What it takes to become a Sports Trader

The 10 enabling characteristics

Becoming a Professional Sports Trader is not a small feat, with only a select few managing to achieve this prestigious goal. 

The reason is simple: the professional must possess multiple essential qualities and characteristics simultaneously. The role of a sports trader, along with its professional demands, calls for a technical specialization and a personal skill set, which, besides being a “conditio sine qua non” for starting, also ensure the success of any planned project.

Moving beyond the purely technical and strategic aspects, let’s delve into the 10 skills i believe are necessary to undertake this profession:

Risk propensity

A Sports Trader generally has a high risk propensity. 

This field is not suitable for those with a cautious attitude towards financial management or life in general. 

The significant benefits that come with success in this job are directly linked to the nature of sports trading as a high-risk financial activity. 

Method and control are fundamental, while prudence and anxiety are strongly limiting factors for becoming a sports trader. 

This is not the place to seek certainties; the only certainty a Sports Trader has is awareness of their own method and abilities.

Budget and financial vision

A professional in Sports Trading operates with a predefined budget,  just like in any other investment-related activity, and as it should be when starting any new business. 

The budget must be entirely separate from personal and business financial movements. It is managed with money management techniques and is strictly independent of the Trader’s primary financial needs, which theoretically should be able to support the total loss of the allocated budget without any problems. 

Personally, I have always approached this issue with an entrepreneurial mindset: defining a budget is equivalent to injecting the share capital when a new company is founded. This capital is, by definition, “risk capital” and is potentially exposed to loss.

Long-term vision

A professional must inherently adopt a long-term perspective.
Their performance, as well as the return on capital dedicated to their activity (commonly referred to as ‘yield’), is typically assessed over the calendar year, mirroring the financial reporting cycle of any business operation.

Personally, when investing in football-related events across Europe’s leading leagues, I align my investments with the seasonal timeline these events follow, running from mid-August to the end of May, occasionally punctuated by standout summer tournaments (like the Euros or World Cup), which I regard as exceptional off-season opportunities.

Having a long-term outlook doesn’t conflict with short-term planning and assessment; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. My annual Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are broken down monthly and then further divided into weekly targets.

This approach doesn’t diminish the necessity for professionals to possess patience and a long-view mindset, especially in navigating the inevitable downturns that are a natural part of the process.

Diversified income

The sports event market isn’t the only investment arena for a sports trader, though it undeniably serves as their primary and most crucial playing field.

Similar to other financial ventures, diversifying investments and professional efforts to secure various sources of income is key to spreading financial risk and mitigating the inevitable mental strain associated with trading.

My initial career, up until a few years back, was centered around the businesses I founded, managed, and helped flourish; this experience also equipped me with a mindset beneficial for navigating the world of sports trading.

Recently, however, the tables have turned: sports trading has taken the lead as my main occupation, while my now-established businesses serve as a secondary income source and a wellspring of energy.
They provide a robust foundation for tackling other projects.

Specific industry competence

Warren Buffett, one of my go-to sources for investment wisdom, champions the core principle that one should only invest in areas they thoroughly understand. 

I firmly believe this to be an absolute fundamental rule. 

A professional, such as a sports trader, isn’t a jack-of-all-trades and doesn’t get involved in just any type of event. Instead, they possess a deep understanding of specific areas and navigate within those realms.

What exactly is the unique expertise of a sports trader? Their job primarily involves accurately interpreting the flow of a sports event and making investment decisions based on that analysis. 

Thus, a profound knowledge of the event’s dynamics and the sport in question is crucial for correct interpretation. 

For instance, while I have a global passion for football, I channel my investments into the major European leagues (England, Italy, France, Spain, and Germany), where my specialized knowledge lies.

Method

There’s no one-size-fits-all method, nor is there a magic formula. 

Yet, at the same time, no professional exists without their own tailored, codified method. 

This method is deeply personal and subjective, forged through years of experimentation and often costly mistakes, and it’s always under continuous refinement and enhancement.

Years ago, when I first realized I could turn this passion into a profession, I immediately recognized the need for a structured methodology. It was rigid, often challenging to adhere to, and a source of discomfort, but absolutely vital for instilling the kind of discipline essential for a sports trader. 

Over time, this perhaps overly strict method evolved, incorporating “variations on a theme” that enhanced its effectiveness. Yet, in its initial phase, it was crucial, helping me to develop my professionalism and a solid working foundation.

Resilience

Resilience is defined in psychology as an individual’s ability to confront and overcome a traumatic event or a period of adversity. 

For those aspiring to become sports traders, resilience is undeniably a strength in an uncertain world fraught with challenging phases driven by variance or losing streaks. In such situations, experience, a long-term outlook, tenacity, and self-awareness are crucial.

Resilience, like any other psychophysical attribute, can be developed. 

How do I train it? 

In my experience, gaining an understanding of the theories and techniques behind mental processes that influence decision-making has been immensely beneficial in enhancing and fortifying resilience against stress or adversity. 

However, theory alone isn’t sufficient in any field, as true practice, akin to athletic training, relies on repetitive actions. Thus, in the realm of sports trading, it’s crucial to learn how to manage difficult periods: confronting them with the right mindset, overcoming, and emerging victorious instills a sense of one’s capabilities essential for this profession.

Humility

A humble, self-critical, and open attitude to change as a form of improvement is essential in a sector that is constantly evolving like Sports Trading. 

The term and definition coachability better convey the idea:

Coachability is the combination of the mindsets and behaviors for continuously integrating feedback to drive growth and change within ourselves.

In this world, feedback is dictated by the data that should always guide the professional towards improvement through a self-critical and constructive approach. As described earlier, building one’s own Methodology is essential to profitably tackle this type of activity. Building a good method necessarily requires the ability to learn from mistakes, which in turn requires the ability of humble self-criticism. In my case, it was not difficult as I have always been predisposed to learning and change, understood as a continuous possibility of improving myself, in all respects. 

Socrates affirmed, “I know that I know nothing,” to predispose himself to total openness to learning, and I have always made this concept mine.

External support

For those who embark on this profession at a professional level, I believe it is essential to have their own points of reference, whether friends or family. 

Humans are social animals, and as such, they cannot thrive in isolation. 

A sports trader often keeps the details of their work under wraps for various reasons, from the sensitivity of financial data to misconceptions about an industry wrongly associated with gambling and betting.

For this reason, it’s natural for a professional to share the daily ins and outs of this exhilarating yet sometimes stressful job with only a close circle, and the support from these few is indispensable. 

Personally, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had the unwavering support of my partner, who was my girlfriend at the beginning and is now my wife. She has always been there for me, never holding me back, especially through the tough times.

If I’m here writing this blog, it’s largely thanks to her.

Mobility predisposition

On one hand, a Sports Trader has the enviable opportunity to live wherever there is an internet connection, but on the other hand, they have the misfortune to work in a destructured and often obstructed legislative and fiscal context. 

Not all countries allow professionals in the sector to use professional platforms (betting exchange / betting brokerage) and especially to regulate their income fiscally. 

This is the motivation that guided my fortunate move to Slovenia, a modern, open, and free country that allows me to practice this profession. 

Conversely, in Italy, I would have had to work in a context of illegality: absolutely demotivating and unfair to those who have the ability to practice this beautiful activity profitably.