When evaluating sports clubs, there is a lot to take into consideration. Along with the financial stats like profitability, factors like the players who play for it, the team’s ranking, and its performance record also matter. Now the fact that the AI tools are available to the teams, they can perform a lot better than their current performance.
Increased performance with AI
Back in 2019, an English rugby team, the Leicester Tigers, finished at the lowest ranking of the premier league of the sport. Looking at this situation, the club decided to utilize AI to assess players’ performance and evaluate how different decisions would improve the probability of winning for the club.
After utilizing AI tools developed by a sports data company based in London, the team won the 2022 Premier League, gaining the 1st slot among 13 other teams. The edge that AI tools provide is obvious from the success in football, cricket, and many other sports, as AI is changing the way sports are played and managed.
N3XT Sports is a consultancy based in Barcelona, its chief information officer, Motasem El Bawab, said,
“AI is providing new opportunities for sports properties to commodify its fan and athlete data, deepening its understanding of its customers and stakeholders, and making their brand more appealing to investors.”
Source: Fortune.
AI also brings new ways for teams and fans to interact with each other, regardless of the sport. Fans are considered the soul of sport, and the fame of any league or team is hugely dependent on their interest. So teams also lose their engagement with fans when interest decreases, and monetization opportunities also decrease in this very situation, which can be recovered with the help of AI.
More revenues and more fan engagement with AI integration
During the last four years, sports mergers, investment deals, and acquisitions have increased to nearly $37 billion, according to the analysts at Deutsche Bank. Saudi Arabia’s interest in football has increased as it paid big money to Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now the highest paid footballer in the world. As sports are attracting bigger investments, it is also interesting to note that, at the same time, the interest rates are also increasing. It is important to note that the higher inflation and interest rates have slowed down deal finalization in other industries.
Deutsche Bank also thinks that AI is one of the factors that sports clubs have seen better revenues. But the responsibility lies on the teams to find the best tools and utilize them in a way so that they can stay ahead of others. Galina Pozdnyakova and Luke Templeman are analysts for the bank, they noted,
“The detractors argue that sports statistics will be a zero-sum game once every team has them. We believe the opposite, we argue that the proliferation of sophisticated sports data analysis will level the playing field in leagues that are dominated by a small number of teams.”
Source: Fortune.
Along with better performance and increased fan engagement, these tools are also employed for management, as discussed above, which in return drives more merchandise sales and also ticket sales. A sports club’s valuation directly depends on all these critical variables for increased and sustainable earnings.
For the most innovative and focused teams, there are enticing options now to capitalize on all of this computing power and do things a little differently.
The original story can be seen here.
