When Jessica Gelman was at Harvard B-school in 2001, her business case assignment paired her with the New England Patriots, who were looking for ways to make the best use of their new stadium beyond game days. After she and her group presented recommendations to Patriots management, the team offered her a job working on the project, which evolved into what is now Patriot Place, a 1.3 million-square-foot dining, shopping and entertainment complex. “I feel very fortunate that the Krafts recognized the value [of analytics] and decided to not only hire me, but create a position for me,” said Gelman, now a vice president across all Kraft Sports Group properties. “They’ve charged me with pushing analytics and thinking about our business that way. One of the biggest challenges I saw when entering the sports industry is finding the right opportunity to bring a different approach. I have that here.”

Gelman, who led Harvard to two Ivy League basketball championships as a point guard, also has had a hand in the growing acceptance of analytics across sports as co-chair of the well-received MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.