The Elias Sports Bureau is an American privately-held sports data company providing historical and current
statistical
Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
information for the major
professional sports
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...
leagues operating in the U.S. and Canada.
Founded in 1913, Elias is considered a pioneering firm in the field of sports recordkeeping and has served as the longtime official
statistician
A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors.
It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...
for
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB), the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA), and the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL).
Other notable clients include
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
(MLS), the
WNBA, the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...
, and the
PGA, and the company also serves as the official statistician for the
WBC. In addition to its league clients, Elias also maintains relationships with major media clients including
MLB Network
MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...
,
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
,
The Sports Network
The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE ...
, and
CBSSports.com among others.
History
Early Years, 1913–1952
In 1913 Al Munro Elias and his brother Walter founded the Al Munro Elias Baseball Bureau, Inc. in New York City. The Bureau's methods of collection and presentation of statistics set the form and precedent for recording baseball information, and has influenced the universal collection and presentation of other sports’ leagues information ever since.
At first, the Munro brothers sold printed scorecards with baseball data directly to fans. The Bureau's popularity surged in 1916, when The
New York Telegram daily newspaper began publishing the Bureau's weekly compilation of batting and pitching averages and league leaders. In 1916, Elias was named the official statistician of the
National League
National League often refers to:
*National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada
*National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
and
International League
The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
(the minor league baseball circuit), with the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
and other
minor leagues following shortly thereafter.
In 1937, the Bureau took over the publication of Charley White's Record Book, also known as the “Little Red Book”, shortly after White’s passing. The Little Red Book was an official source for major league records and statistics used by
sportswriter
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...
s, club and league officials, players, and sports fans.
Upon Al’s passing in 1938, Walter Elias became President of the Al Munro Elias Baseball Bureau and began publishing The Pocket Cyclopedia of Major League Baseball, the successor to the Little Red Book. Lester Goodman assumed control of the Al Munro Elias Baseball Bureau after the death of Walter Elias in 1949. Goodman managed the business on behalf of the Elias brothers’ widows until his passing in 1952.
Ownership of Seymour Siwoff (1952-2019)
That same year, Seymour Siwoff, who had joined the company in 1937 as an intern while studying at St. John's University, purchased the Al Munro Elias Baseball Bureau from the Elias's widows. Siwoff renamed the company the Elias Sports Bureau to better fulfill his vision of incorporating all professional sports, and served as company president for 67 years. Under Siwoff, the company grew into the world’s most trusted source for sports data.
Elias became the official statisticians of the NFL in 1961 and the NBA in 1970. Elias was later named the founding statistician for MLS and the WNBA in 1993 and 1997, respectively — both partnerships that endure to the present day. Elias also became official statistician of the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
in 1997, although the league now complies its official statistics internally. Still today, Elias remains the leading sports statistics source for newspapers, magazines, websites, and sports broadcasters across the country.
Seymour was inducted into the
New York Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 for Elias’s contribution to the growth in popularity of sports through statistics and recordkeeping. Posthumously, Siwoff was named a finalist for the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
as a contributor in 2020, and was again named a semi-finalist in 2023 and 2024.
After stepping down in 2019, Siwoff turned the company over to his grandson, Joe Gilston, who continues to serve as President. Gilston’s mission is to maintain the core company values of inclusion, accuracy, and accountability, while driving Elias’s modernization efforts.
Products and services
Elias receives daily game results directly from league offices. Elias scrubs the data, resolves any scoring issues, and archives the certified data for instant access. Official league data is then used to provide the following services:
* Official League Statisticians Elias researchers help league offices validate complex data, clarify complex scoring decisions, and ensure the accuracy and integrity of rules, statistics, and records based on precedent.
* Live Statistical Research Working in shifts around the clock, Elias researchers may be contacted instantly to provide context or confirmation of events on the field in real time to producers and broadcasters.
* Elias Editorial Notes Elias researchers provide comprehensive game and player notes based on official league statistics to broadcast partners for announcers and analysts to reference before, during, and after games.
* Elias Data Services are used by league offices, broadcast networks, and
sports entertainment
Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competition, competitive event using a high level of theatre, theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertainment, entertaining an audience. Un ...
organizations, daily customized data streams on upcoming opponents and players of interest reveal trends, insights, and milestones based on historical performance. Elias, for instance, has digitized the records and box scores of games going as far back as 1876 for Major League Baseball.
* AccessElias This
online service allows subscribing
sports journalist
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...
s and researchers to access official league statistics, study the Elias database, create search criteria, and analyze results.
See also
*
Stats Perform
*
Sportradar US
References
{{reflist
External links
Elias Sports Bureau Official websiteElias Game Plan AppElias Digital Solutions websiteStatmuse
Statistical service organizations
1913 establishments in New York (state)
Companies based in New York City