The general manager is an integral member and key decision-maker of any sports franchise. The job involves the overall management of the team’s operations, hiring of coaching and administrative staff, negotiating, signing of new players, and handling of the franchise’s budget.

The role of a general manager is vastly different from a coach. Think of it this way – a head coach is like the head of a company’s department, while a general manager is like the CEO who manages all departments and answers to various stakeholders.

Wolverine Studios can help you live your franchise dreams with our state-of-the-art technology and next-level AI. But before you start building your career and franchise empire, read on to get a better understanding of what it takes to a great sports simulation general manager.

How to Be an Effective Sports Simulation General Manager 

1. Have a Franchise Mindset

Every general manager understands that it takes time, often several seasons, to lay the groundwork for a stable uphill climb. Many of the decisions you make are not instantly rewarded, but rather, are long-term investments for the future of your franchise.

When making any decision, plan for long-term outcomes. Don’t be hung up on a single game or season. After all, it takes time to solidify the unity and cohesiveness of a team and staff. So, buckle down, brace yourself for challenges, and prepare your franchise to weather many storms.

Wolverine Studios is your partner in training yourself to have a franchise mindset. We are a career-based simulation that embodies franchise mode, so you’re equipped with all the tools you need to build your franchise empire for many seasons. Just like in real life, we upgrade our simulations every season to introduce new hurdles and playbook options to keep you on your toes.

We make it easy for you to monitor and track your franchise’s progress across games and seasons with extensive historical archives and a vast array of in-game data and statistics. These will help you glean insights on performance trends, and what needs improvement.

2. Be Mindful of the Players Market and Trading

One of the biggest responsibilities of a sports general manager is attracting, drafting, and signing new players to the franchise. When it’s the off-season, the general manager works closely with athletic scouts and coaches to find eligible players that they can potentially sign to the team. A general manager is responsible for negotiating contract deals, trades with other teams, and drafting fresh graduates into the pros. To be an effective general manager, you need to have your ear on the ground to find the best and most economically reasonable players for your team.

At Wolverine Studios, we take pride in our ultra-sophisticated technology. We’ve designed our simulations to be as close to real life as we can make it, so don’t think you can pull a fast one or cut corners with our fast-learning and savvy AI. You’ll experience many of the challenges faced by professional sports general managers. Our simulation will help you stretch your strategizing skills and data analysis, so you’ll truly feel like you’re playing an active role in the growth and development of your franchise.

3. Take Care of Your Staff, Not Just Your Athletes

Typically, a general manager is tasked with hiring the head coach, managing the administrative staff, and handling finances including salaries. This means that you are responsible for the coaching staff, players, and franchise personnel as well.

At the end of the day, it’s still a business, so you need to make sure everyone pulls their weight to keep the franchise running like a well-oiled machine. Set clear expectations and goals for each team member so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to how they contribute to the team’s success. 

4. Build a Team, Not Star Players

While professional athletic experience is not mandatory nor indicative of being an effective general manager, in-depth knowledge and understanding of the game is an advantage since you’ll be collaborating with the head coach and scouts to sign the right players for your team.

“For your team” is the key operative phrase here. It’s undoubtedly important to find athletes who play the positions you need to fill any skills gaps in the team. But it’s equally critical to have players with compatible personalities to foster unity and teamwork.

Enjoy an immersive and true-to-life experience with Wolverine Studios’ editable system and characters. We take “customizable” to a whole new level, going beyond the superficial elements to give you a truly complex and unique franchise. You get to tailor everything to your liking – team logos, league size, players, and more. The players also come with rich backstories, diverse character traits, and storylines so you’ll get to experience managing different personalities and social types, like a real GM.

5. Make Smart Financial Decisions for the Franchise

Perhaps the biggest burden on the shoulders of a general manager is the handling of the franchise’s finances. While there is definite love for the game, sports franchises are, at the core, still businesses. They involve a lot of money management and must reap revenue for their owners and investors.

The budgeting typically includes salary caps for all athletes, coaches and personnel, maintenance and renovation of training facilities, travel arrangements, training equipment, uniforms, contingency allocations for injuries, and more. You need to keep track of all these and make wise spending choices to keep your team in tip-top competition shape while keeping your stakeholders happy.

Do you think you have what it takes to be a great general manager? Dive in and see for yourself! Try out our free demo today.