Sports Finance Trends

I picked a job in the finance area of sports administration. The finance department/area also involves other areas of sports business because these jobs oversee general revenue and expenses that come from multiple areas. Current trends in sports finance include the use of data analytics, alternative revenue streams, globalization, gate down but costs up, in-venue affordability and arms race. Data analytics is a recent and growing trend in sports, specifically using big data off the field on the business side of things. For example, analyzing a variety of data to identify the most productive or efficient use of allocating money during the budgeting process to different departments. Also, people in the finance department create revenue models using data, which is a more accurate way to show which

Sports teams are looking to expand their markets into international areas in order to see a greater profit as the global market provides limitless expansions of revenue. Franchises and leagues try to do this by having games outside the U.S or bringing in international players to play on their teams. For example, having NFL games in London or NBA games in China to broaden the sports fanbase. Furthermore, signing on players from countries with big markets, like say China, is a way to increase revenue because it creates a larger market for the sport. Gates down, costs up is when ticket sales are low, but players’ salaries are increasing. This means that less revenue is being brought in, but expenses are increasing. This trend is a problem in the finance area because it affects making forecasts and also causes changes to budgets to allocate money to different areas in order to afford players or deal with paying off debt. In-venue affordability is also a another trend in sports finance that can cause problems because it affects fans coming to games, bringing in revenue, and covering