I keep hearing about staff, departments or consulting crews who “do analytics”, yet literally nobody can tell me what that means. Spending money to broadly play with numbers and expect inherent value will naturally result is, at best, irresponsible. 

Personally, I find the concept of “analytics” tiresome and data itself boring. The most important data out there is probably scouting reports! Data isn’t some voodoo serum that makes teams operate better, and analytics isn’t some magic trick. It’s simply a table stakes operational element required to run a modern professional sports organization. Of course we should have a research department — or research-skilled folks — supporting our core functions. But everything we do should ultimately be solving real problems!

We’ve all heard conference speeches remarking how it’s counterproductive to look at stats and then decide what we can do with them, as the best practice is the reverse: First decide what we must do, and then pursue the numbers to facilitate that.

Yet I’m still waiting to meet an organization that actually practices this from top to bottom. 

Here’s the truth: Algorithms are commoditized! 

Everyone has access to the same data, the same players, the same types of dashboards, the same predictive models. By coming up with clever metrics or “unique” ways of looking at things, you’re just creating one piece of the puzzle. 

So let’s rewind back to what’s important – what are we actually hoping to solve for? 

I see a lot of teams excited about some clever new approach they’ve been using, but putting little to no attention towards making sure the right people can even see or make use of it.

The most clever algorithm in the world doesn’t matter if you don’t have interfaces that all your stakeholders can access with confidence and collaborate within. The most unique metrics in the world don’t matter if you don’t have all your key info sources in one, easy-to-navigate place. The most credentialed engineer on the market doesn’t matter if they aren’t equipped with infrastructure that can be operationalized in days, not years. 

Think about what really matters: Do you want to sign players for better prices that better fit your game model? Do you want to sell players for more appropriate prices? Research a new market?

Or do you just want to appear clever and keep up with the Joneses? 

The latter helps you at the beginning of a job. But the former helps you keep it. 

Let’s stop doing analytics. Let’s start solving real problems instead.