2019 World Series Takeaways

Road Warriors

When it comes to any professional sports playoffs, there is high precedent given to the idea of home-field advantage. It is perceived that playing on your own field, in your own stadium, in front of your own fans is supposed to be just that— an advantage. When it comes to the 2019 World Series, that is all for naught. 
For the first time in history, the road team won every game. The World Series is divided in a 2-3-2 format, meaning the team with home-field advantage hosts the first two games, and then returns home for the pivotal final games. The Nationals stymied the Astros in Houston the first two games, returning to DC with a commanding 2-0 lead. In front of rabid Nats fans expecting to witness a title-clinching victories, the Astros won three straight and crushed the spirits of the DC faithful. The Nationals, a team built on resiliency and a never-doubt-us mentality, stunned the world in winning Games 6 and 7 in Houston. Teams battle all season in order to gain home-field advantage. The 2019 World Series taught us that gaining home-field advantage is only half the battle.

The Ewing Theory

Sportswriter Bill Simmons famously coined an idea called The Ewing Theory, inspired by former New York Knicks forward Patrick Ewing. In 1999, Ewing was injured in a playoff series against the Pacers, and the Knicks seemed dead in the water. Yet, they won 3 of 4 games to advance to the NBA Finals.

The theory is two-fold— first, a team must have a dominant all star, widely considered to be a once-in-a-generation talent. That player, however, never wins anything substantial with that team. Second, that player leaves the team, the team is written off, only for them to bounce back and finally win meaningful games.

The Nationals were the first ‘Ewing Theory’ team to win a title. Their ‘Ewing’ player was Bryce Harper, a former MVP, Rookie of the Year, and six-time all star. Harper shunned the Nationals to sign a then-MLB record 13 year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Pundits immediately bounced the Phillies to the top of the league, and the Nationals to the bottom. The results of the deal? The Phillies missed the playoffs, and the Nationals are world champions.

Young Star Juan Soto

How were the Nationals able to recover from the loss of Harper?

The emergence of new, young, and exciting new stars. Juan Soto, a 21 year-old left fielder, grew to become a league icon this postseason. Admired for his style of play, Soto electrified crowds, delivering game-changing home runs and frequently igniting a spark in the Nationals. His behavior at the plate, although criticized by some, is nevertheless entertaining, and effective. Baseball is frequently considered to be a boring and uneventful sport— Soto flips that narrative on his head through his charismatic and confident style of play. Add that to his on-field play, which is stellar, and the MLB may have a new superstar. One thing is for sure— with Soto in the mix, the Nationals have no love lost over the departure of Bryce Harper.

Expect the Unexpected

We’ve seen this time and again with title teams this year. The Toronto Raptors lost their franchise player and battled back to win an NBA title. In addition, the St. Louis Blues were at the bottom of the standing midway through the season, only to catch fire and win their first Stanley Cup title. The Nationals took a page from their playbook, as a result overcoming a dismal start to the season to stun the world. 

On May 23, the Nationals were 19-31, good for the 4th worst record in the MLB. All they did was tear through their schedule the rest of the way, ending the season with a 93-69 record, good enough for a Wild Card berth. They snuck by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card game, advancing to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers were dominant in 2019, winning the most games in the National League. The Nationals won 4 games to 1. Next were the St. Louis Cardinals and their suffocating defense, led by the historic Jack Flaherty. The Nationals swept. All that was left was the team with the best record in baseball— the Houston Astros. However, we know how that ended. 

The 2019 Nationals are an incredible story, and certainly one of the most memorable championship teams in recent memory. In order to win their first World Series title, they overcame the loss of an all-time great player, a horrid start to the season, and a brutal postseason lineup of opponents. Along the way, new stars emerged, and new legends were made. In 2019, the Washington Nationals cemented themselves in history as an unlikely, but deserving, World Series Champion.

However, you may wonder how you can best determine the overall level of customer satisfaction with your service, and how to act on that information. Net Promoter Score (also known as NPS) can provide a key piece to that puzzle.

NPS Defined

Net Promoter Score is a customer satisfaction metric based on a fundamental question:
“On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being most likely and 0 not likely at all, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or family member?”

