulation analysis of collaborative governance of sports public opinion · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to choose models that are balanced in accuracy, interpretability, and computational complexity in conditions of high stochasticity of sports data. The lack of flexibility of traditional statistical approaches to describe complex nonlinear dependencies in the data.

    A comparative analysis of machine learning methods with the application of the Kolmogorov-Gabor polynomial for forecasting sports event outcomes · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of an integrated theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between professional football clubs and local authorities. The need for a more coherent analytical model that takes into account the political economy of professional football.

    Public subsidies for professional football clubs: a conceptual political economy analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of evidence on how individuals respond to reference points for non-financial performance. The need to understand how individuals adopt and react to performance reference points.

    Do individuals perform better when the performance reference point is stricter? Evidence from golf competitions with handicap rules · 2026 · DOI

  • La investigación sugiere que futuras investigaciones deben considerar la cultura editorial de cada medio y su impacto en la evaluación del rendimiento deportivo. La investigación sugiere que futuras investigaciones deben analizar la convergencia entre sistemas de evaluación humanos y algorítmicos en diferentes contextos deportivos.

    El impacto de las aplicaciones estadísticas en el periodismo deportivo: estudio comparativo entre valoraciones algorítmicas y humanas en el fútbol de élite · 2026 · DOI

  • La investigación identifica una brecha en la comparación entre evaluaciones periodísticas y algorítmicas del rendimiento de jugadores de fútbol. La investigación identifica una brecha en la comprensión de la cultura editorial de cada medio y su impacto en la evaluación del rendimiento deportivo.

    El impacto de las aplicaciones estadísticas en el periodismo deportivo: estudio comparativo entre valoraciones algorítmicas y humanas en el fútbol de élite · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research can explore the application of RIM to other sports and leagues. The development of more advanced metrics for evaluating officiating impact is an area for future research.

    Quantifying Officiating Impact in the NBA: A Referee Impact Metric Analysis Using ESPN Win-Probability Data · 2026

  • The current analysis of officiating in the NBA relies heavily on simple metrics like foul rates. This approach leaves an empirical gap as it does not account for the context of foul events.

    Quantifying Officiating Impact in the NBA: A Referee Impact Metric Analysis Using ESPN Win-Probability Data · 2026

  • To analyze the revenue of other football clubs in Mozambique. To compare the revenue of football clubs in Mozambique with those in other countries. To develop strategies to increase the revenue of football clubs in Mozambique.

    Fatores determinantes da variação de receitas nos clubes de futebol em Moçambique · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of understanding of the factors that determine revenue variation in football clubs in Mozambique. The need for a quantitative analysis of the revenue of football clubs in Mozambique. The need to identify the determinants of revenue variation in football clubs in Mozambique.

    Fatores determinantes da variação de receitas nos clubes de futebol em Moçambique · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the current sports betting market, where traditional bookmakers' predictions are not accurate enough. The paper notes the need for more accurate prediction models that take into account performance variables.

    VWPI (Valorant Win Probability Index): um contraponto analítico às odds das casas de apostas · 2026 · DOI

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307 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 3,347 Sports Analytics and Performance papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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