Sports Governance

Leave a reply

Lucy Tallentire from the School of Business, Economics and Informatics interviews Rowland Jack, founder of I Trust Sport, ahead of his lecture at the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre on 9 January 2017. Rowland tweets at @itrustsport

As a sports governance consultancy, I Trust Sport has a unique opportunity to influence international sports governance. What drove you to set up the consultancy?

squash-793063_640I chose the name of the company because I believe sport has a lot to offer individuals and society. I have been fortunate enough to work in the sports industry for a long time, including six editions of the Olympic Games, summer and winter. In previous roles focusing on communications and policy, I became increasingly concerned that serious issues of governance were not being addressed effectively and were holding sport back. At one extreme it is obviously the criminal activity that tends to attract media attention, but most of what I perceived was towards the other end of the scale – structural failings or inefficiencies which prevent sports bodies and dedicated people working to their potential.

In 2011 I began research and I set up I Trust Sport a few months after London 2012.

For those without prior knowledge of the problems faced by the squash community, why did the World Squash Federation (WSF) seek an independent governance review?

Squash has lobbied hard in recent years to join the Olympic programme, unfortunately without success. It was believed – I think justifiably – that being part of the Olympic Games would transform the sport by bringing increased visibility and funding. This setback was one reason for significant differences of opinion among senior figures within the World Squash Federation, the Professional Squash Association and elsewhere about the future direction of the sport. In June 2016 the former president of the World Squash Federation was coming to the end of his term and committed to conducting an independent review. I Trust Sport was called in, along with Vero Communications, and asked to report ahead of elections in November.

I should stress that the majority of the challenges facing squash which I will cover in the lecture on 9 January are common to a number of sports: a strained relationship between the international federation and the professional league; a lack of consultation which leads to stakeholders feeling marginalised; and limited resources. It would be unfair to characterise squash as uniquely problematic – these are difficult issues to address. In my view, the World Squash Federation deserves credit for inviting scrutiny from an outside party.

What influence do you hope your recommendations to the World Squash Federation have for squash as an international sport?

I am not a squash player myself but I recognise that squash is a great sport. It blends skill, stamina and tactics in a gladiatorial setting.

Ultimately, I hope that squash can flourish both as a competitive and a recreational sport, and that more people can enjoy playing, watching and being involved in other ways.

For that to happen it is important that the World Squash Federation and the Professional Squash Association collaborate more effectively, working towards common goals. I think that is the top priority.

There are a number of fairly technical points in the report, which I believe can improve the functioning of the World Squash Federation. I’ll talk about some of these on 9 January. It’s up to the new Executive Board to decide how to proceed.

Running an international sports body, particularly when money is tight, is a complicated task. Improving governance is an ongoing process and few sports federations, if any, can claim to be operating as well as they would like. I would argue that quite a few of the findings of the research on squash are applicable to other sports too.

What gives me confidence about squash is that the sport itself has so much going for it. It is already strong in many parts of the world, including in some fast-growing markets, and there are plenty of capable, enthusiastic people who are committed to its success.

That thing you thought? Think the opposite: Football, Data and OptaJoe

Leave a reply

This post was contributed by James Fisk from the School of Business, Economics and Informatics

In September 2014, England, having been ranked 10th best team in the world four months earlier, suffered an ignominious 1-0 defeat at Wembley Stadium to Norway, a team ranked 67th in the world. This came after an early FIFA World Cup 2014 exit in Brazil, a failure that had already galvanised England manager Roy Hodgson’s critics, who, emboldened by this latest humiliation now confronted the manager with a damning statistic: England had just two shots on target. There was also some more colourful language that I can’t replicate here. Hodgson replied “Don’t hit me with statistics,” and – clearly antagonised – dismissed the use of statistics to describe what had happened that night. Yet, despite this incredulity toward statistics from the national team manager, the analysis of statistics to achieve competitive advantage has become a huge part of the game; not just for viewers and Sky Sports infographic designers, but by clubs themselves who have integrated data analysis into their scouting networks, tactics and coaching systems. Data has become vital not only to how we interpret the beautiful game, but to how it is played too.

