Thanksgiving, Football & The Income Statement

Like a final box score, the Income Statement tells the truth about how well your business decisions performed.

The Friday after Thanksgiving has quietly become one of my favorite new traditions, not just because of leftovers, but because this year, my Philadelphia Eagles are now part of the NFL’s post-holiday lineup. As usual, I’ll be glued to every snap and coaching decision… all of it pointing toward one thing: the scoreboard.

In football, nothing on the scoreboard is random. The box score is simply the accumulation of decisions: play calling, preparation, discipline, talent deployment, timing, and execution.

Business works precisely the same way.

Even if you’ve never touched a financial statement or sat through a budget review, every decision you make eventually lands in one place: the Income Statement. It is the organization’s scoreboard, objective, unforgiving, and a direct reflection of choices made across the business.

And there’s no better time to see this connection than Thanksgiving.

If Thanksgiving Had an Income Statement… What Would “Winning” Look Like?

Imagine you’re a company that powers Thanksgiving, turkey producers, cranberry suppliers, packaging manufacturers, travel logistics, or even pumpkin pie mix (which, in complete transparency, I take very seriously).

How do you know if you had a successful holiday season?

Not by whether the meal tasted good.

You evaluate success the same way your CFO does:

Just like in football, the scoreboard doesn’t care about effort, intention, or how “busy” you were. It tells the truth about execution.

“But I Don’t Impact Financials”… Actually, You Do

This is one of the most common misconceptions we hear in our simulation-centric Business Acumen programs:

• “I’m in HR.”
• “I work in packaging.”
• “I’m a project manager.”
• “I don’t set the price.”
• “I don’t manage supply chain.”

All true. And also incomplete.

You influence financial performance every day through:

• Timing (approvals, launches, staffing, prioritization)
• Quality (rework, waste, defects, do-overs)
• Collaboration (speed of alignment, avoiding silos)
• Trade-offs (where we invest time, resources, and focus)

Every one of those decisions eventually flows into revenue, cost, margin, or profit.

You don’t need to be the CFO to affect the Income Statement, just like you don’t need to be the scorekeeper to change the game.

The Thanksgiving Scoreboard: What the Income Statement Really Shows

Whether your “season” is a quarter, a fiscal year, or a high-pressure holiday window, the Income Statement gives you the same clarity a scoreboard gives NFL coaches.

It tells you if:

• You captured demand (Revenue)
• You controlled production and supply costs (COGS)
• You maintained a competitive advantage (Gross Margin)
• You made smart decisions under pressure (Profitability)

This is why business acumen matters, because the scoreboard always shows the impact of leadership, alignment, and execution.

Why Business Simulations Bring This to Life

In Advantexe's business simulations, participants feel the connection instantly. They make decisions on pricing, staffing, investment, quality, timing, and then, just as they would adjust a game plan at halftime, they watch the Income Statement respond.

It’s the difference between reading a scorecard and running the team responsible for the score.

Final Thought

Whether you’re watching the Eagles on Friday or making year-end decisions in Q4, the lesson is simple:

• Your decisions impact the scoreboard.
• In football, it’s points.
• In business, it’s profit that drives shareholder value

So this Thanksgiving, ask yourself:

“Did our strategy put us in a position to win?”

On the field.

At the dinner table.

And in the competitive marketplace.

Because the scoreboard, the Income Statement, always tells the truth.

Happy Thanksgiving!