There were lots of learnings pulled out of this year’s Dealmakers conference in Washington this past week, put on by Sports Business Journal and Monumental Sports and Entertainment. While we will touch on several topics in upcoming posts, one topic that is continuing to gain attention for so many reasons, not the least of which is November 8, which is STEM Awareness Day, is how closely and how invaluable the learnings and use of all aspects of data analytics, AI, and performance evaluation related to managing our time and using all our tools in the tool box are to us on a global stage.
The topic of STEM…Science, Technology, Engineering and Math…was front and center throughout so many various topis, especially when the entreprenurial side of business was forefront with speakers like former NFL player Andrew Hawkins, whose big lean into tech, StatusPro is at the heart of making the fan experience, using tools like Virtual Reality, more immersive and more engaging.
However one of the clearest examples of how STEM skills will continue to play an even bigger factor in our world came from the discussion between Ted Leonsis and retired General Mark Milley, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Milley went in depth into how the military in the future will be so deeply tied to young people whose understanding of all aspects of STEM will be critical to the success not just on the battlefield but in the effort to combat all forms of disruption, and how as the leader of thousands of young people in a volunteer defense force, having that understanding of the use of technology for good is so critical. ‘i went to this convention in Boston, and was told by my staff to be open minded as to what we would see,’ Milley said. It turned out to be a massive gaming convention, and he quickly realized that all those young people were harnessing the skills needed for defense, and for a new digital economy, through the lens of casual and competitive gaming.
Leonsis fully realizes the value of gaming through the investments MSE has made in the space, be it in world champions like Team Liquid or in the highly successful work done by Caps and Wizards Gaming. Those devices in our hands and all the technology mixed into what we have, are the keys to the door on the front porch for fandom and business growth forward, whether that is recruiting for a more digitally engaged military force, or for giving consumers a deeper chance for engagement with their favorite athletes and teams through expanded multimedia storytelling.
Now none of this engagement with STEM is new, but it evolving at a faster pace than before.
Years ago when I was with the Knicks, star forward Kurt Thomas came to the community relations team with an idea; he had been screwed out of a large amount of money by a former agent and wanted to find a way to help inner-city kids understand how to manage their money so they were not relying on anyone else. Out of that idea came a partnership with Merrill Lynch around “The Stock Market Game,” where kids, mentored by Kurt, got to invest dollars in a competition against other kids with the winners getting internships at Merrill. The program was used as a best practice for many NBA teams going forward and is still in play in various ways today, all because of an athletes need to give back and a passion to figuring out how math and analytics can open doors. We didn’t really know what STEM was at that point, but the game was certainly a key starter for STEM programs, and the ties to STEM and athletes are growing stronger globally today than ever before.
Numbers are around sports have always been together, and the statistics and analytics boom, especially around the growth of fantasy and daily fantasy and now even as sports gambling becomes more in focus, certainly has fueled new uses for data more than ever before, and there is no sign of slowing down.
Marry that numerical interest in with the continued expansion of an athlete’s voice and a generation that is more socially conscious and involved than previous ages, along with a massive need for improvement and enhancement of STEM (Science Technology Education and Math) and STEAM (factoring in the A in arts) for both young boys and girls, and you have a growing boom in and around tying the basics of education with the socially conscious athlete an area prime for growth to get kids more concerned about sports to use and grow the value of science, while kids with a penchant for key school programs can be more involved in various areas of athletics. The best of both worlds come together, and can help get sedentary kids active and build teamwork across common goals.
Now it all does not have to be about bats and balls tying STEM to athletics either. Games of strategy involving mind exercise like chess or even checkers, or team oriented projects like Competitive Robotics also fit the mold, as do many areas of esports and gaming, even expanding into platforms that cross over into a traditional sports area like NBA2K or FIFA or even MADDEN. It all comes back to finding ways to link the athletic with the analytic, which not too long ago was really difficult to do.
So how far as STEM with athletes come? A few cases in point range from a New York Times story with the former Brooklyn Nets (now Cavaliers) Jarett Allen taking time at to work math with inner-city kids, to longtime NFL veteran (now with the Arizona Cardinals) Kelvin Beachum talking about delivering programs to inner-city kids during his Radio Row work at Super Bowl.
You have others like what USA BMX does with the Mongoose bicycle brand to bring science, math, engineering and technology training to U.S. schools in a joint program that is projected to reach 600,000 students in ’25.
Major League Baseball has an expanded a partnership with Discovery Education on a multiyear partnership to incorporate baseball content in Discovery’s Science Techbooks and STEM education. Discovery has also looked at similar sponsored programs with the NBA and elsewhere. Then we have NASCAR and what their tech driven car of the future will look like when their season begins in 2022, Formula E and their growing platform, and even platforms like Soapbox Derby, and Competitive Robotics, and the opportunities go on and on,
Elsewhere Science of Sport, a non-profit foundation that aims to use sports to promote STEM, serves more than 200,000 students across 15 different states with programs as well.
Those are only a few areas where STEM and sports can start to grow, and as brands who are invested in both sides…Lenovo, Microsoft, IBM, SAP, Intel…see ways to combine marketing dollars with buckets tied to education, and have a way to get their big name athletes involved in grassroots activation, the opportunities will continue to grow.
Athletes and STEM may not always be the easiest fit; there are many who may look to other areas to give back, but given the explosion of analytics tied to every area of sport, the ties that can bind these two areas are tighter than ever, and certainly can score in key areas of overall development for all involved. STEM and Sports, worth following for sure.
