Luke Bornn: Toulouse, Teamworks & making a difference with data

Our guest on Episode #69 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Teamworks, is Luke Bornn. 

Luke has been one of the leading figures in sports analytics for more than a decade. After working as an Assistant Professor at Harvard University, he became Head of Analytics at Roma and then with the Sacramento Kings.

In 2020 he co-founded Zelus Analytics, a sports intelligence platform providing data-driven insights to top teams, including Toulouse & AZ Alkmaar.

In 2024, Zelus was acquired by Teamworks and became Teamworks Intelligence. Luke spoke about what he's been doing since we last spoke on the pod in 2021, about his groundbreaking work with Toulouse and about the future of sports analytics.

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SHOW NOTES =>

02:21: What's been happening since you were last on the pod (in July 2021?)

04:36: What was your day-to-day involvement with Toulouse FC? What was the influence of data? Focusing on what matters.

11:31: Why data can help you to make better decisions. Why it's difficult to make long-term assessments in football.

15:31: Why English football overstates the importance of the Head Coach and why it's difficult to identify the coaches who genuinely make a difference.

18:55: Why Toulouse chose NOT to have a defined style of play. Benefits of 'zagging when others are zigging.'

24:50: Involvement with AZ Alkmaar. Why they are the best-run club in Europe over the course of the last decade. How they 'placed strategic bets' and won. 'Making the main thing the main thing.' How 10 to 15 decisions a season drive 95% of the value.

31:06: Role of Billy Beane, star of Moneyball and investor in Zelus Analytics.

31:52: Sale of Zelus to Teamworks and how they can add value for clubs.

36:25: Why clubs need to decide what they want from analytics. Should ultimately be about making better decisions. Importance of being aligned and why performance and analytics shouldn't be separate departments. 'If you're not improving decisions, you're not doing anything.' 

40:04: Teamworks Intelligence and what it can bring to clubs/ federations.

42:30: Future of analytics - and for Luke personally.