What Can Football Teach Us About Investing?
Football season is back! This is great for weekend fun and weekday water cooler talk. It also has some parallels with investing if you know where to look.
To see the similarities, you need to understand the business model. Let's break it down into three segments, pre-game, game and post-game.
The pre-game is where "experts" tell you what to expect and make predictions. Coaches and players get interviewed and try not to give anything away. At best you get something to hype up the fans or downplay expectations.
Kickoff the game. Players play. Coaches coach. Fans ride an emotional roller coaster as they take it all in. Then the whistle blows and it's over.
Finally, the post-game "experts" tell you what happened and show highlights and bloopers. You see the amazing catch or breakaway run. They don't show the routine blocking or previous play call that set it up. The "experts" don't discuss their initial predictions and how bad they were.
Did you know this is the same business model as financial news?
"Experts" make predictions every day, week, quarter and year. They give you play by play on the economy or stock market. They highlight which companies did best and worst. They don't discuss their initial predictions and how bad they were.
Is that news or entertainment?
Players and coaches get paid. Owners get paid. Fans get entertained.
Football is like investing because fans don't get paid!
NFL coaches don't get their info from ESPN. They know it isn't the highlight that wins games. It is the discipline and attention to every single detail.
That's what you need to be successful and it won't come from the financial entertainment world.
One final note. Owners don't have to watch endless hours of game tape. You might want to call me because as an owner, you'll need a top-notch staff.
