Accessability of Statistical Software for the Common Fan

It would be easy to think that only business entities with significant capital have the resources to track, record, and analyze large amounts of data. Traditionally it would require organizations to have a player personnel department comprised of individuals with varying jobs ranging from scouts, data miners, and of course personnel directors. The fact is that even though teams are progressively leaning towards implementing their own data analytic departments, a majority of the teams outsource this work through small private companies that specialize in sports data analysis and consultation. Most of the companies are small with limited resources and small staffs. The difference  in the capabilities of the businesses today compared to 20 years ago comes down to progressively accessible and cheap technology. Company's such as DakStats (http://dakststats.daktroniks.com) Sports statistics provide down loadable software packages that can be applied to a number of sports. Available to the public and businesses alike. This software has a multitude of features such as web sync to web casted games and play by play stat tracking. There are also a multitude of web based applications such as Baseball Tracker and Basketball Stat Tracker that provide more limited forms of data tracking and recording. While the apps do not have the ability to analyze data it can be used in conjunction with other statistical software such as (www.minitab.com)  minitab 17 to create comprehensive statistical forecast and reports. The point is with a little knowledge on the interpretation of data an individual could easily analyze data for their own benefit or provide business intelligence as a consulting firm for a sports organization. The profession is not limited to those already within sports organizations and being an expanding field could be the right niche for an aspiring entrepreneur.