Title
STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF RANKINGS IN SPORTS AND GAMES
Abstract
Any collection can be ranked. Sports and games are common examples of ranked systems: players and teams are constantly ranked using different methods. The statistical properties of rankings have been studied for almost a century in a variety of fields. More recently, data availability has allowed us to study rank dynamics: how elements of a ranking change in time. Here, we study the rank distributions and rank dynamics of 12 datasets from different sports and games. To study rank dynamics, we consider measures that we have defined previously: rank diversity, change probability, rank entropy, and rank complexity. We also introduce a new measure that we call "system closure" that reflects how many elements enter or leave the rankings in time. We use a random walk model to reproduce the observed rank dynamics, showing that a simple mechanism can generate similar statistical properties as the ones observed in the datasets. Our results show that while rank distributions vary considerably for different rankings, rank dynamics have similar behaviors, independently of the nature and competitiveness of the sport or game and its ranking method. Our results also suggest that our measures of rank dynamics are general and applicable for complex systems of different natures.
Year
DOI
Venue
2021
10.1142/S0219525921500077
ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Ranking, dynamics, sports, success, competition
Journal
24
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
02
0219-5259
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
José Antonio Morales100.34
Jorge Flores221.41
Carlos Gershenson339242.34
Carlos Pineda421.41