Happy 2nd Birthday N3XT Sports

Last month, we celebrated N3XT Sports’ second year anniversary. We founded the company in 2018 with the mission of propelling the industry and generate new value by bridging the gap between sports and digital, data, innovation, technology and investments. As the world goes through an unprecedented period of change & struggle, this mission has never been more important. 

Although some of you may feel paralyzed at this time, faced with a complex & uncertain landscape, many opportunities still exist and many more lie ahead. At N3XT Sports, we have learned that responding to this landscape requires acquiring new skills and deploying efficient processes running on top of solid technology and data foundations. Here we share some of the top learnings from the last two years.

Learning #1: Digital Transformation & innovation help balance the ecosystem

New initiatives and partnerships are emerging every day, and a new wave of non-endemic & tech-centric stakeholders are popping up and an increased interest by private equity and venture capital firms is being manifested. Each of these new stakeholders brings expertise, capital and solutions that the sports industry needs for its transformation.

In the past two years, we have been working with our clients on reclaiming their bargaining power within these new relationships. We have assessed the people-process-tech readiness of several organizations and designed and implemented digital transformation roadmaps that are enabling our clients to engage and retain audiences as well as to generate new monetization opportunities. By prioritizing the data dialogue, and devising digital & innovation strategies, our clients are able to answer questions such as: How can I pool my assets to create an attractive category for a tech sponsor? What is the best value proposition for an innovation activity? How do I know who my fan is? What new digital-driven revenue streams I can build? What rights do I give away and which do I control? We also distilled these learnings into easy-to-use freely available tools such as our newly launched Digital Assessment Tool, which sports organizations are using for themselves and their members to assess their digital maturity.

We will continue investing in bringing to you the most complete sets of services and insights and showcase how our clients are modernizing their organizations through digital transformation & innovation. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to learn more about: How they mobilized resources behind their challenge? How they worked across the siloes of the organization? How they prioritized issues of innovation, digital transformation and technology?

Learning #2: New money seeks modern organizations

While the sports industry continues to face the headwinds of COVID-19, cash flow & liquidity challenges are attracting capital from private equity and special purpose investment funds. On top of this, trends such as direct-to-fan communications, betting deregulation in the US, the entrance of big tech into sports, digital ticketing, contactless payment and a variety of new fan engagement platforms are likely to open up new revenue opportunities in the data space. With a focus on data and digital, sports leagues & member-based associations can unlock new value in upcoming media rights cycles. 

The data dialogue and digital strategy that accompanies it cannot start early enough for sports entities looking to make the shift in the next few years. That said, there are risks for sports properties that are unable to negotiate favorable technical details with the big technology companies entering the market. To bridge this gap, in the 2nd half of this year, we launched 3MS CONSULTING, with 2 outstanding industry leaders: Marshall Glickman from G2 Strategic and Maheta Molango, recent CEO of LaLiga football team RCD Mallorca

We will continue advocating for and supporting the modernization and professionalization of sports properties, whether by partnering with startups, private equity, investment funds or technology companies. It strengthens the business proposition of the sports entity and reduces the influence of sporting success on business success. Modern sports organizations will be anchored by solid business plans, data-driven decision making, business intelligence and insights to operate efficiently, and a bias to think like a sportainment offering instead of just a sporting one.

Modern sports organizations will be anchored by solid business plans, data-driven decision making, business intelligence and insights

Learning #3: A moderated conversation around change is needed

In the past two years, we realized that many of the global trends that impact the sports industry are vaguely understood by some of its stakeholders. From investment & innovation to digital & data, to technology, many concepts are new to the industry. So, we decided to contribute to disseminating knowledge around these topics.

To do that, we animated discussions with thought leaders & innovators from across our industry. We did this by inviting them to our offices in Barcelona through monthly Meetups, by hosting them on weekly online Meetups during COVID-19 and increasingly through online channels to reach a global audience of sports professionals. We also delivered keynotes & presentations at over 50 events across different regions. We continue to research & publish original content on all our channels. We also helped partners develop new spaces for engagement, such as the Football Innovation Forum alongside our partner World Football Summit and the Sports Innovation Day alongside 4YFN (Mobile World Congress).

Moving forward, we will continue to invest in these efforts. It is important for us to help shape the conversation, because we all need a common framework to manage change in the industry.

Learning #4: Knowledge & capacities must evolve

According to the World Economic Forum, 65% of all jobs in 2035 don’t exist yet. As the landscape continues to change, there will be new demands on the workforce. The educational supply in the market is slowly evolving. However, if we are to transform into an industry of lifelong learners, we need novel learning products & services.

In the past two years, we have delivered keynotes and presentations at over 60 universities and educational institutions, digitech literacy training to coaches & athletes, interactive workshops to clubs & associations, and experiential learning trips for students, administrators & decision makers. We have also deepened our relationships with universities, academic centers, institutes, and sports entities, in anticipation of reinvigorating the supply side of education. 

Moving forward, we want to make it possible for anyone to rapidly & continuously upskill on novel topics, frameworks, strategies, methodologies and technological solutions. We are currently developing a specific educational offering to add to our portfolio of services as a company. Stay tuned for more in 2021.

Learning #5: Global mindset & diversity are in our DNA

From day 1 of N3XT Sports, we have aimed to be a borderless global company. We recognized the differing maturities and levels of development across different regions. The cultural context and language differences dictated how we approached each market. Our past two years have been blessed with a fantastic group of individuals that have brought us a uniquely competitive advantage: diversity. To date, we have had in our team individuals from 10+ countries, spanning all continents, who speak 8 different languages, adding their unique touch to the N3XT Sports brand and mission.

We are extremely proud of what we have achieved in the past two years, but we are only just getting started, so make sure to follow us, reach out, and let’s propel the sports industry together. Last but not least, a special thank you to all of the people who crossed our path in the past two years, to our employees, advisors, collaborators, contractors, interns, clients, partners, providers, friends, and family who have helped us tremendously throughout this journey. We could not have done this without you. Thank you!