We can easily get distracted by the big numbers involved in delivering a major sports event. Equipment, budget, deadlines, systems, protocols, data. So much to deal with. However, the driving force of this ecosystem, from the beginning to the end, is not numbers but people.
Athletes, fans, staff at the competition venues, suppliers, broadcasters, leaders, advocates who monitor the ethics of it all, and sports practitioners who admire professionals or aspire to be one of them. People.
At Legacy Sport, when we deploy technology for a sports venue, we keep in mind that we work for people. Athletes must know that their efforts are being honored, for instance, with beautiful broadcasting and a timing & scoring system that works. Referees need to have trustable information. Fans need to have a fantastic experience engaging with their favorite sports and athletes. The staff at the venues needs to feel that everything is running smoothly.
Technology must be a vehicle for that. It is our tool, but our purpose is to serve people. Often, we forget to ask who are the people we are serving, and what are their needs, values, and aspirations. Where do they live, what do they do, what do they love, and how could our work improve all of this: these should be our guiding questions.
The challenge with big-scale events is that we cannot connect with everybody individually. Teams are huge, athletes come in thousands from various nations, and millions of fans find their way to the venue or a screen.
Therefore, it is easy to turn people into numbers, deprived of emotion or personal needs, gathered together in a homogenous mass. It is easy, as well, to project into this mass whatever feelings or beliefs we have about them and make decisions based on that.
However, we can use two central tools to minimise that, at least. First, we can keep connected to the people around us. The sports team we work to serve other people. Looking them in the eyes, getting to know them well, and asking how they fulfill their aspirations through that sports event delivery.
Treating our colleagues as unique persons will help us remember that they are not just one more “colleague”: they are breathing living beings. Our relationship with them becomes a fraction of what it could be if we could relate to the millions of people we are also serving.
Secondly, we need to use business and marketing tools in intelligent ways. Do qualitative research with diverse populations who are connected to sports. Listen to what people are saying. Take the results of that research seriously by sharing them and using them to make decisions.
Guided by those two tools, we must make the necessary shifts to adapt our delivery to the needs of the real and diverse populations that love sports by competing, working to develop it, advocating to improve it, watching it, and practicing it.
The final sensation at the end of the day should be that our work moved people, above all. It can, and in many cases, it should boost the numbers – more fan engagement, business growth, media reach, social investment, and more.
But at the heart of it, we need to feel that we are making people look, live, and be better. That’s all that matters.
Who are the people at the center of what you do? How are you using your work to move them?
TEC – HEART – SPORT is our latest series of articles explaining the mission, vision, and culture that Legacy Sport shares with its community and the world. See below for a summary of each topic we will explore during the series.
Thrill
Expertise
Courage
Humanism
Empathy
Advocacy
Respect
Transparency
Sustainability
People
Olympism
Relationships
Transformation
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