The Rise of Football's Armchair Analysts

One piece of sports content that has knocked it out of the park, and three championship-calibre takeaways to make you a better content creator or marketer — let’s play ball!

This Week’s Game Plan:

It’s arguably never been a worse time, and also never been a better time to be a sports content creator. 

One one hand, there has literally never been more competition. To try and make a name for yourself you’re competing with national and international media networks, experienced pundits making a move into the social space, former players looking to spark a second career in media, and all of the other regular content creators — some with years of experience already under their belts.

On the other hand though, there’s also never been more opportunity. Every single team — from the biggest pro club all the way down to a local grassroots outfit — is crying out for content. Fans can’t get enough, and the mainstream media simply can’t cover everything. This has led to the rise of countless sports podcasts, YouTube channels, and blogs aiming to give you your daily fix.

One area that’s potentially been underserved, however, is genuine statistical analysis.

Enter the Armchair Analyst.

Let’s be extremely clear…I use the term armchair analyst with the highest level of respect. These are creators who may not have professional playing or managerial experience — they’re regular fans who love diving into the details — but they look beyond just commentary. They’re trying to bridge the gap between a typical sports talk show and a high-level technical analysis.

Two names that come to mind for me are Laurence McKenna and James Lawrence Allcott. These two are football creators who provide commentary on all of the major teams, examine games and patterns in-depth, and use advanced stats to illustrate their points. 

Now let’s be honest, not everyone wants advanced stats. Some people are more than happy to listen to pundits speak in more general terms, and would be overjoyed if the term “xG” was removed from football forever. However, there’s also a huge population that lives for this level of analysis. McKenna and Allcott have found this audience, and are steadily growing as a result. 

Let’s take a look at exactly how you can learn from their success and apply it to your own content.

Post Game Analysis

1. You don’t need status to succeed

I appreciate that both McKenna and Allcott had experience in the creator game prior to their channels growing — McKenna through his other work on YouTube and Allcott through his experience in traditional media. However, neither has the immediate draw of a former pro or a big name in the sport. 

They were able to build their respective followings and get their content across despite competing against these former pros and arguably coming from a place where they have as much exposure to high-level football as you or I. 

This goes to show that you don’t need to be an “expert” to begin sharing quality content. Yes, some people might question your knowledge, but have you been on the internet lately? Nobody can make a point without somebody arguing it. Don’t let a lack of experience hold you back, if you have a solid point to get across and can do it in an educational or entertaining way, you can have success.

2. Passion pays the bills

One common trait shared by both of the creators we’ve looked at today (and most other successful creators) is their clear passion for their topic. McKenna and Allcott live and breathe football. When they speak it’s so obvious how much they care. Quite frankly, their content wouldn’t work if the audience felt like they were just doing it for the sake of it. 

This is one of the best pieces of advice you’re going to get — you have to care about what you’re creating. Don’t dive headfirst into a niche because you think it’ll be the most profitable, or because it’s blowing up at the moment (I’m looking at all you crypto bros who suddenly became AI experts). 

Pick a subject you care about, find your unique voice, and begin creating! You’ll eventually find your audience, but it’s going to take some time. You’ll never last long enough to succeed if you don’t enjoy the content yourself.

3. Production quality is extremely subjective

We’ve been hearing it for years, your production quality needs to be at the highest level for you to succeed. We look at creators like Mr. Beast and see the movie-level quality they’re outputting and it’s easy to become disheartened.

However, let’s take a quick look at what McKenna and Allcott do, as they have quite different approaches to how they handle some of the  key aspects of their production. 

Allcott’s statistical analysis is highly polished, using bespoke software on a custom tablet within his set-up to guide us through his points.

On the other hand, McKenna’s production is a bit more casual, using more of a mindmap with still photos to guide his thoughts. When he does deeper analysis on player positions, he draws using his mouse in an almost crude fashion, but it’s effective and still educates the audience.

Recently, he’s stripped back even further, now sharing more straight-to-camera pieces where he speaks directly to his audience without any graphics — as a format it’s quite simple and refined.

For you, keep in mind that your content doesn’t need to look perfect, what it’s saying is far more important. If anything, video content is undergoing a shift away from over-produced Mr. Beast-styled content into something that’s much more laid back and authentic.

The only caveat to this is that these creators still keep impeccable audio quality and use a good camera for their face-cam (your phone will be more than good enough, just please use a tripod and invest in a good light).

The most important thing is to create something. The production level can increase over time, but you’ve got to put the reps in to improve the actual content itself.

I hope you enjoyed this insight into football’s brilliant armchair analysts. If you did — or even if you didn’t — let me know why in a reply.

If you’re feeling really generous you could also share this with a friend you think might enjoy it so we can grow the Social Setpiece Squad even more.

See you all next week.

PB ✌🏼