On this Sports Geek Q&A episode Sean Callanan answers the following questions:

  • What are the top uses of AI that you have seen in sports so far? Jack Elkins via LinkedIn
  • Are there any best cases out there of clubs who successfully monetize their content (that is: actually making a profit with content other than selling tickets/merchandising) Bas Schnater via Sports Geek Nation Slack
  • How do you go about recruiting an esports pro? Jonny via Twitter

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Read Sports Geek Q&A answers below

First question comes in from Jack Elkins via LinkedIn, former podcast guest and and now first time entrepreneur. Welcome to the world of entrepreneurship, Jack. In your new endeavour, your question is. What are the top users of A.I. that you've seen in sports so far, A.I. at the moment? It is obviously getting a lot of buzz and it has a wide meaning. So I'm gonna keep that wide meaning without trying to get too specific. I actually think most of the implementation of AI are actually in high performance and they're not actually that visible to the wider market where a lot of teams are using them to analyze stats and the like. But if I look at the fan engagement space, I think the way that is used being used to improve content production like the guys at WSC out of Israel I had Aviv on the podcast where they're doing, they're using AI to magically clip highlights and get them to social as quickly as possible is a great use of artificial intelligence. And now I think the other piece and again, I can be debated how much of it in artificial intelligence. But I also think the the automation of fixed cameras in venues that are able to shoot and record and coordinate together to produce broadcast without people, without cameramen is going to be a real big game changer, especially in the lower level sports as it's going to open up more content options for grassroots. But yeah, I'd love to hear from listeners point of view. I look forward to catching up with you, Jack. Next time we we catch up to find out what are the best uses of A.I.. Like I said, I think a lot of them I think a lot of A.I. work is currently either in stealth mode or in the high performance, which is effectively stealth mode because they don't want anyone else to know what they're what they're doing in the space. But thanks very much for the question, Jack, and all the best with your new business.

Question 2 comes from Bas Schnater. And again, I hope I said your name right there Bas via Sports Geek Nation Slack. He asks, Are there any best cases out there of clubs who are successfully monetizing their content? That is actually making a profit with content other than selling tickets and merchandising. So. That's it. It's a tough one to go. Yes, answer effectively without knowing how teams are monetizing their content. If you were running Digital to Dollars, we would be looking to make sure that if the digital content was included in a deal or it was branded as part of a deal, we would be looking to make sure that that is recorded. And the digital team actually has a revenue figure coming in, even if it is a portion of the sponsorship. So I think there would actually be a lot of clubs that are following that model and doing quite well in that space. So spoken about Maple Leaf sports and entertainment has been one of the leaders in that space previously. Otherwise, teams monetizing their content is actually monetizing their expertise around their content. So doing more creative and production work, that's non team related. They've got the skills, they've got the cameramen, they've got the studios, they've got the capacity potentially to do that and then selling that out in the open market to partners or pitching for work on the Adelaide Crows do that in this space. I think the other thing I guess you're probably getting towards bass is also opening up options that we're seeing digital players like the ringer are doing developing content exclusively for platforms. So the Ringer are doing some podcast exclusively for Spotify. They're doing some for another audio platform Luminary where they're doing a podcast that's just on that subscription service. I think there's potential for that kind of those kind of pieces happening. Cricket Australia is producing a producing a documentary series. It's only going to appear on Optus, I believe. So I think, you know, so I think the sales of documentaries and content to platforms like Netflix and the like will be an option for the clubs going forward. And I think the only other one, if I'm not looking taking the club hat off, is looking at some of the players that are leading the way in the subscription business. So looking at the athletic and barstool and the like and that have a really strong subscriber focus that are really bucking the trend of paywalls. Paywalls don't work. They're putting super premium content behind that and and driving fans or customers behind that paywall. So I think it's something we can watch with interest from from a sports point of view. But I think the main thing if we're talking monetizing your content is to actually start seeing that, hey, we are producing these 12 part video series with a partner to be attributing that revenue coming into your digital team. So that is actually seen as a revenue generator, not just not just a cost or fulfilment to to a sponsorship deal. I think that's really I think that's really critical.

Question 3 came via Jonny via Twitter. It was around how do you go recruiting and a sports program? And so this is quite topical at the minute. My League of Legends team, Gravitas is currently in free agency period. The free period opened up last week. So all of the players, because most players are now in our league or on a on a 1 year contract ever on a free agents and so pretty much a whole league free agents. So the way I go about it and you learn a little bit last year. Recruiting the team for the first time and was a little bit rushed and sort of got caught up in, I guess, the emotion of the race that is free agency this time taking a little bit slower, which we did at the end, which we did sort of halfway through the process last year. Firstly, I remember that I'm interviewing someone to join my team and as someone that we're going to work with the next effectively the next 12 months. So I start with the person and then I start with what their motivation is for playing the game, whatever the title may be in our case, League of Legends. And also try to get a bigger picture of what their life is. Is does does gaming completely dominate their life? Do they have a little bit of balance? Do they understand the importance of balance, those kind of things? And then also do they understand where the scene currently is and where they are, where their position in the scene? I think that's really important. And then from a digital point of view. I'm really interested in what they want to do from a digital point of view. Do they want to grow their audience? Do they want to engage with fans and they want to become a streamer or a content creator? What do they want to do after the game? Do they want to be a coach or do they want to move into the casting side of the business? So understanding their their motivation, especially in the digital space, which is something I think we can provide a lot of assistance with, is really important. And obviously, if they've got a bit of a passion for that for that piece, it's going to make the content creation a lot easier. And then also other a team player. So have they played team sports? How do they communicate that kind of thing? Are all key things now? There's nothing there. This is a sports, really. It's really their standard interview practices for mine. Whether I was hiring a digital marketing coordinator or an executive or a videographer. So all of those are people things. Then the last thing is, is looking at the skill in the game. The last thing for me, because I can't assess the skill in the game, I can't say they've got a great jump shot in the stats say they've got a great jump shot because I know a little bit of our basketball, but. But again, I wouldn't expect to be expecting to assess a basketball team. I leave I leave the assessment of skill in game to others that have the knowledge. So that's where I delegate that to my coaches and assistance to to assess whether that person is a good player. So if they take all the boxes of being a good person and motivate the right way and balanced, then they say they pass with the first couple of hoops and then we start looking at what they provide from skill and game point of view. And will they mesh with the roster we're putting together.

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