Traditionally, sport has looked down at number crunchers, but the reality is that they give sport the financial sustenance it needs.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
We all know that Americans love their statistics - in sport, obviously. And in finance too.
Sports are a microcosm of society.
When money comes into play then that's all it's about wanting money, who's making the most who can get the most, me, me me... and in the end it screws up the person and the sport.
With sports, there's no entitlement on the field. It's about numbers. It's about results. It's about outcomes.
If you offer athletes stipends, then you're into pay-for-play, and that's the ballgame. People should realize that, and they should realize that amateurism never has been a sustainable model for a sports-entertainment industry. It wasn't in tennis. It wasn't in the Olympics. And it's not in big-time college sports.
Money was never the motivation. It never should be in sports.
The important thing about a sport is the people who devote their lives to it.
What separates sports from entrepreneurism, however, is that in business we constantly have to overcome undefined and unpredictable challenges. Athletes train for specific events and conditions, whereas entrepreneurs generally have little idea what they will encounter along the way.
Professional sports is a business.
Funding for sports (and the arts) are often the first things facing the chop in difficult times.