The National Football League (NFL), or American Football, is one of the most successful commercial enterprises in the world. The television rights to broadcast NFL games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any American sport. This is hardly surprising since the NFL is a sport that is made, and been developed, for  television. Here are six things that all businesses can learn from  entrepreneurial success of the NFL:

1. That The Talent Doesn't Rule
Of course, the players are important to the sport. But just because they are essential doesn't mean that they should rule the roost!  The UK Premiership League is an example of where players salaries have completely got out of hand, changed the game and made it unrealistic for many teams to compete. In the NFL, because of the college draft (where NFL teams are ranked according to their past performance with the worst teams getting to select the best college football players first) and the salary cap system which apportions an agreed percentage of teams revenue to the players, fans of all NFL teams start the season with a 'hope' of winning something (a division, playoff, even the SuperBowl). Conversely, I once worked in a business where the 'sales talent' got away with murder and were paid disproportionately. Of course, they were critical to the business, but they made everyone else' s life in the organisation a misery, not least in the operations team who had to deliver on the 'enhanced promises' made by the sales talent. In the end, the top sales guy's behaviour became so intolerable around the office that he got the bullet.  The business struggled for a while but lived on to prosper as the rest of sales team adjusted to a more level playing field. Giving in to the demands of the 'talent' delivers short term gains and long term pain. Don't do it!  

2. The Beauty of Controlled Brutality
Every successful business finds that at sometime it needs a 'bruiser' - someone who can do the tough things that crop up from time to time. Maybe it's confronting a legal issue or a debtor who just won't pay. Ensuring that the essential bruisers don't overstep the mark and destroy the business in the process is not always easy (hint: breaking the legs of your debtors is no longer an accepted business practice for example!). In the NFL, everyone wants to see a bit of violence. Violence is an integral part of the game. But crass brutality for the sake of it is discouraged. Breaking the legs of a franchise quarterback (sometimes this person is a $100 million dollar asset of the team) is not good business. The way the NFL controls the inherent violence of the game through fines and suspensions that hold individual players accountable is something that every business can learn from. Make the bruisers accountable!

3. That Specialists Are To Be Used Sparingly in Key Situations 
Kickers, punters and long snappers are specialist players who may only play a few 'snaps' in an American football game but can change the game dramatically with their specialised skills. Accurately punting the ball 70 yards - with enough 'hang time' to allow your team members to run the distance to make a tackle on the opposing catcher of the punt is a hard thing to do and requires a lot of practice.  In business, assessing the skill of your specialists (tech people, lawyers etc) and using them effectively is a critical skill.  Much legal work for example can be carried out by properly supervised, intelligent people in the line once a basic legal strategy has been developed by the legal brains and the core legal issues and respective positions at stake identified. Using lawyers to do managerial jobs is expensive and a waste of talent.

4. Develop a Regulatory Environment That Promotes Innovation
The way the that the NFL administers changes to its rules to enhance its commercial potential is commendable in several ways.  First, as the game has become more pass oriented in recent years, the importance of the quarterback is reinforced and rule changes have been made to protect these assets (see 2 above) and to help the QB with pass throwing opportunities. Second, many of the rule changes have been made for the benefit of the TV audience which is where the worldwide growth in revenue for the sport really is. In fact, attending an American Football game can actually be quite boring as there are many stops for commercial breaks and the on field referees often have their work 'peer reviewed' by referees watching a playback machine in a SKY box to ensure that they get it right. Remaking the rules within your business can equally change your commercial fortunes. Become attuned to what your customers really want and focus on that (all NFL fans like the excitement of the QB throwing the ball!). If you are in a regulated industry like financial services make sure that you are represented on the trade bodies that set the rules that govern your competitive landscape. No NFL team owner gets all his or her own way...but they certainly get to have their say on how the game is played!

5. The Importance of Having a Strong Bench 
Injuries, suspensions (for various misdemeanors), deaths, drugs, DUIs, can all deprive teams of critical players. The best teams in the NFL (like the New England Partiots), understand that having strong, in depth, squads is critical to success. Businesses usually find this out the hard way. No business can just carry people to cover for any eventuality but even the smallest businesses can ensure that there is more than one person signing or responsible for the business bank account for example, or that the go-to tech guy is not the only one who knows key passwords to all the systems and the names and numbers of other key contractors.  Obviously if this tech guy goes 'down' for some reason getting this information may be impossible and the business may be critically impaired.  Like the best NFL teams, the most successful business people prepare by developing a strong, adaptable bench.

6. Making the Product Accessible through the Use of Technology
Here's a challenge for you: show me a sport (or a business for that matter) that has deployed technology more widely and innovatively than the NFL both on and off the field of play. You can pretty much watch NFL games on any device. On any given Sunday, I can access the NFL product through the Internet via a four box screen which allows me to follow up to four games at once and finish off with the late games in bed with my iPad.  The recent addition of the NFL 'RedZone' channel allows viewers to see live action as teams enter the last 20 yards of each end of the field (from where they are likely to score points) - a truly brilliant innovation. On the field cameras cover the game from every angle and the latest in-Stadium screens, like the one at the stadium of the Dallas Cowboys, are some of the biggest in world. The NFL also has its own thriving TV channel that just about sits comfortably along side the TV deals that it has done with other TV companies  In short, the NFL  it is becoming a media giant in its own right. Very impressive indeed.

Have I missed something? Can you think of another lesson we can learn from the NFL?  Feel free to hit the comment button below and share it...

