pIn the last two decades, innovation, data analysis, and technology have driven a tectonic shift in the sports business. emGame of Edgesem is the story of how sports franchises evolved, on and off the field, from raggedly run small businesses into some of the most systematically productive companies around.ppIn today's game, everyone from the owners to the marketing staff are using information--data--to give their team an edge. For analysts, an edge is their currency. Figuring out that bunting hurts your offense That's an edge. So is discovering metrics that can predict the career arc of your free agent shooting guard. Or combing through a decade of ticket-buying data to target persuadable fans.ppThese small, incremental steps move a sports franchise from merely ordinary to the emleading edgeem. Franchises today are more than just sports they integrate a whole suite of other businesses--television and digital content, gambling and real estate, fashion and apparel, entertainment, cateri