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Technology is a ticket into the game

Interview, September 2020 · 2 minute read

In 2020, with stadiums empty, Ministry of Sport asked me how technology would change sport. Here's what I told them, and most of it still holds.

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In September 2020, Joshua Hodson of Ministry of Sport interviewed me about how COVID-19 was speeding up the digital transformation of sport. These are my answers, lightly edited.

Sport changed overnight

"The whole world of sport has changed considerably. Leagues and organisations getting back to sport are playing in empty venues, so fans have to be engaged in different ways. What we focus on is a unified platform that brings fans together and ultimately helps teams win."

"For many years, sports organisations focused their technology on the field of play: anything athletes wear, and using technology on the athlete side. Now they're realising that if they're going to have long-term success, they have to do the same in the front office. COVID-19 moved that forward very quickly. All of a sudden there are no fans in the stadiums, partnerships and sponsorships are under pressure, and things have to be done differently."

"In every conversation I'm having, teams are thinking deeply about changing their whole business model. We're running live events through Microsoft Teams, for example. Money-can't-buy experiences, like talking to a coach right before a game, have always been possible through technology. Now they're being used."

Screens are here to stay

"Even once fans go back to stadiums, I think we'll see this continue. The screen-first experience will become more common. People are going to interact a lot more on screens, so sports organisations need to think about how to make it not just part of what they do, but the centre of their strategy."

Start at the grassroots

"Recovery has to start at the grassroots, at a local level, where people come into venues and play sport, because that's where the future is. The challenges for a professional team, paying athletes and venue costs, are quite different from those of a junior club where children play in front of their parents."

"At the grassroots, what's critical is understanding the customer journey. What does a child want to get out of a basketball game? What can you give them before and after it, such as warm-ups and ways to practise when they're not with their team? Technology does that very well."

Sport is business and emotion

"In my experience, that often gets mixed up. The emotional connection of a fan to their team is critical, and from leagues down to grassroots clubs, organisations need to maintain that connection with their fans and participants."

A ticket into the game

"The first thing is to recognise that technology is no longer going to set you apart from your competitors. It's a ticket into the game. If you're not using technology and thinking about it, you're already behind."

"Some of it is simple, like a CRM system that captures all your information, and there are good options that don't cost much or anything at all. You don't have to understand every detail. You just have to understand what it can do. For anyone working in sport, learn the relevant technology, whether it's on the field or in finance, marketing or anywhere else in the front office. Separate yourself by really understanding it."