CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- In the 1970s and ‘80s, an investment firm named “E.F. Hutton” used a catchy ad slogan to blanket the television airwaves and promote their stock brokerage house.
“When E.F. Hutton talks,” said the advertisement, “People listen.” The campaign was tremendous, always depict two well-dressed, wealthy and successful businessmen whispering privately in a public setting. When the catch phrase was delivered, the world around them would stop, and everyone would lean in to hear the financial advice.
Well, in 2009, I can say: “When Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey talks, people in the sports world listen; When NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver talks, people in the sports world listen; When Toronto Maple Leafs President and GM Brian Burke talks, people in the sports world listen; When Dallas Mavericks team owner and co-founder of HDNet Mark Cuban talks, people in the sports world better listen very closely.
And, to describe the many other highlights of the day, I have to paraphrase a well-known line, courtesy of Louisville Coach Rick Pitino when he lamented about his tenure with the Boston Celtics: “Jonathan Kraft just walked through the door and spoke about his experiences running the New England Patriots and wonderful Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place, Sonny Vaccaro walked through the door and shared his experiences in college athletics, John Walsh, the EVP and Executive editor of ESPN and the ESPN Internet Group walked through the door and provided insight into the evolving value of ‘new’ media in the sports world, Turner Sports President and President of Turner Broadcasting Sales David Levy walked through the door and shared his viewpoint on the multi-media empire being built by Turner Broadcasting on the omni-present Peachtree Lanes, Avenues, Streets via the halls of TNT, CNN, CNN International, Headline News, NBA TV, PGATour.com and TBS, among many others.”
Media members such as ESPN’s Mark Stein, Ric Bucher and Henry Abbott provided their excellent skills as panel moderators. Bob Ryan and Shira Springer of the Boston Globe complemented them nicely. (Springer was simply marvelous in her role of moderating the most interesting panel of the day with Silver, Levy, Walsh and NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins.)
Comcast SportsNet play-by-play man Mike Gorman moderated a discussion on the globalization of sports, during which Tim Romani, the President and CEO of ICON Venue Group spoke of the many opportunities ahead in the growing global world of new sports venues (see 02 Arenas in London and Berlin and a host of new buildings being designed in China). They were joined by adidas sports licensing President David Baxter.
Like Stephen Bishop wrote and sang in 1977, “I could go on and on.”
The agenda for the 2009 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was jam-packed and right on target. This third annual symposium was held March 7 at MIT’s amazing Stata Center on the campus of one of the world’s greatest institutes of higher learning. Over 450 people attended, and that didn’t include some 50 media members and a host of panelists and business school organizers, who all deserve credit for staging a modern day “think-a-thon” for sports executives.
Now for the fun part. As serious as the agenda topics and state of affairs in the world economy indicate to one, the sports symposium was a downright hysterical blast. It’s “Dork-a-Palooza,” coined the legend of all sports bloggers Bill Simmons, who was once just “the Boston Sports Guy” on a pioneering Internet site called Digital City Boston. Simmons is now the “one and only “Sports Guy” on ESPN’s entertaining Page 2, but I prefer to call Simmons “the Sugerhill Gang of sports bloggers.”
Simmons participated in one of the first panel discussions of the day, entitled “Evolution of the Fan Experience.” His viewpoint was right on the money, as usual, when he said, “The biggest issue facing sports is ticket prices. Now, with a 55-inch SONY Plasma and High Def, I can stay at home and have a better experience.”
Burke, the venerable NHL sage, opened up the session stating, “I’m not in the hockey business, I’m in the entertainment business. Once the ticket taker tears the fan’s ticket, my job is to deliver. I know I can’t always base my franchise on winning, because over 30 years, I’m going to go .500. But we’re going to have a G_d -D_ mn entertaining product. We fight. We lead the league in fighting, except we came in second once in Anaheim.
“I believe in stars,” Burke continued. “I want the best players, the names to use in our marketing. We drive content and we assault the consumers on the airwaves with features and news for talk radio. It’s all about providing good content and news for the media. All kinds of media, especially on-line.”
Sean O’Brien, the lead producer of the NBA LIVE line from EA Sports, topped-off the panel with his savvy vision and creative direction behind the wildly popular video game and its role with fans and sports.
