The Real Madrid Way

How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet

By: Steven G. Mandis

Narrated by: Charles Constant

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 analyze 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.

©2016 Steven G. Mandis (P)2017 Tantor

Insights into a top-performing organization.

Culture is hard to create and maintain, but this book shows how taking the long-term view of sticking to your values pays dividends long-term.

Good book. a lot of analogies with American sports

Amazing content! I sometimes got lost when he went too deep on American sports.... but it is a decent book. I would still recommend it.

great sports book

great book to learn about sports business, and you learn other things about sports at the same times

Good book for Real fans and sports business execs

Good insights into Real Madrid and its business organization. The narrator mispronounced a number of names that were repeated frequently. This made the listening experience less enjoyable.

Must read for all sports fans

Gained so much respect for Real Madrid and their way of running a top soccer team.