Publications
Publications
- August 2021 (Revised February 2024)
- HBS Case Collection
Data Science at the Warriors
By: Iavor I. Bojinov and Michael Parzen
Abstract
The case explores the development and early growth of a data science team at the Golden State Warriors, an NBA team based in San Francisco. The case begins by explaining the initial rationale for investing in data science, then covers a debate on the appropriate team structure, navigating the initial hires, and which projects the team should prioritize. The rest of the case describes the first major project the team worked on: a model to predict when customers would purchase tickets. Along the way, the team had a number of important decisions that they needed to make around what outcome to model and what model to use. Unfortunately, just as the model was completed, the team faced a setback when the NBA season was suspended due to COVID-19, pausing the project for a year. The case then takes place before the start of the 2021-22 seasons, with the team needing to determine if they should use the seasons to run an experiment and evaluate their model on real customers or if they should fully launch the model in the hope that it increases ticket sales. The case comes with supplementary data and code (HBS Supplement no 624-712) that allows students to perform the analysis described in the case.
Keywords
Data Science; Digital Marketing; Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Sports Industry; San Francisco; United States
Citation
Bojinov, Iavor I., and Michael Parzen. "Data Science at the Warriors." Harvard Business School Case 622-048, August 2021. (Revised February 2024.)