In the background of Euro 2016 and the Copa América Centenario, the summer transfer season is well underway. This is the time for sporting directors and other club executives to shine, filling in gaps in their sides and unloading unwanted baggage. In NYA’s work with clubs, a number of useful strategies have come to the fore. Below is an inevitably incomplete list focused on just one part of the sporting director’s job: recruitment. These strategies may be obvious to some, but hopefully a few will be worth remembering. 1. Do your biggest business early. Being the first mover in the…
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This week I’ll be speaking at the 10th annual Sloan Sports Analytics Conference along with dozens of professionals from baseball, ice hockey, basketball, and more. It’s a chance to reflect on what this industry is for and also why it has been so controversial. Let me start with the sport where, at least in the public eye, it all began. I’ve been a baseball fan for most of my life. During this time, the sport entered the “moneyball” era, with increasingly complicated statistical methods being used to evaluate players and tactics. And for the most part, I didn’t notice. That doesn’t…
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Liverpool Football Club is in the midst of a backlash among fans against planned increases in ticket prices. As an economist, I’ve seen similar arguments in other markets. I’d like to offer a bit of insight into what might happen if ticket prices fell rather than rose. Right now, clubs in the Premier League have no trouble selling most of their tickets. If ticket prices were to fall, then everyone who currently buys a ticket would probably still want one. In addition, some people who currently don’t choose to purchase tickets might decide to buy. So the demand for tickets…
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