John McCauley on working with Canada’s largest sports and entertainment companies

Thanks to John McCauley from GJM Media for doing an awesome job in answering all the questions in Sports Geek Nation AMA.

Full Transcript available in the Sports Geek Nation Member's Area.

Here's the highlight question from the Sports Geek Nation AMA with John McCauley.

John McCauley was a former Sports Geek podcast guest. He bears 18 years of experience in digital, content, business intelligence and marketing on his shoulders having worked with several sports organizations in the world including NFL, NBA, MLS, MLB and NHL. After his 13-year stint in MLSE, John took the role of Executive Director at GJM Media to fill in the gap between strategy and execution to deliver first-class media experiences.

Connect with on John McCauley on Twitter @JohnMcCauley, LinkedIn and Slack @johnmccauley.

Find out more about GJM Media at genuinejourneymedia.com

Listen to Sports Geek episodes with John McCauley:

• #130 John McCauley on the challenges of technology vendors
• #75 Toronto digital with John McCauley

John McCauley:

Hi Josh, great question!

Let’s start with the good and there is plenty of it. My time at MLSE working with the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC, Toronto Marlies, Leafs TV, NBA TV Canada, GolTV and Realsports was an amazing 15-year journey that just happened to coincide with the onset of a technology evolution in the space, so I consider myself a pretty lucky duck.  

At MLSE we had the biggest brands and the most resources in the NHL, NBA, MLS and AHL by far, especially in digital, which was a huge advantage. Our leadership team allowed my team to be cutting edge because they could, especially when we did our due diligence and advised on calculated risks. This is an advantage that most smaller organizations don’t have.

On the other side of the coin having so many different brands, it was often difficult to focus on the little things that can make a big difference as it relates to digital experience. No matter how many resources we had it really wasn’t enough to manage everything and you had to make tough choices on where to spend your dollars. Combine that with at bigger organizations you have the more departmental silos to deal with and internal politics can become a barrier to innovation. Making it more difficult was the fact when I was at MLSE winning didn’t come easy for any of the teams. Basically, it's a double edged sword at a big company like MLSE. I always wanted to be a little more nimble but that is the price you pay to work within all the best leagues in North America at once.

• What are your insights into OTT and some of the success you are seeing in the space?
• Would there be an example you could share where a recent tech/digital innovation has not worked or performed as expected?
• How will mobile phones becoming obsolete in 10 years affect the fan experience both at home and in-venue? How will it affect marketing to fans?
• What is your take of the CPL. Do you think it can take off?
• Do you see stadium attendance down or up because of fans wanting to follow multiple teams because of fantasy sports and a better in-home experience?
• What do you think of “soccer is going to take football’s place in the north american sportainment world”
• What do you see as the biggest opportunities and some of the challenges in utilising digital to grow this particular sport?

Sports Geek Nation Members Only

Read answers in Sports Geek Nation Slack #AMA channel or read on Sports Geek Nation.com

Been forwarded this from a colleague or Sports Geek Nation member?  That’s great we love seeing our members get credit for sharing their knowledge.  Sports Geek Nation is a curated sports business community in Slack and Facebook which will help you learn from the very best in the world.  Sports Geek Nation was founded by Sean Callanan in 2015 (as #SportsBiz Slack), it connects sports executives who work in digital, data and technology.

Sports Geek Nation has members from (in alphabetical order) Australia, Canada , Denmark, India, Lithuania, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States working in sports such as basketball, football, ice hockey, baseball, AFL, horse racing, golf, rugby league, netball and more.

See the full Sports Geek Nation AMA schedule for November.

Not a member yet? 

Join Sports Geek Nation now to get full access to the members area and other Slack channels.

Sports Geek Nation Slack is now restricted to paid members only. If you wish to join the community, go to SportsGeekNation.com to join our wait list and be the first to know when subscription doors will open again.