The VLAST perspective: oversight and smarter resourcing.

Sports teams sign talent with one goal in mind: winning.

Everything else is secondary, even when it delivers huge, tangible benefits. The economics of elite sport mean that top athletes are valued above all for how they deliver in competition - and outgoing costs in salary will reflect that.

Still, the commercial power of high-profile stars can hardly be overlooked. Brand partners are attracted to teams not just by their achievements but by the personal appeal of the individuals who represent them.

This puts anyone at the head of those organisations in a bind. On the one hand, they want to make talent available to potential sponsors as a way of maximising income. On the other, they cannot afford a mismatch of resources, with too much time and effort spent in one area of activity at the expense of another.

The talent dilemma
There is little in sport that can be guaranteed - least of all victory.

Success comes in many forms in the modern era. Well-run organisations take pride in the growth of their sponsorship programmes and building revenues with the right partners can make everything else possible, from community programmes to a better experience on matchday.

That being said, sport is also a highly specialised, high-performance industry. Whatever value star individuals add to campaigns - through their charisma, their alignment with a specific brand or the sheer size of their following - is unlikely to match the unique physical gifts for which they are being paid. The same is true at an organisational level: the least transferable expertise is often the most precious.

For partnerships to be effective on both sides of the ledger, they have to optimise every department and asset at a club’s disposal. Finding the right balance can be a complex exercise in itself.

Cutting to the core with VLAST
Before they built the Pickstar Group and its VLAST talent management platform, Matthew Pavlich and James Begley gained first-hand knowledge of elite sport’s demands in the AFL.

It is an environment which asks a lot of different groups of people, and it can be difficult to stay on top of expectations. Their answer was a bespoke solution that offers sports teams and stakeholders full oversight of all their active campaigns - keeping track of commitments to player appearances and ensuring satisfaction on all sides.

With its comprehensive, centralised data capabilities, VLAST makes it clear whose time is being spent where. It has helped leading sports organisations in the US, the UK and Australia make the best possible use of their talent.

That efficiency and insight can bring every team closer to triumph without compromise.