David Fowler, Advisory MD: My Takeaways From Our Digital & Data Masterclass
April 6, 2022
iSportConnect’s Advisory MD, David Fowler, shares his thoughts from last Tuesday’s Digital & Data Masterclass at Emirates Stadium.
Having officially joined the iSportConnect team in January, it was a real thrill and a pleasure to have been able to host our Digital & Data Masterclass at the Emirates last week.
It is a fantastic venue and was the ideal location to celebrate our return to in-person events, a key pillar of our offering to the iSportConnect community and what we continue to want to provide to this industry – a place where people are able to meet new people, network, share their challenges and learn from one another.
The sports business used a great deal of camaraderie during the pandemic which saw many people across sport assisting each other in order to help the industry overall.
While there is always going to be a competitive edge in a business context, collaboration is key to creating a more sustainable sports industry.
Let’s try to continue this as we move forwards, and your first step to this could be attending our Broadcast & OTT Masterclass on the 10th of May at Twickenham Stadium, which you can register for here.
Big tech has introduced agile ways of working and many in sport are seeing the benefits of starting small and iterating before scaling ideas.
In the spirit of sharing, there were some important notes I found particularly interesting during last week’s event that I wanted to share with you. They form a good representation of where the industry stands when it comes to Digital & Data.
- Test and learn and celebrate failure
The tried and tested (pardon the pun) method of trialling your ideas is more important than ever in our increasingly digital world. Big tech has introduced agile ways of working and many in sport are seeing the benefits of starting small and iterating before scaling ideas.
Sport must get over the idea that everything must be considered a success and that we don’t talk about the failures. If you succeed once in ten attempts, sport will see that as failing nine times. A tech company would typically see that as the necessary learning process that leads to success.
- The importance of the value exchange
The nirvana state of creating relationships that are turbo charged by first party data is not a simple one to achieve. The sharing of data by fans should be seen as part of a value exchange. It is not a one way street.
You have to be flexible with your fans in order to find out what their goals and needs are in order to get closer to them.
- There is value in values
It is still imperative to be building a great story for your fans to be a part of and in order to engage new customers. Authentic storylines can only be written if they align with your values as an organisation. Leagues and teams need to know what they stand for.
It is still imperative to be building a great story for your fans to be a part of and in order to engage new customers.
Esports are arguably better than most in traditional sports at having a clear set of values upon which they can create compelling narratives.
Hopefully we will see you at our Broadcast & OTT Masterclass next month and you will be able to share in some of the learnings from our next event!
