I was in London last month on business.  With the start of the Premier League, the current Rugby World Cup, and England’s dominance over India in cricket, there were numerous conversations focused around the business of sports, and increasingly the online interactions fans have with their teams and leagues.  Over the past year we’ve signed agreements with three of the top five sports leagues in the United States to power various portions of their online presence.  It struck me that a number of the capabilities that we provide digital merchants are only heightened when it comes to this industry.

Consider, for example, our unique capabilities around customer retention.  Then think about how rabid the average fan is about his or her team.  Our ability to maximize the probability of payment success greatly boosts our clients’ average customer lifetime value, because fans are often fans “for life”.

Or, take the concept of expanding your reach globally via multiple currencies, payment methods, business models, sales tax support, and adherence to compliance regimes.  Do you know how many Man U fans are in Asia?  A lot.  

While you may “only” have seventy five thousand people at the actual sports event, you could have millions of people engaged with their teams online during the event, as we’ve discovered in our various implementations.  Scaling up and down to meet demand surges is another part of our intrinsic value to our sports-based clients.

Our experience with online sports is no different than with other digital companies:  successful optimization of customer acquisition and retention, independent of business model, is critical to long-term success.