optajoeThe official Premier League data partner is Opta, a firm that collects millions of details from leagues across the globe and has built a picture of the game not possible before now. It’s no surprise then that when the Birkbeck Sports Business Centre invited Duncan Alexander, Opta’s Chief Data Editor, to discuss his new book OptaJoe’s Football Yearbook 2016: That thing you thought? Think the opposite the lecture theatre became very crowded, very quickly. As co-creator of the widely cited @OptaJoe Twitter account, a source used by the BBC, Sky Sports and, well, pretty much everyone, Duncan and Opta have worked not only to edify clubs’ understanding of football (working both with the Premier League and every individual club) but to puncture some passionately held opinions. Speaking to an audience of professionals, students and academics, Duncan discussed a few key insights drawn from his book that delve into some of football’s most puzzling events of the past few years; how on earth did Leicester win the league? What’s happened to Manchester United since Fergie? Who really is the all-time top scorer in the Premier League?

The prospect of Leicester City winning the 2015/16 Premier League title would have been dismissed by even the most stoically optimistic Leicester fans in April 2015, as the team sat rock bottom of the table. Just over a year later, Leicester were crowned champions of the Premier League, shocking pundits and forcing Gary Lineker into his pants on Match of The Day. However, as revealed by Duncan, we can at least understand some of this phenomenon by deconstructing it with data. For instance, Leicester made the second fewest changes to their starting line-up, for a League winner, in Premier League history. They earned the joint highest number of penalties in a season, drawing level with Crystal Palace and saw the biggest improvement in their points-per-game ratio of any club in top flight history (stretching back over 100 years).

When it comes to the apparent decline of Manchester United, who for a time had a near monopoly on the Premier League title, Duncan points to instability metrics as the most immediate indicator of the decline. David Moyes’ tenure saw him bring in his own coaches from Everton and then, for his 51 games in charge, played 51 unique starting line-ups. Duncan also discussed how data might inform debate, citing the dispute between Louis Van Gaal and Sam Allardyce over long-balls he explained that, in the five Premier League games with the most crosses, only two goals were scored from crosses. Fielding questions from the audience, Duncan also discussed how Opta have helped identify transfer targets for clubs, using their vast database to map a certain player profile – most notably their data helped Leicester identify N’Golo Kante in the summer of 2015.

On how data can further add to the beautiful game, Duncan discussed the ‘expected goals’ metric – an analysis of almost a million goal angles and positions that can tell you, based on chances, how effectively a team play. This can be used to gauge the effectiveness of certain players to allow managers and coaches greater flexibility in understanding of how to use their squad and in which situations certain players are better suited. The final extract from the OptaJoe 2016 Yearbook brings us back to the England team and their perennial failure at big tournaments. Data reveals that, after the 1966 World Cup, England have won only six games in the knockout stages of tournaments, including reaching the Semi-Final of Euro 96.

Indicated as much by demand from top tier clubs around the world, as the stream of questions posed to Duncan by the audience, it’s clear that data is already influencing football and looks set to play an even bigger role in the future. While the discussion over a few of these points provided fervent discussion among the audience, the book from OptaJoe provides many more statistics to show you that, what you thought you knew, you don’t.

For a full listing of future events and public seminars at the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, see our website. You can get a copy of the OptaJoe 2016 Yearbook here and you can follow them on Twitter using their handle @OptaJoe.

Understanding Google

Leave a reply

upscale-programme-blog

Frederic Kalinke is a valued partner of Birkbeck College. He is founder of Exactimo that delivers digital marketing bootcamps and digital audits based on his experience of working at Google. His programs equip students with practical knowledge so they can fully benefit from the digital opportunity, and are popularly attended and reviewed by Birkbeck students. This year, Frederic ran workshops on: 14 February, 11 March, 13 October, 8 November. More workshops will be scheduled for next year.

What is your background?

I started out on Google’s graduate program, where I managed multimillion pound advertising budgets across AdWords, Display and Video for a number of clients from different industries. I also got a taste for product innovation by obtaining a patent for a new application that transforms YouTube into an audiovisual What’s On guide. The most enjoyable thing I did, however, was to develop my own methodology to teach Google’s myriad of solutions to businesses of all shapes and sizes.

What are you working on now?

