First Pitch Case Competition

Team Structure

Interested participants must register in teams of up to three students. Each team must consist of students from the same university.

Team Eligibility

To participate in the First Pitch Case Competition, teams must meet the following criteria:

(1) All team members must be full-time enrolled graduate students at the time of the conference
(2) All team members must be from the same university
(3) All team members must have never won the SSAC First Pitch Case Competition before

Competition Logistics

The competition will occur in two rounds. The first round takes place in February ahead of the conference. The final round will be hosted at the 2024 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, taking place on March 1-2 in Boston, MA.

In the first round, registered teams will be asked to submit a written presentation in both PowerPoint and PDF format. The presentation may not exceed 15 slides including introduction, conclusion, and appendices. The SSAC organizing committee will work with the competition sponsors to evaluate all submissions and select three teams to participate in the final round.

In the final round, the three finalists will deliver their presentations live at SSAC to a judging panel of esteemed sports industry professionals. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. 

Case Preparation

In early February, registered teams will be provided with the case question. The case will include an underlying data set that teams must utilize to inform their proposed solution to the case question.

In addition to the provided data set, students are permitted to use any research tools or resources available to them to address the case question. Teams may also leverage external data to support their findings, but citations are required. 

All main ideas must be the unique ideas of only the team members involved. Plagiarism will result in disqualification. Team members may not consult with any other individuals (including other students, other teams, or experts in the field).

Ticket Policy

You can register for the First Pitch Case Competition even if you do not have a conference ticket. If your team is selected as one of the three finalists, each team member will be required to purchase a ticket at the student price. If you already paid for a ticket to SSAC24, there will be no additional fees to participate in the First Pitch Case Competition.

Competition Timeline

• Registration closes: February 6th at 11:59pm ET
• Case shared: February 7th
• Presentation submission due: February 16th at 11:59pm ET
• Finalists announced: February 23rd
• Finalists Present at SSAC: March 1st-2nd

Questions

If you have any questions about the First Pitch Case Competition, please reach out to firstpitch@sloansportsconference.com.