The following is a recap I wrote of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference that was published on The Business of Sports blog. It can be found here.
This past weekend I attended the 5th Annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytic Conference (#SSAC to the Twitterverse). Dubbed “Dorkapalooza” by ESPN.com writer Bill Simmons, the conference is perhaps the largest single gathering of statheads, sabermetricians and other likeminded folks fascinated by statistical analysis in sports. It has also become a premier networking opportunity for students with an eye towards a career in sports as well as those already established within the industry.
Unfortunately, with four overlapping sessions running simultaneously during each time block, it is impossible not to miss a significant portion of the conference. The following is a recap of a few of the most compelling takeaways and themes from those panels which I attended:
SOCIAL: Social is not often a word associated with a collection of self-proclaimed stat geeks, but it should come as no surprise that social media was a recurring theme throughout the conference.
- Sarah Robb O’Hagan, CMO at Gatorade, talked about the company’s “Mission Control,” their social media command center dedicated to tracking all discussion of their brand occurring on social media sites. She made a point of noting that Gatorade makes a distinction between the values of different tweets, assigning greater importance to one that is read by teenage athletes, for instance.
- Bob Bowman, President and CEO of MLB Advanced Media, warned of the perils of businesses not using social media to engage with their customers, saying that “no matter what your business is, if you’re not following Twitter, you’re missing what your customers are saying.”
- Celtics Co-Owner Steve Pagliuca said that while he and other team personnel discuss the potential risks for players engaging with the public through social media (i.e. harming endorsement potential) the team doesn’t take any measures to regulate their messaging. He also stated that he believed Celtics players are fundamentally good people and just needed to avoid making damaging early mistakes with social media.
- There seemed to be a consensus across all panels that fan input is more impactful than ever, especially with the advent of Twitter as a real-time reaction tool.
Authenticity was a prevailing theme in the discussion of social media. Multiple speakers mentioned the fans’ ability to detect the difference between a Facebook page or Twitter account managed by an athlete’s marketing representative versus one in which the player provides personal thoughts.
- Both O’Hagan and Lawrence Norman, Vice President of Global Basketball for Adidas, cited Dwight Howard as a great partner/endorser because of his willingness to actively engage with the fans through social media.
- Nick Grudin, Manager of Strategic Partnership Development at Facebook, gave a lunchtime talk entitled, “Social Sports: Facebook, and the Fan-Centric Experience.” He singled out Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics as someone who successfully parlayed genuine fan interaction such as Facebook chats into a disproportionate following. Rondo’s 2 million fans on Facebook ranks an impressive 3rd among NBA players behind only Kobe Bryant (6.8 million) and LeBron James (5.3 million).
CUBAN MISSILES: Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, whose “Talk Nerdy to Me” T-shirt was a hit with the attendees, launched countless off-the-cuff barbs in the direction of fellow panelists that left the audience laughing. He displayed the quick-thinking business savvy behind his success, interjecting significant insight into the discussions and demonstrating impressive foresight.
- Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones speculated that the enormous HD video boards in the team’s stadium could soon become outdated, rendering them useless and requiring the team to replace them at an enormous expense. Cuban immediately chimed in that some enterprising individual would have the ingenuity to repurpose the screens, using them as the main attraction at a drive-in movie theater.
- Always with an eye towards the future, Cuban scoffed at the continuous mention of social media in discussing innovations that will impact the fan experience in 10 years, making the following two statements: “Twitter is a great broadcast opportunity, but that’s living life in the past lane.” and “If 500 million people are on Facebook, how can it be new and exciting?”
- Cuban, seemingly serious, responded to conjecture that he would be providing lively commentary during the panel on Referee Analytics by informing the audience that he had received an e-mail from the NBA league office reminding him that the conference was a public forum and he would be held accountable for any statements made in regards to NBA officiating.
THE FUTURE OF THE GAME DAY EXPERIENCE: HDTV VS. LIVE EVENTS: The closing panel was chock full of informative discussion and interesting insights. There was significant focus on the issue of making technological innovations to improve the in-game experience for fans in attendance. The panelists lamented the limitations created by insufficient Wi-Fi bandwidth.
- New England Patriots COO, Jonathan Kraft, shared that the Patriots provided devices and an application to a segment of the fans in attendance as a trial-run with the goal of making it available to the entire stadium in the future. The app offered a stream of the TV feed as well as the option of four other angles from cameras placed throughout the stadium along with real-time fantasy updates. Kraft envisions this app eventually allowing the fan to stream the Red Zone channel and perhaps select an audio feed from a number of mic’d-up players, but cautioned that this would not be feasible without significantly improving the Wi-Fi capabilities of the stadium.
The speakers were in agreement that they needed to put an emphasis on addressing and improving all aspects of attending the game in order to provide fans with the best possible game day experience.
- Cuban noted the importance of working with the local transportation authority to ensure that travel to and from the arena is as easy possible. Kraft agreed and said that in addition to working with public officials to improve transportation options such as a commuter rail to the stadium, the team had spent $70 Million improving the existing road infrastructure around the stadium.
ODDS & ENDS: Other notable tidbits include…
- During Grudin’s Facebook presentation, one stat illustrated a surprising disparity between Major League Baseball and the other three major sports leagues. MLB ranked a distant 4th in “Likes” with a mere 280,000 trailing well behind the NBA (7.6 million), NFL (2.6 Million), and NHL (2.4 million). This stood out on the heels of the announcement that MLB.com At Bat 2010 for iPhone and iPod touch was named the highest grossing application on iTunes.
