One does not need to be a professional in order to do sports data analysis. It is a niche yet real hobby. Some do it to entertain themselves and test their mathematics skills. Others do it to enhance their chance of winning bets. Sports data analysis is exactly the process bookmakers perform to determine betting odds. That said, there are other factors that contribute to profiting from bets, such as making the most of bonuses and selecting betting sites with good odds (source: https://esports-news.co.uk/betting-sites/).
The first step to doing sports statistical analysis is finding data, and this article covers a variety of sources that hobbyists have at their disposal.
Official websites of leagues and governing bodies
Many of these websites, like fifa.com, premierleague.com, nba.com, and others, offer statistics related to matches, teams, and players. For example, on FIFA's website, one can browse matches from recent tournaments, and for each match, find data categories like attacking, attempts at goal, and offers to receive, along with some limited player stats related to that particular match. Other websites, like the NBA’s official website, offer more detailed stats for players and teams.
These are considered to be very trustworthy sources.
Sports-reference family of sites
Sports Reference, LLC is a company based in the U.S. that runs multiple sites providing data, each for a different sport. The sites are listed below:
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basketball-reference.com
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baseball-reference.com
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hockey-reference.com
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pro-football-reference.com (American football)
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fbref.com (association football)
These are easy-to-use sites and are often the go-to source for beginner sports statistics hobbyists. They contain highly comprehensive stats that date back a couple of decades.
APIs
An API (application programming interface) is a connection between software applications that allows one of them to use features or data from the other. In the context of sports statistics, sports data APIs allow users to load data directly into data analysis software (e.g., Python), circumventing the data entry phase, which makes them incredibly convenient.
StatMuse
StatMuse is a web application based on a type of artificial intelligence called natural language processing (NLP). It allows users to ask specific questions and get direct answers without having to search through data themselves. The application was initially targeted at fantasy sports players; however, it has, in time, expanded to be usable by all sports fans.
Sports media platforms
Some sports media platforms, such as ESPN and Yahoo Sports, also publish sports statistics. The benefit of these is that they sometimes provide stats for more niche sports that cannot be found elsewhere, although data for these sports is usually limited.
Commercial data sources
These are the companies that do the initial data collection. Hobbyist sports statisticians do not directly access data from these companies, as they generally operate on a B2B model; however, the data accessible to amateurs often comes indirectly from these sources. Notable examples include Sportradar, Genius Sports, and Stats Perform. The primary customers of these companies are sports teams, media outlets, and bookmakers.
Conclusion
There are numerous data sources available for those interested in sports statistics as a hobby. Some sources are more detailed, while others are simpler to use. They are all accessed through the internet, which is the technology that enabled this hobby to emerge in the first place.
