AI, Fandata and Multi Club Ownership
February 29, 2024
Multi-club ownership (MCO) has gained traction across the industry in recent years. The increasing trend of multi-club ownership in sports can be attributed to several factors like financial diversification, globalisation and market expansion, synergies and economies of scale, strategic partnerships and networks, player development and talent pipeline, brand building and global visibility and investment returns.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s imminent investment in Manchester United to buy a 25% stake in the club has put multi-club sports ownership in the limelight once again. Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group already has several football clubs including OGC Nice, FC Lausanne Sport, and Racing Club Abidjan, a Cycling Team INEOS Grenadiers and Formula 1 Team Mercedes-AMG Petronas in their portfolio. However, they are not alone in their quest to expand their dominion in the sports kingdom.
The guide titled ‘Data analytics and AI for multi-club ownership groups’ by EXL focuses on managing data to delight fans and achieve commercial goals. While synergies on player scouting and performance have long been leveraged by MCO groups to improve club standings and records, leveraging fan data to optimize financial performance presents a different set of challenges. Fan data includes information on fan behavior and preferences, as well as transactional data, such as ticket sales, merchandise purchases, social media interactions, and more.
Smart owners apply advanced analytics to their data to improve fan experience and achieve business goals related to revenue opportunities and stickier engagement. However, fan data is also the subject of various global data privacy laws. As a consequence, MCO groups must take care that their usage of fan data and analytics architecture complies with the growing complexity of cross-border regulations and legislative bodies.
EXL’s sports data analytics and AI experts have seen three potential architecture options deployed in today’s complex MCO environment. These include:
1. Central platform with federated architecture
2. Third-party platform with federated architecture
3. Dedicated platform for each sports property
The unique insights contained within this guide will help CEOs, strategy, commercial, marketing and digital leaders working in MCOs to navigate the dynamic landscape of fan data and analytics helping them to understand how a more strategic approach can help them deliver financial diversification, business synergies and market expansion goals etc.
Download the full article here. For further information on EXL, please reach out to Sameer Jain – Sameer.Jain@exlservice.com.