- While there is an enormous amount of secrecy amongst ownership and management within a given sport, a few panelists mentioned the conference as an opportunity to learn from their counterparts in other sports and share best practices. Stephen Jones also confessed to learning a great deal from what Cuban and the Mavericks do at American Airlines and replicating some of it in Cowboys Stadium.
- Eric Mangini handled what could have been an uncomfortable and contentious moment with grace and good humor. ESPN The Magazine Editor Gary Belsky, responding to a panelist’s mention of nearly being fired by saying that having been fired wouldn’t disqualify him from appearing on the panel before turning to Eric Mangini, realizing his faux pas and saying, “Oops…sorry” as the audience laughed.
WIT & WISDOM: In addition to sharing tremendously valuable insight and lessons, panelists used the informal and lighthearted nature of the sessions as an opportunity to showcase their comedic talents. Many proved to be incredibly witty and it was evident that a number of the speakers had an established rapport with each other, leading to some very entertaining, albeit good natured ribbing. For a look at 5 of the most entertaining and informative personalities from the conference, you can read my guest blog post here.
__________________________________________________________________________________
The following is the text of a guest blog post I wrote for the Octagon First Call blog looking at five of the most informative and entertaining panelists from this past weekend’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference:
This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the MIT Sloan Sports Analytic Conference (#SSAC to the Twitterverse). Assumed by many merely to be a gathering of statisticians and fans of sabermetrics, the conference actually is a tremendous resource and networking opportunity for anyone working or aspiring to work in the business of sports. The following is a look at some of the most entertaining and informative personalities from the panels and the reasons why:
Jeff Van Gundy
ESPN NBA Analyst and former Head Coach
Van Gundy displayed his trademark basketball insight and analysis but also answered questions with a surprising level of candor. He twice cited specific examples of players he had coached to illustrate a point. He first mentioned Tracy McGrady as an example of a player so naturally gifted that he succeeded in spite of his poor practice habits and later said that although Stromile Swift displayed prodigious athletic talents, he never demonstrated the necessary work ethic or love of the game to become anything more than a serviceable NBA player. He also drew laughter from the audience by saying that a player can be soft, selfish or stupid, but not more than one of the three. He later commented that he should have added fat to the list when former player Bonzi Wells was mentioned by Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey.
Justin Tuck
New York Giants Defensive End
Although initially tentative and quick to defer, Tuck proved to be a valuable panelist, giving a player’s perspective and sharing a few personal anecdotes. He illustrated a point regarding innate talent vs. practiced behavior by telling a story about playing High School basketball against one immensely talented player (Jamario Moon) and another that was incredibly hard working (Gerald Wallace), noting that while the former is in the NBA, the latter has transformed himself into an All-Star. He also left the audience dumbfounded by relaying a story in which he witnessed JaMarcus Russell throw a football 72 yards from one knee during a high school game.
Mike Carey
NFL Referee
Carey offered the unique perspective and insight of having actually officiated NFL games, illuminating certain issues in much that same way that former colleague Mike Pereira has successfully done during Fox’s NFL broadcasts. He articulately described a few of the subtle nuances required in determining what constitutes a holding penalty, but perhaps his most interesting contribution came when he explained that the reason reviews of a challenged play can take so long is because the entire play is open for review, in addition to the particular aspect of the play being challenged by the Coach. This came as a surprise to fellow panelist Bill Simmons who confessed his ignorance on the matter and even went so far as to ask the audience, “Did you know that?”
Mark Cuban
Owner, Dallas Mavericks
Cuban lived up to his reputation as a savvy businessman with a quick wit and an eye towards the future. Sporting a “Talk Nerdy to Me” T-shirt, he repeatedly teased the notoriously nostalgic Bill Simmons for living life in the “past lane” and joked that the fines he’d accrue for criticizing NFL officiating would make owning a team cost-prohibitive after Mike Carey commented that the definition of certain penalties was open to interpretation. Cuban discussed his unrelenting commitment to providing the highest quality in-arena entertainment for fans, sharing that the team invests hundreds of thousands of dollars in creating short-form entertainment for fans attending their games and stated that “If you’re looking down at a device during a Mavericks game, I’ve failed.” He also dismissed the notion of social media as the latest and greatest innovation, asking the audience how Facebook could possibly be considered “new and exciting” if it has 500 million users.
Wyc Grousbeck
Owner, Boston Celtics
Grousbeck proved to be both insightful and surprisingly funny during a panel on ownership. When asked if spending $350 Million to buy Celtics was a bad investment, he stated that although he felt confident his money was safe with the organization, the purchase was motivated by Celtic Pride and the pursuit of a championship. In response to a question about how quickly the deal came to fruition, he answered, “If I went to Sloan or Harvard I’d still be doing the Celtics deal. But I went to Stanford so I pulled the trigger.” He and Warriors Owner Joe Lacob exchanged some good-natured ribbing. After Lacob admitted he’d be content with 40 wins for the Warriors, Grousbeck asked, “Over how many years?” Brian Burke, President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, shared that he tells Owners “there’s only two hands on the steering wheel and they both belong to me.” Bill Simmons immediately followed-up by asking Grousbeck if he had ever touched Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge’s steering wheel, to which Grousbeck made the timely and comedic response, “If I had, it would have gotten me kicked off the BYU basketball team.”
Thanks for your share,I will share to my frieds!