NPS surveys come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but at their core they are built around this one key question. Once the survey’s data has been compiled, NPS is often calculated within a range of -100 to 100. Every “promoter” of your company (9 or 10 responses, for instance) ranks on the positive side of the ledger; “detractors” (0 to 6 responses) register as minus points. The final tally indicates where your company resides on the customer satisfaction continuum; generally speaking, a score of +50 or above is considered to be excellent.

While NPS offers a simple premise, there are several benefits associated with tracking and analyzing this high-level metric.

5 Reasons to Track NPS

1. It Provides a Succinct Overview of Current CX Trends

While NPS is by nature a simple metric, it is useful at providing a bird’s-eye overview of where your company currently stands with regards to customer experience and satisfaction, as well as the direction in which your company is heading. High NPS indicates that your business processes are successfully generating good customer experiences, whereas low (or negative) NPS signals that there is an urgent need for improvement.

2. NPS Surveys are Customer Friendly

Very few people (if any) enjoy taking surveys that last 15 or 20 minutes. This simple fact illustrates why many surveys have such low engagement rates. On the other hand, the NPS survey could take as little as 15 seconds to complete. This makes it extremely appealing to the average consumer. 
Of course, you may want to add a question or two onto your NPS survey in order to glean deeper insights into customer responses, which leads us to point #3…

3. NPS Surveys Allow for Additional Feedback

While NPS is by nature a simple metric, it is useful at providing a bird’s-eye overview of where your company currently stands with regards to customer experience and satisfaction, as well as the direction in which your company is heading. High NPS indicates that your business processes are successfully generating good customer experiences, whereas low (or negative) NPS signals that there is an urgent need for improvement.

4. NPS Allows You to Focus on the Entire Customer Experience

Some surveys are specifically geared towards quantifying customer satisfaction with regards to one interaction. (Such as a phone survey taken after an interaction with a customer service representative). NPS is designed to be different. Although previous customer-company interactions may play an important role in the ultimate response given, an NPS survey is at its heart a measure of how the customer feels about your company as a whole, instead of an individual employee.

5. NPS Correlates with Business Growth

It’s no secret that there is a strong correlation between high NPS and exceptional business growth. For example, one study found that a 12-point increase in NPS leads to, on average, the doubling of a company’s growth. Another study of Net Promoter Score in relation to CAGR (compound annual growth rate) demonstrated that NPS accounted for 92% of the variation in future revenue for several major US airlines.

Clearly, NPS is an important metric to track.

3 Ways to Use NPS to Improve Client Experience

While there are several ways to leverage NPS into growth opportunities, the following 3 points may prove to be especially helpful:

1. Add Strategy Informed Questions to Your NPS Survey

You want your NPS survey to give customers the freedom to provide insightful feedback. At the same time, you want to provide enough structure to encourage responses that are, first and foremost, actionable. For instance, if you are looking for ways to enhance the client experience you may want to add a multiple choice question that focuses on which area(s) your customers would like to see improved (e.g., check-in process, quality of equipment, quality of instruction, and so forth).

2. Act on Feedback Received From Customers

Once you’ve received actionable feedback, don’t delay: promptly make the suggested changes, or at least explore options that will help you meet your customers in the middle. For the most part, an NPS survey that doesn’t prompt action is useless.

3. Reward Promoters and Pursue Passives and Detractors

NPS surveys can also help you to segment your customers according to their satisfaction level. This will allow you to reward loyal customers, and entice passive users through discounts, promotional offers, or free trial extensions. It will also let you pursue indifferent or unhappy customers (an apology and “peace offering” can go a long way). Whether it’s mitigating damage to your brand or building up your advocate base, NPS segmentation is a helpful tool when used properly.

In whatever business you’re in, NPS can play a key role in the marketing decisions you make, the business processes that you adjust, and the overall customer experience that you provide. Ultimately, all this feeds into your bottom line.

If you are a business leader in the sports/fitness industry, and would like to learn more about the advantages that come from tracking NPS, reach out to Upper Hand today for a free demo of our innovative sports and fitness management software.

