Hearts keep transfer profit as Jamestown Analytics deal is revealed by Tony Bloom
EPL chairman invested £9.86m in the Scottish Premiership club
Since Tony Bloom’s Hearts investment deal was first revealed, questions over Jamestown Analytics’ involvement have persisted. The Edinburgh News published details of Bloom’s talks with Tynecastle officials almost a year ago. Since then, a £9.86m agreement has been signed to give him a 29 per cent stake in the Edinburgh club. Jamestown’s bespoke recruitment data is now used by Hearts, the only Scottish football club to gain exclusive access to the world-renowned software.
But what’s in it for Jamestown? How are they financed? Do they receive a percentage of transfer fees when a player they identify is sold for profit? Or does Bloom’s Starlizard gambling company fund them since both use similar analytics? All of these queries have been raised by fans of Hearts, Brighton and Hove Albion, and Union Saint-Gilloise as Bloom’s football empire expands.
The British entrepreneur is quiet and reclusive by nature and does not give much away. Media interviews are rare. He certainly does not like divulging details on agreements between companies and the clubs where he holds shares. However, when pressed on the commercial relationship between Hearts and Jamestown, Bloom provided some confirmation. He said that the Edinburgh club pay annually to use the secretive sports data firm operating from a small office on Jamestown Road in the London borough of Camden. Suspicions that JA may gain a percentage of future transfers are wide of the mark.
“Jamestown doesn't work in terms of getting percentage transfers,” he said. “There will be a commercial agreement, a confidential agreement between Jamestown Analytics and Hearts.” Asked if that involves a yearly renewal, Bloom replied: “Yes.”
Hearts have already signed nine new players this summer through the work of sporting director Graeme Jones, head coach Derek McInnes and Jamestown staff. Bloom is also keen to see Riccarton youth academy graduates developed into established professionals. “The bottom line is there's a lot of things which go into the making of a successful football club,” he explained. “The main thing is the players and it's the recruitment of the players and the players coming through the academy.
“I'm a big believer in the academy and I know Hearts have got a good one. I think it's like everything at every football club - it needs to continually improve. The recruitment that Graeme has done with Derek, and backed by the board of directors, I think this summer has been exceptionally good. I think you'll see that hopefully over the coming weeks and months. That’s not the end of it because there are two plans for [transfer] windows this season and the main one is in the summer. I have high hopes that every season we will continue to bring in good players.”
Hearts will retain any profit they make when selling players. None of it is passed on to Bloom or Jamestown. “Whoever is sold - and for every football club the model is pretty much that the best players get sold - it's just an ecosystem,” added Bloom. “Not just in Scotland, but literally everyone outside of potentially the Real Madrids, maybe the PSGs, where they literally have unlimited money.
“That's how we will continue to improve. That's what's happened at Brighton and that's what's happened at Union. It has to be about recruitment. There are lots of things at a football club. You need really good people, community, fans, facilities - both training facilities and the stadium, and I know both are superb here. But if you haven't got the players, I can talk to the cows come home but there's no chance of success.
“It is so much down to the players and it may take some time but I think the player signings that Graeme, backed by the board, working with Derek have done over the last few months have been really strong. I think we'll all see that in games to come. I don't want to talk about other clubs. All I'm saying is: Hearts’ recruitment going forward, with the board following Jamestown Analytics’ recommendations, will be very strong.
EPL transfer deals and Belgium sales are examples for Hearts to follow in Scotland
Brighton regularly sell players for tens of millions of pounds, although Hearts will be dealing in a much smaller market. The aim is that they might, in years to come, negotiate fees similar to those Union are now receiving after winning the Belgian league title.
This summer, USG sold Algerian international forward Mohamed Amoura to German Bundesliga club Wolfsburg for €14.75m [£12.7m] having signed him from Swiss side Lugano for €4m [£3.5m] in 2023. Croatian international striker Franjo Ivanovic arrived at the same time for the same fee from Rijeka, and he recently completed a €22.8m [£19.7m] transfer to Portugese giants Benfica. Congolese international midfielder Noah Sidiki joined English Premier League side Sunderland for €17m [£14.7m]. He arrived from Anderlecht two years ago for just €900,000 [£777,000].
“I'd be very disappointed if there wasn't a lot of demand over time for Hearts' players,” said Bloom. “That's part of what the ecosystem is. You do need to sell. You've got to sell at the right time, then you bring other players through and you bring younger players in. That's just the way it is. That's the way it is pretty much for all clubs. Hearts just need to do that better than other clubs and I'm confident that we can do that.
“We understand that, financially, Hearts is dwarfed by Celtic and Ranges in terms of their turnover and fanbase. So the only way we compete is recruit better. Also, just having a brilliant ethos at the football club, having really supportive fans, getting the commercials to work as best they can, having an excellent stadium and training ground is a big help. But yeah, the way we can compete with clubs with much bigger turnover is to recruit the right head coach and really good players and continue to do that.”
Union rose from the bottom of Belgium’s second tier to become champions since Bloom and Jamestown got involved. Brighton’s rise to become an established English Premier League club is well-documented. Bloom aims to help Hearts grow and expand, although it is a process which will take time. Union proved this year that titles can be won by applying the gambling tycoon’s model in football.
“Yeah, and over the last seven years, Brighton have also come on leaps and bounds as well. There are a lot of things going on. The analytics, we're improving year on year. We've seen that happen at Brighton, we've seen that happen at Union, a different type of club in a different country. So that gives me the confidence that the model will work very well at Hearts and we shall see success in the future.
“I think that's always helpful to learn from other people, to learn from other clubs and that's something I can certainly do at Hearts is to open some doors. I've got a lot of contacts in football. I've been chairman of Brighton for over 16 years. That's what Brighton does as well. We're always trying to get better, learn, meet other people, see what other clubs are doing. If you want to be the best, it's about continuing learning, try to always improve every day, every month, every year.”
Bloom’s belief in Jamestown as a world-leader in the sports data field is unshakeable. Analytics are rife across professional football, but the small London firm is ahead of the pack and constantly evolving “I'm very aware that there are other analytics companies out there and other clubs trying to do things,” said the Englishman.
“I think most of the data out there is commonly available. The big advances Jamestown Analytics have is its unique data and it's the best data out there. Jamestown Analytics are exceptionally good at knowing how to use the data in the right way. We’re very aware there is competition out there but also very confident that Jamestown Analytics is the best out there.”