I am MD of an advocacy marketing agency called Digital Animal. We’ve built a platform called Amigo that enables brands to deliver campaigns that transform customers into marketing assets. We believe that the digital revolution is not about the always-on connection brands have with their customers and prospects, but the connection between customers. Marketing’s goal should be to encourage and facilitate the conversations that happen when brands are not in room. Amigo delivers personalised experiences to a brand’s best customers and their friends, mirroring the experience a valued customers gets offline in their local shop. I also run Convertd where I teach digital marketing to advertising agencies, management consultancies and law firms.

How and why did you come up with the Understanding Google workshop?

We are living through a period of unprecedented transformation. The internet has ripped apart and redefined several industries within a short space of time. In order to stay on top, I believe people need to understand the principles driving online business, particularly how one acquires and retains customers in a digital age. Early in my workshop I say that understanding how Google works is as important to a business as having a bank account. It’s elementary to survival.

The workshop itself is the product of thousands of discussions with businesses. The mechanics of Google – SEO, AdWords, Display, YouTube, Analytics – and digital marketing in general is a complex subject with many interdependent parts. There are three building blocks in my teaching. First I dedicate enough time on setting the context through a number of icebreaker and thought experiment exercises. We review the digital opportunity, explain the difference between traditional and online advertising and explore the importance of data-driven decision making. Secondly, I make the workshop as practical as possible. There is a lot of audience participation and I make sure to display a cumulative glossary so that the audience can see the concepts they are learning and can put them into a context. This is because I am a big believer in the proverb that “if you tell somebody to do something they will forget, if you show somebody something they will remember, but if you involve somebody they will understand.” Thirdly I use metaphors to teach as they make the unfamiliar familiar and the new memorable. For instance, I use empire building, fishing, football and restaurants as a way to make key digital marketing concepts come alive.

What do you think students gain from attending your workshop?

Attendees will leave the workshop understanding the power of digital advertising as well as practical insights into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), AdWords, Display, Social Media advertising, Youtube and Google Analytics. Overall I teach over 35 concepts and run a practical exercise within a 2.5 hour workshop so it’s pretty intensive. I also hope attendees leave inspired and empowered, appreciating the power that their newfound knowledge provides them, given that all industries have and will continue to be disrupted by the internet.

What are your motivations for participating in UpScale and partnering with Birkbeck College?

I am a big believer in the power of education and the idea that life is a path with no set destination. Birkbeck as an institution embodies this philosophy by offering courses for people to reskill and zig-zag. I get a lot of energy from teaching people from all backgrounds, ages and walks of life who are investing in their careers. The Upscale program is of particular interest as it focuses on technology and emphases women in tech, ethnic diversity and people with disabilities, all of which are very positive things.

What’s next for you?

My objective is to make Amigo, our technology platform, a global standard. I’ll be happy if marketing teams from around the world use Amigo to deliver highly effective and magical marketing experiences to their customers. I also want to continue running Convertd workshops across London as there’s nothing better than seeing people empowered to make the most out of the digital revolution that continues to spark and spread around us.

Testimonials from student attendees

“Really good at appealing to people who came in knowing nothing to those who already had a basic knowledge. Moved at a fast pace and kept everybody involved”

 

“The resources the Presenter included in the workbook provided for one to do more studying”

 

“Powerful insight around the behind the scenes and little known “secrets” of Google and Google Analytics. For example the How the Quality Score can reduce the cost of AdWords. Huge thanks to the Upscale Programme and Team”

 

“A complex subject was communicated in a clear and understandable way with an engaging and interesting presentational style”

 

“The presenter was able to deliver a digestible presentation and there were a few ‘eureka’ moments”

“Arsenal, Arsène, David Dein and Me” – An Interview with Alex Fynn

Leave a reply

Ahead of an event with Alex Flynn, author of Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub, at the Birkbeck Sports Business Centre on Monday 28 November, James Fisk from the School of Business, Economics and Informatics interviews the author

arsenals-business-strategyThe book provides a comprehensive overview of the modern era for Arsenal, what led you to write the book?

Most of my career was spent in advertising and then, subsequently, I moved in to sports marketing. In advertising I had been successful because I was comparatively honest and would tell clients what they should hear, rather than what they wanted to hear. Comparative honesty was a huge liability in football marketing with it being a cut-throat business. It was a difficult role to have. I enjoyed working for a number of clubs in the Premier League, the Football Association and the Football League, but to some extent I was a fish out of water. I advised people on what they needed to hear and so many of my consultancies were rather short-term. This was then exacerbated by UEFA and the Premier League who centralised control of marketing and I did less and less consultancy work.