In Backups We Trust

Setbacks are inevitable. In every NFL season, each team will experience multiple personnel losses. The most devastating, and often disastrous, occur at the most important position in sports- quarterback. Within the first few weeks, Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Eli Manning, Nick Foles, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger all required replacing with backups. The results? Better than expected:

• Jacob Brissett and Teddy Bridgewater impressed, going 3-2 and 3-1, respectively
• Gardner Minshew II and Kyle Allen far outperformed expectations, showing some special talent along the way
• Daniel Jones led a thrilling game winning drive in his first career start

Many said these teams were hopeless without their starting QBs. All have responded with resounding performances, proving that the backups are not just capable players, but star players. Which could very well mean that some sports fans could be looking to their US Sportsbooks and wanting to change their bets on certain teams or players!

New Rules Make No Sense

This NFL season is replay happy. Over the summer, the NFL passed a new rule allowing coaches to challenge pass interference calls. This was in response to numerous missed calls throughout the 2018 season, most notably in the NFC Championship game.
So how is this rule going? In short, terrible.

The new rule was implemented to avoid disaster. But, as Tony Dungy said on NBC’s Football Night in America, “I thought this was going to be a disaster… and I believe it is.” Coaches are challenging pass interference, but they rarely get overturned.

In a crucial play late in the 4th quarter of their game against the Chiefs, Colts receiver TY Hilton was called for offensive PI. Colts head coach Frank Reich challenged the call. Multiple replays show Hilton barely contacting the defender. Yet, it was not overturned. There have not been any blatant miscalls yet, but it’s only a matter of time before this new rule drastically impacts the outcome of a game.

The Future is Here

For years, the NFL has been dominated by the same elite class of QB. The group of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, and Ben Roethlisberger has dominated the league for years, redefining every record imaginable. They have largely been untouched by time- the average age of that group is 38. Their careers are nearing the end.

With the fall of one group comes the rise of another. Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott, and others are taking the baton from the old guard. Wilson and Jackson are dual-threat MVP candidates that have the ability to change any game with their arm or their feet. Who knows how well these candidates may shake up the odds in the Online Sportsbook circles, but it’s expected to be quite significant as their popularity grows. It probably wouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that fans will be looking for the best Wilson and Jackson memorabilia before long. Luckily, places like BuySideSports.com can help you find the best Lamar Jackson products on the market so you can continue his rise to stardom and the title of MVP. With that being said, one person doesn’t make a team. Goff, Watson, Prescott, and Wentz are young and still have plenty of room to grow.

And then there is Mahomes. Simply put, he may be the most talented QB in the history of the league, and he is only 24. After winning MVP last year, he has put up insane numbers through the first month. More so than the stats, his style of play simply cannot be ignored. He does things with football that no other person in the league would even think of doing. He gained fame with no look passes and creative scrambles, and has continued to add to the highlight tape. Patrick Mahomes is already one of the most unstoppable QBs of all time, and he is just getting started.

The first month is done. There are still more than 10 games left to play in the season. The first stretch has taught us a lot, but we still have more questions than answers for almost every team in the league. But, the NFL season is back, and there is more to talk about than ever.

Fitness gamification creatively infuses the highly popular elements of competitive video games into workouts. With gamification, the fitness industry has revitalized customer’s passion for an active lifestyle.

The allure around gaming is multifaceted

Structuring fitness activities and workouts to resemble games addresses a large complaint many have with fitness- a lack of noticeable progress. The use of milestones and scores in gamified workouts allows for easy tracking of gains and losses. Instead of waiting weeks and months to see any progress, the win/loss nature of games grants instant workout feedback and gratification.

Gamification appeals to sedentary gamers who value the imagination and challenges of video games. Those that enjoy video games’ immersive stories can see fitness as pointless, or a means to no end, however, by incorporating game-like competition, there is a distinct goal to work towards. It makes working out, which many find hard to enjoy on its own, subsidiary to the game.

Video games are typically long struggles for success. To win, constant effort and engagement is required. Few are won all at once; it takes continued excellence to beat the game. This structure reflects a fit lifestyle. Improvements aren’t quickly noticed, but rather come with hours of dedication.