Blog Update 25Jan2013  So today the Economic Research Council updated their rankings after the Q4 GDP Preliminary numbers were released and I zoomed up from 35 to 21 (see here for rankings).  Even I was not so pessimistic as to foresee fall in growth of 0.3% for Q4 2012.  However overall, I fear my unemployment forecast will scupper my chances of moving up further. I'm in at 8.3% (see below) and the official numbers fell to 7.7% for December for example! How can this be? Are people just giving up looking for work?  

Note: Looks like the LSE is leading the university competition despite my criticism below.  Credit where credit is due! See Here for University Rankings Table.

Blog Post 5Dec2012 The second annual Economic Research Council Clash of the Titans debate took place last night in London where representatives of the three 'leading' UK Universities in economics (this is debatable!) gave their forecasts for the year ahead. Representing Oxford was Linda Yueh. Representing Cambridge, Michael Kitson and representing the London School of Economics, Ethan Ilzetzki. More on the speakers' backgrounds can be found here.

The event also gives the audience and people at home (like you!) a chance to offer your best guess (er, sorry considered intellectual opinion) on the following:

1. UK GDP (the total output of the economy) for the following quarters Q4 2012 (i.e. this one), Q1 2103, Q2 2013, Q3 2013.
2. UK Inflation Rate (percentage change of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the rate of growth of the price of a bundle of goods and services, on the same quarter the previous year) for the following quarters Q4 2012 (i.e. this one), Q1 2013, Q2 2013, Q3 2013. 
3. Unemployment (the percentage of people over the age of 16 who want a job but do not currently have one) for the following quarters Q4 2012 (i.e. this one), Q1 2013, Q2 2013, Q3 2013.
4. Interest rates (the official Bank Rate, the rate of interest at which banks can borrow from the central bank every month) for the following quarters Q4 2012 (i.e. this one), Q1 2013, Q2 2013, Q3 2013.
...and a tie breaker 
5. The lowest Yield on 10-Year Greek Bonds as a single figure for the period covering the following quarters Q4 2012 (i.e. this one) through Q3 2013.

More on the online competition and how to enter can be found here

Predictions from University of Oxford's Linda Yeuh for UK economy 2013 made at Economics Research Council 'Clash of the Titans' 4 Dec 2012

Linda stuck closely to the brief which was to introduce the Oxford predictions in 15 minutes.  She was focused and laid out some interesting points. Most notably Linda thought that as we end 2012 the most 'acute phase of the euro crisis is over'. It will be interesting if she returns next year with this phrase ringing in her ears!  Ballsy Thinking Score: 7/10

Predictions from University of Cambridge's Michael Kitson for UK economy 2013 made at Economics Research Council 'Clash of the Titans' 4 Dec 2012

Michael came to this event to make a case for Keynesianism.  He came around from behind the speakers table with his microphone and dissed the Coalition's Austerity plans.  He pleaded coherently for the Government to introduce a Plan B or C and rallied against TINA (There is No Alternative!). At the heart of his contribution was the idea that UK Government debt is really not that much of an issue compared to getting growth in the UK economy. The problem with Kitson's whole pitch however is that the UK Treasury's debt figures do not properly account for the 'off balance' sheet liabilities of the UK state. Namely, from a) Private Finance Initiatives, b) The public financed UK Bank Bailouts; and c) unfunded pension liabilities for an ageing UK population. Perhaps because of his polemic, Kitson was the most questioned speaker of the night. His predictions were also comparatively optimistic. Ballsy Thinking Score: 9/10

Predictions from LSE's Ethan Ilzetski for UK economy 2013 made at Economics Research Council 'Clash of the Titans' 4 Dec 2012

Ethan came to this event to represent the LSE after the very (and I mean very) poor showing in the forecasting competition by last year's LSE representative Danny Quah.  Like Kitson, he played down the importance of UK Government debt and played up the importance of growth in the UK economy. Unfortunately, Ilzetski's contribution got bogged down in a detailed analysis of the political economics behind the US 'Fiscal Cliff'. In fact, even after five minutes of talk on this topic he asked the audience: "What is this Fiscal Cliff?"  The LSE predictions this year, unlike last year's,** were most optimistic of the three universities even though they don't seem to like the Coalition's Austerity package. Confused thinking all round and poorly presented. Let's hope LSE send the A-team next year, otherwise the they will be the 'Titans' that everyone laughs at.  Ballsy Thinking Score: 3/10
** Note 14 Dec 2012: These three words were changed from "like last year's" to "UNlike last year's" since last year's LSE Danny Quah's forecast were remarkably pessimistic.  Thanks to the ERC guys for spotting my typo.

Here are my submitted predictions for the period of the competition made, like the universities, before today's Autumn Statement by the UK Chancellor. I predict the UK economy growing hardly at all over the next 12 months. All the Quantative Easing  undertaken by the BOE is not getting through to the real economy and is merely shoring up the balance sheets of troubled UK banks (which admittedly is in of itself  important).  As I write, I hear of people being made redundant across the country and the public sector layoffs planned by the Government have some way to go so I expect unemployment to rise. Bigger companies are still hoarding cash and if the campaign to crack down on 'avoidance' continues, I don't see decision makers making long term investments in the UK as they fear tax regime changes. Creating private sector employment opportunities is the single most important thing for the government to focus on rather than reviewing percentage point changes in corporate tax or berating companies that are already employing thousands in the UK (Amazon, Starbucks etc). It will be a major shock and cause havoc if the BOE increase base rates in the next year (and no University Titan is predicting that the new Bank Governor will push for this).  Lastly, my prediction on the lowest rates for Greek 10 year bonds assumes that Greece remains in the Euro. The market for these bonds is likely to be pretty illiquid so it really is a guess which is what I suppose a 'tie-breaker' is supposed to be!

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