I wanted to be involved in the game and so turned to writing about it, something I do because I enjoy it and have access to that milieu and, essentially, that’s why I’ve written about Arsène and Arsenal. Indeed, I was one of the first people in England to meet him, having met him in 1985 when he was still the manager of Monaco… and I’ve known David Dein for 50 years or so. The book was written because I had access to all the main protagonists and it’s an intriguing story to tell, something I did with co-author, Kevin Whitcher, who is a big Arsenal fan. I look at it from an objective point of view, whilst my co-author, who  is the editor of the fanzine ‘Gooner’, provides a far more subjective view. He has an unrivalled depth of understanding about his club and I have a breadth of experience working for other clubs and organisations in football so it makes for a good partnership.

What influence do you think the appointment of Arsène Wenger has had on English football?

An enormous influence! He was a revolutionary, changing the way the game was played, changing the way players prepared and trained. His influence on the contemporary game in England really cannot be underestimated. I think that the problem has been that other managers and clubs have copied his innovations and then evolved and advanced them in their own ways. Arsène can be stubborn and, perhaps, in this respect, hasn’t moved on as fast as he should have done. Although, I would consider him a football genius, as with any genius they can occasionally get things wrong; they need to be challenged and to have quality personnel to back them up – something many of the key Premier League managers he’s faced have had. Arsène’s not had substantive back-up, certainly not in the way Sir Alex Ferguson had at Manchester United.

Wenger introduced a paradigmatic shift within the English game, but where do Arsenal go from here? There are recurring jokes within the football fan community that Arsenal fans call for Wenger’s resignation periodically, following defeats to other big clubs. What does the future hold for Arsène and Arsenal?

Well, you’ll have to wind back a few years. You have to accept that the policy of the club is made by the owner and, this owner in particular (Stan Kroenke) really believes  in self-sufficiency – you spend only what you earn. This means not going into debt to win trophies and, for context, the last time Arsenal made a loss was back in 2002. They could have spent much more than they have done in recent times. Arsenal have somewhat reluctantly accepted that paying higher wages and transfer fees gives them a chance of success.

Again, it’s worth bearing in mind that, until recently, success for Arsenal was finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League competition. But the bar Arsenal set in those early years of Wenger’s tenure was much higher, so today fans are left disappointed. HOWEVER, this season is the first in a long time that Arsenal have every position covered, something they’ve often lacked in previous campaigns, although they still lack enough World-Class players. I think it’s down to Wenger’s obstinacy, his desire to be successful without breaking the bank and fitting in with the owner and the boardroom culture at Arsenal. Whilst other clubs tend to prioritise prizes over profits, I think at Arsenal profits come before prizes.

The appointment of Wenger heralded an influx of foreign management talent into the Premier League. How do you think he’s influenced the FA and their appointments of the England national team manager?  

I think, in this context, it’s actually far more appropriate to discuss David Dein. He took the initiative to find Wenger and bring him to England. I think you could say that without Dein you’d have no Wenger. With no Wenger perhaps the Premier League wouldn’t have undergone the changes it has – at least not this quickly. Wenger really was revolutionary in those days; he was a target for the FA when they were looking for a manager. Of course, Dein’s remit was first and foremost Arsenal, but he is a big fan of English football and, when the FA came calling, he tactfully directed them away from Arsène Wenger and on to Sven Goran-Erikson, which wasn’t actually a bad move for the FA.

Now Dein is no longer at Arsenal and by Wenger’s side (although they are still friends and talk regularly). English football, and Arsenal in particular, have really felt the loss of David Dein. Arsenal have felt the loss in as much as Dein would have challenged them, his driving ethos was always to get a winning team. The irony, of course, is that to have an optimum business you really need a successful team.  And success means winning trophies and titles, or at least making a good fist of doing so

With regard to England, Dein has always been passionate about the national team, supported by strong club sides and in this respect, his loss has been that of both Arsenal and the England team. At the moment, the Premier League is not an English league, it’s an international competition that happens to be in England. We won’t ever have a strong national side as the league is dominated by foreign owners, coaches and players who, quite rightly prioritise their clubs.