SportsDataverse Table Themes • sdvplotR

sdvplotR puts team logos, headshots and colors inside gt tables. The table around them still needs a look, and two themes are built for that:

gt_theme_sdv() is the SportsDataverse house table, in light or dark.
gt_theme_sdv_team() dresses the same table in one team’s colors.

Both follow the same rules. Titles and column labels are set in Chivo, and the body in Lato with tabular figures, so digits line up down a column. Column labels keep the case you give them. The one accent is a line under the column labels, so logos and team colors stay the loudest thing in the table.

library(sdvplotR)
library(gt)

The data

The final 2023 AFC West standings, typed in so this article builds offline. The logos come from gt_sdv_logos(), which resolves the abbreviations through clean_team_abbrs().

standings <- data.frame(
  team = c("KC", "LV", "DEN", "LAC"),
  name = c("Kansas City Chiefs", "Las Vegas Raiders", "Denver Broncos", "Los Angeles Chargers"),
  w = c(11, 8, 8, 5),
  l = c(6, 9, 9, 12)
)
standings$pct <- standings$w / (standings$w + standings$l)

standings_table <- gt(standings) |>
  gt_sdv_logos(columns = "team", sport = "nfl", height = 26) |>
  cols_label(team = "", name = "Team", w = "W", l = "L", pct = "Win pct") |>
  # win percentage without the leading zero, as box scores print it (.647)
  fmt(columns = "pct", fns = function(x) sub("^0", "", sprintf("%.3f", x))) |>
  tab_header("AFC West standings", "2023 regular season") |>
  tab_source_note("Data: nflverse")

The house theme

standings_table |> gt_theme_sdv()

	Team	W	L	Win pct
AFC West standings
2023 regular season
	Kansas City Chiefs	11	6	.647
	Las Vegas Raiders	8	9	.471
	Denver Broncos	8	9	.471
	Los Angeles Chargers	5	12	.294
Data: nflverse

The line under the column labels is the SportsDataverse gradient, the same one in the package logo. It is the only decoration, drawn once across the whole table rather than per cell.

Dark

style = "dark" sets the same table on the SportsDataverse navy. It matches the dark mode of this site, and suits posts that sit on a dark background.

standings_table |> gt_theme_sdv(style = "dark")

	Team	W	L	Win pct
AFC West standings
2023 regular season
	Kansas City Chiefs	11	6	.647
	Las Vegas Raiders	8	9	.471
	Denver Broncos	8	9	.471
	Los Angeles Chargers	5	12	.294
Data: nflverse

A team’s colors

gt_theme_sdv_team() takes a team and a sport. It uses the colors sdv_team_colors() returns: the title block is filled with the primary color, the line under the labels uses the secondary color, and the labels are set in the primary color. Any abbreviation, alias or full name clean_team_abbrs() accepts works as team.

data.frame(
  player = c("Patrick Mahomes", "Travis Kelce", "Isiah Pacheco"),
  stat = c("Passing", "Receiving", "Rushing"),
  yards = c(4183, 984, 935)
) |>
  gt() |>
  cols_label(player = "Player", stat = "", yards = "Yards") |>
  fmt_number(columns = "yards", decimals = 0) |>
  tab_header("Chiefs yardage leaders", "2023 regular season") |>
  gt_theme_sdv_team(team = "KC", sport = "nfl")

Player		Yards
Chiefs yardage leaders
2023 regular season
Patrick Mahomes	Passing	4,183
Travis Kelce	Receiving	984
Isiah Pacheco	Rushing	935

Colors that would not read

Team colors are chosen for jerseys, not for text on a white table, so the theme checks contrast rather than using the colors as they come:

Title text on the filled block is black or white, whichever contrasts more with the primary color.
A secondary color too pale to see on white (Duke’s is white) gives way to the primary color for the line.
A primary color too light to read as text (the Saints’ gold) gives way to the SportsDataverse navy for the column labels.

Each table below shows the team’s own colors as sdv_team_colors() returns them, dressed in those colors.

color_record <- function(sport, team) {
  data.frame(
    team = team,
    primary = unname(sdv_team_colors(sport, team, "primary")),
    secondary = unname(sdv_team_colors(sport, team, "secondary"))
  )
}

color_record("mbb", "DUKE") |>
  gt() |>
  tab_header("Duke Blue Devils", "A white secondary: the line takes the primary") |>
  gt_theme_sdv_team(team = "DUKE", sport = "mbb")

team	primary	secondary
Duke Blue Devils
A white secondary: the line takes the primary
DUKE	#00539B	#FFFFFF


color_record("nfl", "NO") |>
  gt() |>
  tab_header("New Orleans Saints", "A gold primary: the labels go navy") |>
  gt_theme_sdv_team(team = "NO", sport = "nfl")

team	primary	secondary
New Orleans Saints
A gold primary: the labels go navy
NO	#D3BC8D	#000000

With team = NULL the table wears the SportsDataverse navy and cyan.

Sizing for where it goes

Every theme takes density. "comfortable" is the default, "compact" tightens type and row padding for long tables, and "social" scales both up to the size gt_save_crop() and gt_social_crop() export at.

standings_table |> gt_theme_sdv(density = "compact")

	Team	W	L	Win pct
AFC West standings
2023 regular season
	Kansas City Chiefs	11	6	.647
	Las Vegas Raiders	8	9	.471
	Denver Broncos	8	9	.471
	Los Angeles Chargers	5	12	.294
Data: nflverse

Changing one thing

Anything in ... goes to gt::tab_options() after the theme’s own options, so it overrides them. Center the heading and keep everything else:

standings_table |> gt_theme_sdv(heading.align = "center")

	Team	W	L	Win pct
AFC West standings
2023 regular season
	Kansas City Chiefs	11	6	.647
	Las Vegas Raiders	8	9	.471
	Denver Broncos	8	9	.471
	Los Angeles Chargers	5	12	.294
Data: nflverse

Saving an image

theme_bg records the background each theme paints. Pass it to gt_save_crop() so the padding around the saved image matches the table instead of framing it in white.

bg <- theme_bg$bg[theme_bg$theme == "gt_theme_sdv" & theme_bg$has_style == "dark"]

standings_table |>
  gt_theme_sdv(style = "dark", density = "social") |>
  gt_save_crop("afc-west.png", bg = bg)

To see these next to the 18 other themes in the package on your own data, run gt_theme_preview(standings).