The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet

Steven G. Mandis

BenBella Books, Inc., Oct 11, 2016 - Sports & Recreation - 344 pages

The untold story of Real Madrid: one of the most incredible turnarounds in sports and business history.

Real Madrid is the most successful sports team on the planet. The soccer club has more trophies than any other sports team, including 11 UEFA Champions League trophies. However, the story behind the triumph goes beyond the players and coaches. Generally unnoticed, a management team consisting mostly of outsiders took the team from near bankruptcy to the most valuable sports organization in the world.

How did Real Madrid achieve such extraordinary success? Columbia Business School adjunct professor Steven G. Mandis investigates. Given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, Mandis is the first researcher to rigorously ana- lyze both the on-the-field and business aspects of a sports team. What he learns is completely unexpected and challenges the conventional wisdom that moneyball-fueled data analytics are the primary instruments of success. Instead, Real Madrid's winning formula both on and off the field, from player selection to financial management, is based on aligning strategy with the culture and values of its fan base.

Chasing the most talented (and most expensive) players can be a recipe for a winning record, but also financial disaster, as it was for Real Madrid in the late 1990s. Real Madrid's management believes that the club exists to serve the Real Madrid community. They discovered that its fans care more about why the team exists, how their club wins, and whom it wins with versus just winning. The why, how, and whom create a community brand and identity, and inspire extraordinary passion and loyalty, which has led to amazing marketing and commercial success—in turn, attracting and paying for the best players in the world, with the values the fans expect. The club's values and culture also provide a powerful environment for these best players to work together to win trophies.

The Real Madrid Way explains how Real Madrid has created and maintains a culture that drives both financial and on-the-field success. This book is an engrossing account of the lifetime of one of the greatest clubs in the most popular sport in the world, and for business and organization leaders, it's an invaluable inside look at a compelling alternative model with lasting competitive advantages that can deliver superior and sustainable returns and performance.

Contents

• REAL MADRIDS ON AND OFFFIELD DOMINANCE: 3
• Community Support and Brand: 6
• Championships: 9
• Differences between MLB NBA and European Professional Soccer: 10
• THE REAL MADRID WAY: 15
• Ownership Structure: 23
• Moneyball vs Organizational Culture: 31
• Interdependence Ronaldo and Sixty Seconds: 39
• Galácticos 10 195560: 47
• EARLY HISTORY 190260: 49
• Santiago Bernabéu: 50
• 1960 European Cup Final: 57
• Nostalgia for Galácticos 10: 60
• COPYCATS AND FINANCIAL STRUGGLES: 67
• Galácticos 20 200006: 73
• FLORENTINO PÉREZELECTED IN 2000: 75
• What the 2000 Election Reveals about the Real Madrid Community: 82
• Real Madrids 2000 Finances Are Worse Than Expected: 83
• THE TURNAROUND PART 1: 87
• Why Is Your Organization Purposeful and Meaningful?: 91
• The Executive Team Goes to Work: 96
• Strategic Sale of Real Madrids Ciudad Deportiva: 103
• THE TURNAROUND PART 2: 107
• Equal Treatment: 110
• Captains Appointed by Seniority: 112
• Homegrown Talent: 113
• Inspiring Passion and Loyalty: 115
• Game Day for Real Madrid: 126
• Real Madrid Basketball: 128
• Community Brands and Identity in American Sports: 129
• The Cardinal Way: 135
• Galácticos 10 Meet Galácticos 20: 137
• Celebrating a Century: 140
• CRISIS ON THE FIELD SUCCESS OFF THE FIELD: 141
• Disappointment on the Field Resignation: 144
• TooMuchTalent Effect: 148
• Too Much Talent or Too Tired and Old?: 155
• CALDERÓN PERIOD 200609: 161
• FLORENTINO PÉREZS COMEBACK 200914: 165
• Learning from Experience: 167
• Phil Jackson Zen Master and Steve Kerr Ice: 174
• Bold and Brave Actions: 186
• Señorío: 187
• Real Madrids Player Selection Process: 188
• TooTiredandOld Effect: 195
• More SpeedIt Is a Young Mans Game: 201
• Spain and the 2014 World Cup: 204
• Analyzing Stars Workhorses and Juniors: 205
• EL CLÁSICOREAL MADRID VS BARCELONA: 211
• Comparison of Financial Performance: 213
• Comparison of Player Developmentthe Academies: 219
• Playing Style: 220
• Yellow and Red Cards: 222
• Comparison of OntheField Results Since 201112: 223
• Comparison of Priorities: 224
• Concluding Remarks: 225
• Start of Galácticos 40 2015: 227
• THE FUTURE OF REAL MADRID: 229
• Investing in Executives: 232
• Real Madrid University: 234
• Real Madrid Practice Schedule: 237
• Digital Ecosystem Transformation: 238
• Opening One Stadium to 450 Million Fans: 244
• CHALLENGES: 249
• One Goal Makes a Difference: 265
• LESSONS FROM THE REAL MADRID WAY: 269
• COMPARISON OF GALÁCTICOS 10 20 30 AND 40: 279
• SEASON AVERAGES VS POSTSEASON IN BASEBALL: 283
• REAL MADRID ORGANIZATION CHART2015: 287
• SUPPORT FOR STARS WORKHORSES AND JUNIORS ANALYSIS: 289
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: 295
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 301
• INDEX: 303

About the author

Steven G. Mandis is an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. He also teaches at Columbia's Masters of Sports Management Program. His previous award-winning book, What Happened to Goldman Sachs: An Insider's Story of Organizational Drift and its Unintended Consequences, is a rigorous analysis of if, why, and how the culture of Goldman Sachs changed. Mandis worked at Goldman Sachs in the investment banking, private equity, and proprietary trading areas. After leaving Goldman, he cofounded a multibillion-dollar global alternative asset management firm that was a trading and investment banking client of Goldman's. During the financial crisis, Mandis was a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company before becoming chief of staff to the president and COO of Citigroup and serving on executive, management, and risk committees at the firm. Mandis is Chairman and Senior Partner of Kalamata Capital, a provider of online small business financing. Mandis holds an AB from The University of Chicago and an MA, MPhil and PhD from Columbia University. Mandis was a two sport varsity athlete in college and currently competes in triathlons, including having competed in the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Zell Am See-Kaprun, Austria; and Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco, California. He was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, given to children of immigrants who exemplify a life dedicated to community service.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet
• Author: Steven G. Mandis
• Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc., 2016
• ISBN: 1942952554, 9781942952558
• Length: 344 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Leadership; Sports & Recreation / Business Aspects; Sports & Recreation / Soccer