We recently asked Corrine Vitolo a few questions regarding her business career, interests, and the business of baseball. Here’s what she had to say:
Q. Tell us about SmartSports – what is the business all about and how did you create it?
In short, we are the physical SAT®. We’ve developed the first quantitative tech system that measures athletic performance; our first market is baseball, football next. Beyond the stopwatch and radar gun, there has been no standardization in sports. We focused on that enormous void — while simultaneously addressing inefficiencies in scouting and player development — and built the solution.
SmartSports emanated largely by chance. I was approached in 2003 by my now partner and co-founder, Larry Scannell, who played for the Red Sox. He had the makings of a great idea; I wanted to pursue something innovative in the space. His background as a player and instructor, coupled with mine in sports management yielded a pretty exciting company…. We’re ready to launch our SmartKage system to 160 locations in the US, have the best partners in technology and baseball, and already have additional products in the pipeline. It is terrific time for us.
Q: Over your career, what position you have held was the most challenging and why?
I’ve always been in the sports business; my early career served Fortune 100 companies business interests in MLB, NFL and Motorsport, largely in strategy and operations. At the time, dealing with multinational companies seemed complex simply by virtue of the size and structure of the organizations. Looking back, it was comparatively simple to what I am doing now.
Any position as CEO is demanding. In SmartSports, it has required an incredible level of stamina. Managing technology development, capital markets, investors, and general organizational matters in parallel necessitates intense focus and dedication. That said, it is absolutely the most gratifying thing I have ever done.
Baseball as a business is somewhat underserved — it’s unique heritage and unmatched legacy as a sport remains somewhat unrealized to its potential. From a business perspective, we are facing substantial shifts in how fans interact with sports. Those of us trying to bridge the gap from past to future are challenged with serving multiple constituencies well, and to a degree, having a correct execution of prediction. America’s pastime is coming quickly into the future… my challenge is to ensure that we have aptly anticipated and correctly equipped that market to engage, and grow.
Q. Who was a mentor to you in your career and why?
I’ve been blessed with only one: Jerry Welsh. As head of worldwide marketing for American Express, Jerry became best known as the founder of cause-related marketing. His projects always involved something meaningful — not de rigueur in the day: his accomplishments originated from his extraordinary conscience. In my opinion, he is one of the best quiet leaders in the history of US business.
Without ever overtly discussing, he is the one that taught me how to make business work for something larger than the immediate, how to leverage what you had to make the world a better place — in any increment. He saw, he recognized, and he believed in me. Funny, I’ve worked with a lot of very high profile people… I’d say I have been most touched to be considered one of “Jerry’s Kids”…..
Q: What are the most important business lessons you have learned in life?
They have been one and the same: be true to yourself. The rest will follow.
Q: Over your career you have been a consultant, a CEO, a writer and teacher (among other things) —do you prefer one or two of the those to the others?
No preference, though, my sense is that my current position is the one that will leave the most meaningful fingerprints.
Q: What advice would you have for women aspiring to a career in sports ?
Do it, and go big. Sport is one of the few common denominators in life that transcends any categorical label. Indeed, women are few: all the better reason and opportunity to make your mark.
Q: Talk to us about the Science of Sport — as all training becomes more sophisticated where do you see things going next?
Our entire culture has shifted to science — technology is simply an expression of that. This generation of athletes has exponentially more information available to them — all the better to guide them. Whether through training, conditioning, nutrition, or coaching…. science is the catalyst that is moving all sport forward.
There are a lot of emerging corollaries that are interesting… I think the ones that will matter are the ones that can remain invisible to the user. Smart wearables are easy and scalable, there should be good traction in that. I think some of the most important things I’m seeing are on the predictive realm. For example, after several of our SmartKage sessions, we have enough data to show trend lines… wouldn’t you like to be able to prevent a pitching injury before it happens? We have the science, now it’s simply a matter of implementation.
Q: What do you feel has changed most in the Business of Baseball in the past 10-15 years?
I think it’s the wonderful offshoot of technology: fan interaction. In previous generations, baseball was essentially limited to either a broadcast, or going to a game: it was a finite exposure. If you blinked, you missed. With on-demand information, casual fans have escalated their interests into lifestyles. Via television, phones, devices — all have augmented the fan’s activity level. MLBAM is on top of it for sure, but there is still plenty of space to be addressed. It’s still very much an evolving proposition.
Q: What is your favorite sports moment as a fan?
Ironically, it was completely independent of business. Two very distinct moments in my life, both football related.
I grew up next to the Shula family in Miami. I was a kid, and it wasn’t until I was in college that I realized how extraordinary it was that Don was the one who taught me to throw a football.
More poignantly, when Walter Payton was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was an amazing athlete, with the biggest heart I’ve ever known. He was a very dear, very missed, friend.
Q: What are your favorite passions outside of work?
Quietly doing good. And very serious driving.
Q: Why would you encourage someone to enter sports as a career?
For the very same reason I was so exited to get involved with TPGF: because you can make a difference. At the end of the day, there are a million businesses you can get involved with — the question is, what matters? Business is only as meaningful as the people it touches. Sport is one of the few places of true commonality between industry and humanity. It may sound dramatic, but it is true. Seldom can business impact people directly: sports can. Any aspect promotes good values: health, personal development, growth, sportsmanship, achievement — all qualities that positively effect the human condition. Beyond, there is so much opportunity for growth. There truly are no limits in what one can do.
