We launched Opta Analyst in March 2021 with the goal of advancing data journalism without alienating sports fans. We felt there was a gap in the market and that we had the journalists and experts to contribute. Five years, in the context of the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards, is not a particularly long time. Attending the event over the past two years has made that clear with the presence of the established publications, broadcasters and individuals nominated and honoured. But five years for a small team attempting to break into a competitive, established industry can also be demanding.
Winning Specialist Publisher of the Year at Monday night’s 2025 SJA British Sports Journalism Awards was the latest validation that it has been five years well spent.
From the start, we have consistently evaluated our place in sports media, particularly football. We never set out to be a news site. There were others who did it better than we felt we ever could. We wanted to react to the news by analysing it after it broke. And with time, we found we were also on the front end of the news cycle. Our predictive outputs were creating news for the publications and broadcasters we shared the stage with on Monday night. That started with the 2020 European Championship in June 2021, and it continues to grow as we watch the evolving 2025-26 Premier League title and relegation races.
Our industry was in transition long before we were a part of it. Given our parent company is Stats Perform, AI wasn’t particularly new to us when we launched the site, but it has found its way into journalism in new ways since.
AI’s role in our work and our stance on it as a site has remained consistent. A key difference in our approach to journalism is where we believe the role of technology sits in the content creation process compared to recent industry trends. Our view is that AI should advance human storytelling, not replace it. That’s why we invest in technology that can create new sources for content rather than the content itself. We live in a media landscape driven by volume and speed. Quality suffers. Originality and ingenuity disappear. By investing in technology, we enhance our journalists’ capabilities to deliver the quality we expect. Arm talented journalists with differentiated outputs and afford them the time to analyse, and they will thrive. Monday’s award felt like validation of that strategy.
“Opta Analyst stands out for using data to genuinely explain football, turning complex analysis into something clear, engaging and actually useful for fans,” the judges said. “With trusted tools, wide influence and a strong editorial identity, it’s helping shape how the game is understood across both the men’s and women’s game.”
The SJAs have backed that up with three individual nominations for our writers over the past two years, including Ryan Benson earning silver in an extremely competitive Data Journalist of the Year category at Monday’s awards.
We thank the judges for acknowledging us and you as readers for visiting the site.
There’s so much more to come. Shortly after launch, we prepared for a major tournament with Euro 2020 kicking off in June 2021. It was a launchpad for the site, and we’ve seen growth with every major tournament since. The 2026 World Cup should only build on that, and we hope to be back for the awards this time next year to see how our coverage stacked up.
‘Helping Shape How the Game is Understood’: Opta Analyst Wins 2025 SJA Specialist Publisher Opta Analyst.
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