Business analytics, revenue management and sport: evidence from the field

Abstract

We surveyed 72 managers and executives from Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS), as well as other North American professional sport organisations including auto racing, golf, and tennis regarding the use of business analytics in sport marketing and revenue generation. We explore the use of business analytics to drive improvement in ticket pricing, customer retention, lead scoring, sponsorship, premium sales, digital marketing, food and beverage, merchandising, and fan/game experience. The main contribution of this paper is to show how managers of professional sport franchises in North America utilise business analytics to drive revenue generation and to provide possible theoretical avenues of future research. Managerial implications are that customer relationship management (CRM) and food, beverage, and merchandising are increasing areas of interest. Areas of prevalence are highlighted as well as areas of potential improvement for the use of analytics in professional sports organisations.