Can We 'Solve' Sports?

The Rest Is Science

Goalhanger

Science, Physics, Mathematics

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is it possible to make a sport too good? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore how science, data, and optimisation are transforming modern sports improving athletes and teams, while quietly changing how games are played, watched, and understood. From the Tush Push in the NFL and defensive shifts in Major League Baseball, to dirty air in Formula 1, expected goals in Premier League football, and the statistical dominance of seven footers in the NBA, they examine how prediction, probability, and performance analysis reshape decision making on the pitch, the court, and the track. Along the way, they wonder whether the heart of the games we love are defined by 'unnecessary obstacles', how prediction and probability have reshaped decision making, and why humans might enjoy watching messy problems unfold on the pitch much more than optimised solutions. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience ⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to The Rest of Science. I'm Hannah Frye. And I'm Michael Stevens.
0:03.3	Michael, I want to talk to you about dirty air.
0:05.6	Ooh. Okay, this sounds good.
0:08.5	It is. It's not about pollution, though. It's not about smog. It's not about the environment. It's about how hard it is for Formula One cars to overtake each other.
0:15.9	Because I think this is a perfect example of what this episode is about today. Not cars, not aerodynamics.
0:20.4	But the idea of whether engineering perfection... is a perfect example of what this episode is about today, not cars, not aerodynamics,
0:28.1	but the idea of whether engineering perfection optimizing for a team ends up ruining the sport itself.
0:29.2	Excellent.
0:29.7	And this is the thing, right?
0:30.8	We wanted to do a Rested Science episode on the Super Bowl to sort of celebrate to take part in this,
0:36.5	like, really great moment.
0:38.1	And we were thinking about the ways the science and sport interact with one another.
0:43.1	And I think that actually there is an argument to say that there's this paradox that is lurking
0:50.5	behind almost every sport.
0:52.7	The way that data analysis and science has done amazing things for each individual player,
0:59.0	each individual team, but that overall has sort of changed the amount of fun that is out
1:04.8	there.
1:05.7	What say you, Michael, what's your immediate reaction to my theory?
1:09.2	Okay, well, first of all, I want to congratulate the Seattle Seahawks for winning the Super Bowl. Fantastic game. Great job, guys. Just to go on the record, I'm rooting for the Broncos because I live in Colorado now. And the Chiefs are not in it, so I feel fine. But if I had to guess, the Seahawks are incredible. I mean, they're playing, they're playing an amazing kind of football.
1:30.3	So it's going to be hard to beat them.
1:32.6	I mean, sure.
1:34.3	But you asked me about optimization and beauty in sports.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Goalhanger, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Goalhanger and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.