Name
Session 1, Speaker 1: Lee Kennedy-Shaffer, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Yale University
Date & Time
Saturday, April 12, 2025, 10:30 AM - 10:50 AM
Description
Session 1: Sports Economics – Chair: Greg Matthews
Speaker: Lee Kennedy-Shaffer, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Yale University
Title: Evaluating Rule Changes Using Quasi-Experimental Designs
Abstract: As sports leagues continue to experiment with rules changes to improve safety, increase scoring or excitement, and bolster revenues, evaluating the effects of these changes becomes more important than ever. Lab leagues, modeling, and pilot studies are one way to address this beforehand. After the fact, quasi-experimental designs provide flexible analyses that can evaluate impacts on a variety of outcomes, at the league, team, and player levels. I will discuss the possibilities and limitations of these approaches, using MLB's extra-innings zombie runner and infield shift ban as examples.
Location Name
1401
Full Address
Kline Tower
219 Prospect St
13th and 14th Floors, Registration Table in Room 1401
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
219 Prospect St
13th and 14th Floors, Registration Table in Room 1401
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
Session Type
Lecture
Title
Evaluating Rule Changes Using Quasi-Experimental Designs
Abstract
As sports leagues continue to experiment with rules changes to improve safety, increase scoring or excitement, and bolster revenues, evaluating the effects of these changes becomes more important than ever. Lab leagues, modeling, and pilot studies are one way to address this beforehand. After the fact, quasi-experimental designs provide flexible analyses that can evaluate impacts on a variety of outcomes, at the league, team, and player levels. I will discuss the possibilities and limitations of these approaches, using MLB's extra-innings zombie runner and infield shift ban as examples.
Speaker Bio
Lee Kennedy-Shaffer is an assistant professor of biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health. His primary research interests are in study designs to evaluate vaccines, infectious disease control, and health policies. A lifelong Mets fan, he is also interested in using these methods to understand baseball and sports more generally, identifying what causal inference methods work in sports settings, and using sports to broaden interest in statistics to students and the wider public.
Speaker Headshot
