FDC — LMS Investment ROI

Annual Benefit
—
Total estimated recoverable value

Net Annual Gain

—

After £35,500 LMS licence

3-Year ROI

—

Return on total LMS investment

Payback Period

—

Months to break even

Costs & Staff Rates

Internal Staff Hourly Rate £30/hr

Blended rate for DB/Research internal staff

£20£60

HR Imputed Hourly Rate £15/hr

Volunteer value proxy for Head Researcher time

£0£40

Network Size

Head Researchers 150

50300

Assistant Researchers 1,600

2002,000

Churn & Retention

AR Churn (per month) 12/mo

≈ 144/yr replaced

3/mo30/mo

HR Churn (per year) 6/yr

Men's ~2/yr · Women's ~4/yr

1/yr20/yr

AR Churn Reduction (FDC effect) 20%

Better onboarding and community keeps ARs engaged longer

0%50%

HR Churn Reduction (FDC effect) 15%

0%40%

Onboarding — Internal Time Saved

Current HR onboarding (internal hrs) 12 hrs

4 hrs30 hrs

FDC HR onboarding (internal hrs) 3 hrs

1 hr15 hrs

Current AR onboarding (internal hrs) 5 hrs

1 hr20 hrs

FDC AR onboarding (internal hrs) 1 hr

0 hrs8 hrs

Research Process Q&A — Time Saved

Internal staff hrs/month on process Qs 10 hrs

Methodology, rating guidance, disputes, best practice

2 hrs40 hrs

HR network hrs/month on AR process Qs 20 hrs

Across all HRs combined per month

5 hrs80 hrs

% reduction via FDC Knowledge Base 40%

10%70%

Data query/bug hrs answered internally (mo) 15 hrs

Specific data disputes separate from process Qs

2 hrs40 hrs

% data query reduction (FDC effect) 30%

5%60%

FMDB Pro — Existing Clients

Clubs at risk from data quality gaps 5 clubs

Clients where quality is a retention or renewal concern

030

% of at-risk revenue recovered via FDC 50%

Improved standards & certified credentials retain clients

10%90%

FMDB Pro — Network Growth & New Markets

Network growth driven by FDC (yr 1) 5%

≈ 88 additional researchers on current network

1%20%

Researchers needed per serviceable nation 9

Minimum for good coverage; range ~8–10

520

Conversion: new nations → club contracts 25%

Not every newly-serviceable nation lands a deal immediately

5%75%

New clubs from wider recruitment pool 2 clubs

Women's football, non-FM backgrounds now serviceable

015

Succession Planning

Succession risk mitigation value (£/yr) £15,000

Cost avoided from unplanned senior HR exits; AR→HR pipeline

£0£100k

Annual Benefit Breakdown

Onboarding — internal time saved

—

Research process Q&A — internal staff

—

Research process Q&A — HR network

—

Data query & bug reduction

—

Retention — reduced churn cost

—

FMDB Pro — existing client revenue protected

—

FMDB Pro — network growth new contracts

—

FMDB Pro — wider recruitment new contracts

—

Succession risk mitigation

Structured AR→HR pipeline; reduced exposure to senior exits

—

Total Annual Benefit —

Less: LearnUpon licence (£35,500) —

3-Year Cumulative Net Gain

Year 1

—

Year 2

—

Year 3

—

3-Year ROI

Return on total LMS investment over 3 years

—

Success Criteria Mapping

Modelled in ROI

Leading indicator / qualitative

AR departure −10%+ (6-month rolling)Modelled via AR churn reduction slider. Default 20% reduction on 144 departures/yr.

Network size +5% in 12 monthsModelled via network growth → new nations → FMDB Pro contracts chain.

Internal guideline queries −10%+Modelled across both data query and process Q&A sliders.

FMDB Pro sales improvementModelled via clubs at risk (retention) + network growth + wider recruitment (new contracts).

90%+ AR Pre-Cert pass rate (3 weeks)Platform adoption KPI. Confirms FDC is working; feeds retention and onboarding savings.

75% network Level 1 completion (6 months)Rollout KPI. Leading indicator for query reduction and standards alignment benefits.

DB&R bug logs −5%+ on SI ForumsDirectionally captured in data query reduction; hard to isolate as a standalone financial line.

70%+ positive smile sheet scoresSatisfaction signal. Validates content quality and supports retention and engagement assumptions.

Player profile attribute coverage +5%Key data quality metric. Links to FMDB Pro credibility and game simulation quality (see intangibles).

Strategic Value — Not Quantified

Research Philosophy Alignment

Five research pillars consistently practised across all nations. Foundational to data brand trust and FMDB Pro credibility — hard to price, impossible to ignore.

Player Profile Coverage at Scale (currently 8%)

Only ~41,000 of 500,000 active player profiles are fully attributed. Structured training is the primary lever to move this number — and full coverage is a direct FMDB Pro differentiator with professional clubs.

Researcher Audit Trail & Certification

Certified researchers create a defensible record of training standards. For professional clubs, this may become a contractual expectation. "Our researchers are certified to X standard" is a sales asset in FMDB Pro pitches.

Faster Time to Useful Output

Structured training shrinks the gap between joining and producing quality work — beyond the onboarding window alone. More researchers contributing sooner means faster coverage growth.

Game Simulation Quality & Player Retention

Poor regional data degrades FM's simulation quality and affects player experience at scale across 20 million players. Improved research standards protect SI's reputation and review scores.

Knowledge Capture & Institutional Memory

Best practice currently lives in the heads of senior HRs and internal staff. Every module written extracts that knowledge and makes it durable — reducing dependency on individuals and protecting against loss.

LMA Partnership Credibility

The confirmed LMA integration gives FDC modules professional football education legitimacy. This strengthens the FMDB Pro proposition and opens doors to further institutional partnerships.

Platform for Future Commercial Products

LearnUpon infrastructure at 1,000+ users could support paid external offerings — scouting education, data literacy for clubs — as the LMA relationship matures.