Sports Archives | Raise Your Game

Sports

Did Kyle Shanahan make the right OT coin toss decision?

February 23, 2024 by Jeff G.

In this year’s Super Bowl we were all introduced to a new playoff overtime format that boils down to The Coaches’ Differing Strategies The 49ers won the coin toss and took the ball first. Coach Shanahan of the 49ers told the media after the Super Bowl “We wanted the ball...

Sports

It’s a Philly “Sign”

February 24, 2023 by Ella

Football is a big deal in Philadelphia, and this year’s Eagles season was nothing short of memorable. I was so grateful that SIG’s founder Jeff Yass was taking me and about 50 other employees (and a guest!) to this year’s Super Bowl. In the days approaching our big trip, I...

Sports

How SIG Makes Bets in Golf

June 30, 2022 by Emily

Curious to learn more about SIG’s Dublin-based sports betting team, Nellie Analytics? SIG Sports Trader, Doug Yass, joined The Turn golf podcast to discuss just that! Nellie does almost all of their trading through peer-to-peer exchanges where the margins are significantly lower than sportsbooks. Doug discussed the origins of his...

Sports

Interesting Insights from SIG’s 2022 Super Bowl Square Probabilities

February 23, 2022 by Zach

Every year at SIG, we celebrate the Super Bowl with a firm-wide Super Bowl Sweepstakes. This year, every employee was randomly assigned Cincinnati or Los Angeles as the winner and the last digit of each team’s final score. In order to win, both the team you were assigned needed to...

Sports

Intro to Sports Analytics at SIG

July 26, 2021 by Jerrod

We’re always looking for new opportunities here at SIG. The list of products that we trade continues to grow all the time: equities, index futures and ETFs, bonds, commodities, currencies (crypto or otherwise), options on all of those, sports…. wait, sports!? Yes, sports! SIG has been building a team of...

Sports

SIG’s Night at the Ballpark Sweepstakes Challenge

July 22, 2019 by Dan

Wednesday morning, June 26, 2019 At SIG’s Philadelphia office, we celebrate the summer each year with our “Night at the Ballpark” perfect for enjoying each other’s company and cheering on the Philadelphia Phillies. This year, the Phillies will be hosting the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. To make...

Serena Williams’s probability of winning the US Open

Sports

Williams vs. Osaka – A Cool Calculation

January 10, 2019 by Mike

Emotions were high in Flushing Meadows when Serena Williams protested the umpire’s decisions during the 2018 US Open Finals against Naomi Osaka. It would become one of the hottest topics on social media in the days and weeks that followed, with millions of people around the world debating issues ranging...

how to quantify Marcus Smart's value as a defensive player

Sports

How Do We Quantify the Value of a Defensive Basketball Player?

October 24, 2018 by Stephen

After a close Game 7 loss to LeBron and the Cavs, a frustrated Marcus Smart ranted about his upcoming free agency. “To be honest, I’m worth more than $12-14 million, just for the things I do on the court that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” he said. “You...

Sports

Strategy in Baseball – A Look at Pitch Count

August 23, 2018 by Alex M.

One of the simplest applications of game theory and strategy to sports is pitch selection in baseball. On every single play, the pitcher has dozens of possibilities in his arsenal. For example, Arizona Diamondbacks’ star Zack Greinke has five main pitches: two types of fastballs (four seam and two seam),...

Sports

NHL Draft Pick Probability

June 4, 2018 by Ned

Getting the top pick in the NHL draft is a big deal for NHL teams and fans. Each year the league holds a lottery to determine the order teams receive draft picks. To discourage teams from purposely losing to guarantee the top pick, all 15 teams that didn’t make the...