Fantasy sports analysts have created many R packages to make analyzing sports data easier in R.
Data in sports is in abundance because there are many stakeholders. Availability in women’s sports is growing, but not as abundant as men’s sports. The NCAA produces data for both men’s and women’s data, but value-added data from other interests (e.g., gambling) have not produced more data for women’s data.
https://github.com/dwillis/nicar23-sports
Words can't explain the wild Minnesota Vikings season, but these 6 charts can
9 charts that explain the Minnesota Vikings' stunning turnaround from last season to this one
In the NCAA, players wear sensors that collect data on them. That data is likely held by the athletics department, but not publicized for privacy reasons. This is not done by the NFL because of unions.
Recreational deserts — how do counties or places differ in terms of number of recreational venues?
You can build a lot of data projects prior to the season, in preparation for story lines.