Understanding Your Academy's Moneyball Score

The Jits.gg Academy Moneyball Score is a composite ranking system that evaluates academies based on their competition output — not marketing claims, not gym size, not how many Instagram followers you have.

It answers one question: How well does this academy develop competitive fighters?

The score combines multiple weighted factors into a single number (0–100), making it possible to compare academies of different sizes and different geographic regions on a level playing field. Currently, 1,867 academies are nationally ranked on Jits.gg.

Here's how Moneyball scores actually distribute across ranked academies:

• Average academy: ~35 points
• 90th percentile: 60+ points
• Top 10 academies: All score 85 or higher
• #1 ranked nationally: Pablo Silva BJJ (TX) — 97.6 score, 432 fighters, 659 golds — the highest total gold output of any academy
• #3 ranked nationally: Northern Tribe (TX) — 89.7 score, 60 fighters, 163 golds, 4.3 golds per fighter — extraordinary per-fighter efficiency

The score creates real separation at the top. Most academies cluster around 20–50. Breaking into the top 10% (60+) requires excellence across multiple dimensions — not just one standout metric.

The Moneyball Score is a weighted composite of five pillars:

• Gold Power (25%): Gold medal rate adjusted for academy size using Bayesian smoothing, then scaled by fighter count. This rewards efficient programs — a 40% gold rate with 50 fighters scores higher than a 40% rate with 5 fighters.
• Total Output (25%): Raw total gold medals produced. 659 golds says something different than 6. This is the single largest differentiator at the top of the rankings — volume of competitive success matters.
• Submission Power (15%): Your academy's submission rate using the same Bayesian + volume formula as Gold Power. Finishing matches demonstrates real technical depth.
• Multi-Belt Consistency (20%): Are you strong across all belt levels, or just at one? Academies that produce results from grey through green belt score higher. Measured by averaging gold power across belt segments.
• Retention Rate (15%): Do your fighters keep competing? National average: 40%. Top 10%: 80%+. High retention signals a healthy competition program where kids come back.
• Sample Size Adjustment: Academies with more data get more stable scores. Small sample sizes get a Bayesian adjustment toward the mean — preventing a 3-fighter academy with 3 golds from outranking a 50-fighter program.

Each pillar is percentile-normalized (0–100) across all ranked academies, then weighted and summed into the final composite score.

The score rewards consistent, broad-based development over flashy individual results:

• Compete regularly. More data = more stable score. The Bayesian adjustment pulls small-sample academies toward the mean. The fastest way to improve your score is to get more fighters competing.
• Develop all belt levels. An academy that's strong at grey belt but weak at yellow belt gets a lower multi-belt consistency score. Look at your weakest belt segment and invest coaching time there.
• Finish matches. Submission wins carry more weight than point victories in the submission power component. At grey belt, the national sub rate is 57.9% — if your academy is below that, focus on submission drilling.
• Retain fighters. If your students compete once and never return, that drags down your retention score. Build a culture where competition is positive regardless of results. The top-ranked academies retain 80%+ of their competitors.

The Moneyball Score is deliberately focused on competition output. It does not measure:

• Instruction quality in class
• Self-defense training
• Character development
• Facility quality
• Adult or hobbyist programs

A low-ranked academy might be an excellent place to train for non-competitive goals. The score is a competition metric, not a quality-of-life metric. That said — parents researching academies increasingly use this data to evaluate programs. A strong Moneyball Score backed by real competition results is more persuasive than testimonials alone.