23/12/2015
Pause: The business of sport, in numbers.
If you’re one of the highest paid football players in the world
today, you can be sure that key people in the industry spend
a lot of time looking at your “numbers,” and by this I don't
mean the number on your jersey. Modern sport at the very
top is a game of "numbers."
The top clubs employ "data" gathered on each player to
assess performance. If a player is a striker, they analyze
data from each game to assess his performance and
effectiveness. They can use it to compare him with players
from other teams and leagues. Those figures also play a
critical role when it comes to buying and selling players.
Gone are the days when players were assessed by just
watching them play. Even avid fans are increasingly debating
player performance, using such jargon as "number of
assists," "number of tackles," etc.
If you spend millions buying a player, it’s not enough simply
to see him play. They’ve developed a complex matrix to
analyze data on each player. In fact, the data I’ve mentioned
so far is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a whole "science"
involved in monitoring the performance of supreme athletes
at the top of the game, whether soccer, American football,
cricket, tennis, etc.
If you’ve spent your life following a team as a fan, it’s often
easy to forget that sport is a big business. Those "clubs" that
you like to follow, they're businesses. Just like any business
that you know, they’re selling a product or a service. Behind
the scenes are shareholders, entrepreneurs and managers
(some more important than the well-known coach). There
are business plans to be executed and profits to be pursued.
As an entrepreneur, you must always "see" the business side
of things, even if it’s your favorite sport. I can tell you the
financial numbers of some of the leading soccer clubs in
Europe. I'm so used to thinking and seeing things as an
entrepreneur that I make it a hobby to check for "numbers."
Performance is measured in numbers... As an entrepreneur,
you must always try to find ways to measure your
performance with numbers. The more you do this, the more
respected you will be. Whatever it is you are doing as an
entrepreneur, it must be measured constantly, and using
numbers.
Every type of business has its numbers. There's a way to
measure performance of every type of business utilizing
quantitative data. Do you know the numbers of your
business, or industry? Now you don’t have to invent your
own numbers, because in every type of business (just like in
sport) there are universally agreed numbers.
"How profitable is your business?" If I ask you that question,
there’s a way to answer as a man in the street or as an
"entrepreneur." Which one are you?
Your answer can lead to an investor saying, "let's sit down
and talk," or politely ending the conversation and running
away from you! There’s a way to present your answers in a
way that will have investors wanting to give you their last
penny, and another... to run far, far away from you! You owe
it to yourself to begin to know these things.
Now that this secret has been revealed to you, it’s your job
to "search out" these matters:
you’re running a trading business, what numbers should
you collect and analyze?
about mining, farming, telecoms, hairdressing,
repairing computers or driving your own taxi?
Whatever business you founded, manage or are dreaming to
create…What numbers you should be collecting and
analyzing?
We know the good players by their "numbers." As an
entrepreneur, you must respect numbers.
End.