Sportico’s Charts of the Year: Best Data Visualization of 2024

During an active year in sports business, the Paris Olympics put a new shine on the rings, franchise valuations continued to skyrocket, and a women’s sports tsunami reshaped the industry. We charted all of it at Sportico. Here are our favorite data visualizations over the past 12 months.

Sex, Snacks and Videotape: A History of Super Bowl Ad Breaks (Feb. 11)

Automakers, snack manufacturers, breweries and film studios snap up much of the available Super Bowl advertising inventory, although fluctuations in macroeconomic conditions often lead to spasms of category saturation. The so-called Dot-com Bowl of 2000, for instance, saw as many as 14 Internet startups jump into the fray before the bubble burst just months later.

NBA West Dominates East, Except on the Balance Sheet (Feb. 28)

Western Conference teams have won 17 of the 26 NBA championships since 1999, and there have been more players from the West selected for All-NBA in every single season during that span. Between the 1999-00 and 2020-21 seasons, the West had a worse record in intra-conference matchups just once, when the East eked it out in 2008-09 by winning 51.3%.

UConn Banks on Basketball’s Value in Football-Driven NCAA (March 26)

UConn is the only school to have won both Division I basketball titles in the same season—which it accomplished in 2004 and 2014. It is also the only FBS public school in the Sportico database that spends more money on basketball than football, and it’s one of only 12 that earn more ticketing revenue from basketball than football.

Olympic Sports List: What Are the New Sports for the 2024 Paris Games? (April 18)

The Olympics are thought of as being steeped in tradition, but just four sports disciplines—athletics, fencing, swimming and artistic gymnastics—have been included in every Summer Olympics since 1896. That first Olympics featured 43 events, with only men competing. In Paris this past summer, 329 gold medals were awarded to a much more diverse athlete pool. Things have changed quite a bit over the years.

No A’s in Attendance: Oakland Trails a Whopping 553 U.S. Teams (May 7)

More than a month into the 2024 MLB season, the Oakland A’s were averaging just 6,410 fans per game during their final year in the Coliseum. At the time, Sportico’s unofficial research found 553 pro and college teams in U.S.-based leagues averaging more fans per home game than the Athletics. On that list were three Indoor Football League franchises, two college wrestling teams and a professional women’s volleyball team.

Jokic Joins Elite Company With Third NBA MVP Award (May 8)

Nikola Jokic’s third win in 2024 means that the past six MVP awards have gone to international players, versus just four in NBA history prior to 2018. This year, the top four vote-getters were all born outside of the United States.

Olympics’ 81 NBA Players Highlight League’s Global Investment (Aug. 3)

In the 1992 Olympics, there were 12 players with NBA experience across the non-U.S. men’s basketball teams. This year, there were 69. The rosters across the board in Paris reflected the global development of the sport.

Browns Announce Stadium Name Deal With Huntington Bank (Sept. 3)

The Cleveland Browns and Huntington National Bank agreed to a 20-year naming rights deal for the team’s current stadium, which is now known as Huntington Bank Field. The agreement came just one week after the Washington Commanders landed a new stadium naming rights partner in Northwest Federal Credit Union. More than half of the NFL’s naming rights sponsors are in either the banking or insurance industries.

Shohei Ohtani Worth Every Cent as He Reaches 50/50 Mark (Sept. 19)

Shohei Ohtani set the all-time record for home runs and stolen bases in one season when he passed the 43/43 plateau during Labor Day weekend, and he finished the year with 54 homers and 58 steals. At face value, he appears to be the best bargain in Major League Baseball history, as the cash value of his contract this season was $2 million, with the rest of his salary deferred.

NFL’s Highest-Paid Coaches 2024: Reid, Payton and Tomlin Lead (Oct. 18)

Head coach pay is up in the NFL, but the salaries are still a fraction of what stars make. Andy Reid is the league’s highest-paid coach by average annual value at $20 million, but 75 players will make at least that total this season, per Spotrac. Mike Macdonald’s $9 million-a-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks is matched or exceeded by 255 players.

3’s a Crowd: Expect Even More NBA Shots from Beyond the Arc (Oct. 22)

The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks made the 2024 NBA Finals as very different teams linked by one strategic goal: fire away from downtown. They ranked first and second in the NBA last season in 3-point attempt rate, and other teams are now getting in line to emulate them. Two months into the 2024-25 season, the league has attempted 42.4% of its shots from beyond the arc. That number has never before exceeded 40% in a season.

Missouri OKs Sports Betting as FanDuel, DraftKings Beat Caesars (Nov. 5)

When the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting in May 2018, dozens of states were ready to legalize sports gambling in the ensuing couple of years. What’s left is a handful of jurisdictions that could take a while—including massive markets in Texas and California. Currently about 65% of the U.S. population lives in a state with legal betting. That was already 49% by the end of 2021.