{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"#226 How Sports Teams Should Use Data | Neil Schwartz, SBRnet","description":"Welcome to episode 226 of Sports Management Podcast. Today\u2019s guest is&amp;nbsp;Neil Schwartz, President of SBRnet, one of the leading sports business data providers focused on fan behavior, monetization, and engagement. In this episode, we break down the difference between passive fans and active fans, why storytelling is the real skill behind data, and how teams can turn insights into revenue across tickets, merch, sports betting and more. Let\u2019s get into it. SPONSOR: Listeners of the&amp;nbsp;Sports&amp;nbsp;Management Podcast&amp;nbsp;get an exclusive&amp;nbsp;20% off&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;SportsPro+ with the code&amp;nbsp;SMPOD20.&amp;nbsp;All you need to do is head to&amp;nbsp;sportspro.com\/membership&amp;nbsp;and start exploring today. &amp;nbsp; Time stamps: 00:00 Intro 00:59 What sports teams can learn from Disney 01:50 What SBRnet does: business-side sports data 02:46 Doing data before data was cool 04:25 Data is now traded like oil + early pushback from execs 07:28 Black box data vs transparent methodology 08:44 \u201cIf you only use your own data, you repeat the same mistakes\u201d 09:29 Data is like making soup 11:16 SWOT analysis as a decision framework 12:57 The hardest question: \u201cWhy?\u201d 16:41 Cross-fandom + cross-category sponsorship strategy 19:31 Active vs passive engagement explained 21:07 Neil\u2019s Dolphins example: passionate but passive fan behavior 22:49 Turning passive fans into active fans 25:08 Good data use is good storytelling 27:52 When teams reject data because of anecdotal bias 30:45 Privacy + anonymized data + integrity standards 35:14 Pandemic: removing live attendance questions to protect trend accuracy 37:15 AI fears + why people must stay in the decision-making equation 42:20 Career advice: internships + networking + better outreach emails 48:43 Sports gambling needs guardrails 52:31 Gambling growth plateau 53:19 Underage gambling problem 54:45 Guest recommendations 57:00 Outro &amp;nbsp; Follow Sports Management Podcast on social media Instagram Twitter LinkedIn YouTube www.sportsmanagementpodcast.com ","author_name":"Sports Management Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/sportsmanagementpodcast.libsyn.com\/website","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/39774825\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/197608930"}