The challenging future for traditional media was the topic for a panel entitled, “Media and the Fanatic: The Evolving Value of New Media in Sports. The NBA’s Adam Silver spoke eloquently on the challenges facing all sports. TV ratings can be up and more people watching, but the very nature of sports has changed and the days of fans tuning in for a full two-or-three hour game broadcast might be over, indicated Silver. “What we haven’t done well is master the interactive technology of the screen, he said, noting that there are huge opportunities ahead for the right blend of TV, Internet, stats and interactive devices. “We have to go way beyond text messaging.”
When the agenda turned into the homestretch, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stepped up to the stage and enjoyed a great give and take with ESPN’s resident stat geek John Hollinger, the two arguing over who got the best of the Jason Kidd-Devin Harris trade. Cuban was candid as always and spoke of the many basketball analytic tools his club utilizes.
“They’re all tools, like any other tools,” said Cuban. “And, the goal is to use every tool to build a team to win the championship. Now we have eight years of data.”
Asked what he found to be the most difficult task of his ownership history with the Mavericks, Cuban replied without hesitation, “The hardest part of owning a franchise is hiring a coach. Period -- end of story. “
Cuban added that he tried to utilize analytics in his vetting of coaching candidates but found the process “all qualitative” while noting that current Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle did rise to the “top of the list” when the Mavericks stat crunchers analyzed the percentage of time Carlisle used the ‘best lineup.”
Mike Zarren, the Boston Celtics’ Assistant Executive Director of Basketball Operations and Associate Counsel, added some great insight on the game that flowed freely and quickly after we wrote down his lengthy title. “Communication skills are more important than the stats. The coaches are pretty competitive and they look for any advantages,” said Zarren.
Explaining how it might work, the panel agreed that there might be 20 ideas to track statistically. Then, maybe 12 of those turn out to be good or great ideas. The coaches incorporate eight into a practice session (and during the NBA season, there are a limited number of in-depth practice sessions). The players might be able to absorb four of the eight things that were put into practice and maybe two of those four actually make it to a game.
Morey, the dean of the NBA basketball analytic tribe, cracked up the audience when he quipped, “Well, I’m trying not to say anything.” Morey’s joke underlined the fact that the ultra-competitive world of the NBA made each club keep its basketball analytic success stories very close to the vest. “Everyone is looking for the secret sauce,” was the catch phrase of the day as Cuban aptly put it.
Cuban finished with a great point for the MIT Sloan School of management students to ponder when he asked, “What’s next? That’s the important thing to focus on. Alternative sports might provide opportunity. Maybe event recognition in video? We’re all looking for the new idea.”
Other quick hits included:
• “The least valuable data in basketball is the boxscore,” said Cuban.
• “I code a lot in “R,” said Zarren (http://www.r-project.org/)
• “The wages of wins was the dumbest data,” added Cuban.
• “Dork-a-palooza, baby,” exclaimed Cuban to an appreciative crowd of MIT business degree candidates.
The day concluded with ESPN the Magazine’s Ric Bucher moderating a panel discussion on the “Value of Icon Players.” Boston Celtics All-Star Ray Allen stole the show as he joined the NHL’s Executive VP of Marketing Brian Jennings, WNBA Los Angeles Sparks co-owner Carla Christofferson and Greg Via, the Global Director of Sports Marketing for the Gillette Company.
Allen openly auditioned for a future role alongside the prestigious stable of endorsees for Gillette company, hoping to join golfer Tiger Woods, European football star Thierry Henry and tennis icon Roger Federer. Allen coyly stroked his clean-shaven face and shiny clean-shaven head as he shook hands with Via.
The day was done. A+ all around. And may I suggest that each and every panelist earned an all-expenses paid trip to Davos for next year’s World Economic Forum, courtesy of Mark Cuban.
For additional information on the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, staged by the MIT Sloan School of Management, please visit:
http://www.sloansportsconference.com/2009
Some additional media reports on the conference can be found at:
Ken Berger, CBS Sports.com
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/11471280/2
Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer & Cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/03/nba_insider_going_way_beyond_t.html
Sal Baxamusa, The Hardball Times
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/dorkapalooza-2009-the-sports-analytics-conference-at-mit/
Brittany Sauser, MIT Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/23084/?a=f
Henry Abbott, ESPN.com – TrueHoop
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-38-289/Trickle-Down-Enthusiasm-.html
Matt Sisson, Baseball Daily Digest
http://www.baseballdailydigest.com/blogs/category/matt-sisson/
NOTE: Special thanks go out to Jessica Gelman, the co-organizer of the seminar along with Daryl Morey. Also, a high five to Patricia Favreau of the MIT communications, media relations and public relations staff, along with her colleagues and the MIT staff volunteers and student organizers who did a hell of job and staged a first class event
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