Arsenal show the best way to run a team, says father of Moneyball Billy Beane: 'It’s an admirable club'

  • Billy Beane is famed for using mathematics to succeed with the Oakland A's 
  • He was the subject of Michael Lewis's best-selling 2003 book Moneyball 
  • Beane has praised how Arsenal allied a stadium move with continued succees
  • His own interest in English football has increased over the last decade 

Moneyball maestro Billy Beane has hailed Arsenal as the best way to run a football club.

The American became famous for using mathematics to undercut richer opponents en route to making Oakland Athletics baseball club successful beyond expectations during the noughties. 

His methods were written about in Michael Lewis’s 2003 best-selling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, which was made into a 2011 film in which he was played by Brad Pitt.

Moneyball man Billy Beane believes Arsenal are the best example of how to run a football club

Moneyball man Billy Beane believes Arsenal are the best example of how to run a football club

He praised the manner in which they have dealt with their expensive move to the Emirates

He praised the manner in which they have dealt with their expensive move to the Emirates

Beane, executive vice president of Oakland Athletics, has admitted he is a ‘huge fan of Arsenal’ due to the way they moved into the Emirates Stadium while maintaining competitiveness with a recruitment system that has been more constrained than their rivals.


Beane said: ‘There are some decisions in sport that cost a lot of money, that are good decisions. Having a lot of money gives you access to very good decisions. 

'Michael Jordan was worth a lot more money than he was paid by Chicago Bulls even though he earned a lot of money. It’s the same thing in football — there are a lot of great footballers who are worth three times their earnings despite the fact people think they are making a lot of money. 

'Having the resources, we always said, the challenge is you want enough money to make good decisions, there’s a lot of public pressure when you do have a big club and a big business. Sometimes you have enough money to make bad decisions. 

‘I won’t go deep into it but I’m a huge fan of the Arsenal football club, because I think it’s a really [good example], from the football field to the way it’s been run, the stadium and everything, to me it’s an admirable football club. It’s a football entity when all’s said and done.’ 

Beane (centre) was the subject of the book Moneyball and the subsequent 2011 movie

Beane (centre) was the subject of the book Moneyball and the subsequent 2011 movie

Beane, 55, first became interested in football 16 years ago when he took his wife to London on holiday. 

In the past 10 years, he says, his interest has increased parallel to the sport’s significant growth in America. 

WHO IS BILLY BEANE? 

Beane is the executive vice president of baseball operations at the Oakland Athletics.

He was a first round pick in the MLB draft in 1984 but failed to meet the expectations of scouts.

After retiring he implemented a method of statistical analysis, called sabermetrics, to lead the A's to unprecedented success.

He was the subject of the 2003 book and 2011 film Moneyball. 

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‘We get more football in the States now than you do,’ Beane said. ‘I’m a big college football fan in the States, the closest thing I can compare English football to is college football. 

'Away fans can travel. It attracts emotion. This much emotion comes from following your local team.’ 

Over the years he has befriended football figures such as Damien Comolli, former director of football at Tottenham and an advocate of Beane’s methods. Beane believes data and statistics are only going to become more prevalent in the game.

‘I think it’s more a reflection that we’re a data hungry world,’ Beane, speaking at the Leaders in Sport summit, said. ‘We have to access to data. 

‘Data is a part of every business. It’s not going away.’