Gamification is applied in all corners of the fitness industry, but we will focus on wearables, apps, virtual reality, and classes. These areas capitalize on rewards, motivation, immersion, and team creation.

Wearables

Using gamification in wearables personalizes fitness, making the user accountable for their own fitness success. Because wearables directly inform the user of their activity, it is up to them to alter or maintain that level of activity. This form of gamification is beneficial for developing intrinsic motivation, as it is dependent on the user to better their ‘scores.’

A great example of gamifying fitness through wearables is the Fitbit watch. One of the pioneers in the wearable industry, Fitbit offers a variety of bands that sync with their app. The app organizes the data into a rewards program. The more active a person is, the more rewards the app provides. This little bit of motivation inspires users to increase their activity level in order to obtain more rewards. Fitbit is not the only smartwatch on the market–there are many others with a vast array of various features. In fact, one study reports that as many as 1 in 6 American adults owns a smartwatch with fitness capabilities.

Apps

Apps are the most actualized, accessible, and widespread realizations of gamification. The fitness industry is being remodeled by the thousands of fitness apps currently available. As is true with wearables, apps provide transparent and real time performance measures. Apps, however, have more creative possibilities than wearables.

With over 1 million users, Zombies, Run! is a perfect example of a gamified fitness app. The app combines running with a thrilling storyline based on survival- the more you run, the more likely you are to escape the hordes of zombies chasing you. The app creators created an experience where “every run becomes a mission where you’re the hero.”

In taking the fun and excitement of a zombie game and funneling it into an app, Zombies, Run’s appeal is as a game, not a fitness tracker. They have made running, often a monotonous routine, an addicting game with intense stakes. Zombies, Run! has skyrocketed in downloads since it’s debut several years ago, and with fitness gamification only rising in profitability, we can expect downloads to increase this year.

Virtual Reality

Using virtual reality in fitness gamification transports people to an alternate world that distracts from the were exercise and puts focus on the game. Gamification in virtual reality hides the tedious and ‘boring’ routines of work outs behind the immersion of VR games.

VR fitness is still in early stages, but there are established examples in the industry. The Black Box studio in San Francisco offers a full virtual reality workout for its members. They have their own virtual reality game, and their private rooms make use of resistance bands and weights to create a full body workout during the game. Users report that they often feel as if they have done little work after completing a workout.

This is one major benefit of gamification through VR- the rift between actual effort and perceived effort. Black Box members feel they exerted less energy than they actually did. Because of this, virtual reality can push people past their perceived limits, as they are more focused on winning the game than the demands of the workout.

Classes

Fitness classes combine data-driven gamification with team competition. In expanding the game to more people, classes provide a new layer of motivation. Intensity and dedication increase in group workouts, especially those with competition involved. Many gamified fitness classes are structured around high scores and leaderboard; striving for the top of the leaderboard every class, therefore, naturally leads to beating personal bests.

Many companies incorporate gamification into their programs. Life Fitness partnered with VirZoom to gamify cycling classes, using simulated competitions like horse racing and motorsports. There are other methods too, though. A gym in Britain offers Fortnite dance classes to increase youth participation. In addition, Pursuit by Equinox and Surfset in Toronto provide gamified classes in cycling and surfing.

For instance, an example of a franchise that gamifies fitness is OrangeTheory. They use heart rate monitors as their scoring system, pushing members to best both their own previous scores and the scores of those around them. Members say “the competitive side of me thrives on that energy so the heart rate monitor is like I’m competing with myself and my peers at the same time.” Above all, this provides extra motivation and inspiration to improve personal fitness.

The future of fitness gamification

Gamification in fitness is still a new trend, but has already shown to be a valuable innovation. It eliminates many of the things people don’t like about working out– repetition, no discernible progress, and boredom. By crossing fitness with games, there is more motivation, interest, and feelings of accomplishment. The growth in wearables, apps, virtual reality, and classes helped gamification become a major fitness genre.

Gamification inspires many to get active and stay active; those who have never thought of working out are now doing so because of things like Zombies, Run!, Black Box, and Orange Theory. In conclusion, gamification makes fitness less of a have to do and more of a get to do.