The following is a chat with Anthony Perez, VP of Business Strategy at Orlando Magic, to learn about how the business side of the franchise has used analytics to become a leader in the Sports Industry, despite playing in a relatively small market.
The Orlando Magic finished the season near the bottom of the standings again, but the team remains a top revenue-making franchise in the National Basketball Association this year.
Despite playing in Orlando, the 20th largest market in the league, the business side of the front office has excelled – in large part by using SAS Analytics and SAS Data Management across its whole business from ticket sales to operations, sponsorships, and fan demographics to analyzing concession and merchandise sales.
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When the new Amway Center opened in 2010, the Magic wanted to ensure they fully maximized the capabilities of the venue, and do so by harnessing ‘basketball intelligence’ to drive a better fan experience.
At that point was when they were first introduced to SAS and started their partnership with them in 2010.
“The first thing we did was build a data warehouse and began to use a lot of the SAS tools to build predictive models, do some BI work – and we really focused on that for a couple of years to getting our environment to where we feel like it needed to be: to consolidating a variety of data sources and starting to build models on top of that data”, Anthony Perez, Orlando Magic’s VP of Business Strategy recollected.
After the initial phases of data mining, they focused on marketing automation. Perez emphasized the importance of their email system and carrying it out through SAS’s campaign management tool over the last two years. The Magic were able to deliver more impactful, personalized trigger campaigns – some based on characteristics from different fans or customers; all having a different look and feel depending on who the recipient is as a fan and what he or she has told the Magic about themselves, their behaviors and preferences.
“We’re having a record year in a lot of revenue categories: sponsorships, single game ticket sales, group sales, so we’re really pleased with that.”
Other teams in the league have begun to follow suit and has recently implemented some form of analytics and BI in one way or another – But make no mistake, the Magic has been the leader in the pack so far in not only the NBA, but throughout the ‘big 5’ leagues.
Recently, Turnkey Intelligence released its 4th Annual Sports Data Systems Study – Orlando Magic was voted most sophisticated by 23% of its respondents, with the Dallas Cowboys and Oklahoma City Thunder trailing with 9% each:
When it comes to learning from one another, Perez attributes some of the ways that leaders in other industries have done a great job of personalizing the customer’s experience based on their history with them. “You engage with a brand like an Amazon or a Google and your experience, whether you realize it or not, is being shaped by the history of your interactions up to that point,” Perez learned.
Implementing the right strategy is crucial, but it also requires the right personnel to help carry it out. Back in 2010, it was only Perez and 1 other person he had just hired to help work through those infant stages.
“We didn’t have anybody that who had used SAS before we started our partnership in 2010, so we got pretty proficient. In the early years, it was just based on a lot of training and a lot of doing; certainly a lot of Google searching to develop our skills with SAS.”
Growing out its team with members who possess the right skill set and education has also been key. Today, everyone on Perez’s team is well-versed in SQL and expected of from new hires. “We’ve been focused on bringing in people that are subject-matter experts. Now we’ve got a data scientists on our team – she is rock solid with a Master’s Degree in Engineering; and another one in Statistics and Data Mining,”
The Magic will continue to take advantage of fan insights from SAS Analytics to personalize their fans’ experience throughout their digital channels, especially on the mobile application they are extremely focused on that for next year. “We got a lot of plans over the summer to work and bring a lot more capabilities to our app that can enhance your experience while you’re at the game in terms of concessions, merchandise, and wayfinding,” Anthony shared.