Social media has done wonders for the sporting industry and will continue to do so moving forward. The world of Fantasy Sports is a big reason why sports have become so popular to watch. This has been a proven effective tool that enhances fan interaction, ticket sales, and television ratings. When it comes down to it, sports are a big part of people’s lives and the industry understands that.
More and more sporting teams have adopted the way social media is handled within their organization. Take for example the Major League Baseball team the Cleveland Indians. The Indians wanted to contribute to social media around the team rather than just be spectators. The organization opened a Social Media Deck in the bleachers of their stadium Progressive Field, creating an experience where bloggers and other active social media participants can sit acting as their own press box. This section is sponsored by Time Warner Cable and has wireless internet access as has since expanded into a luxury suite. This whole social media experience has continued to increase ticket sales and attendance with a waiting list of over two hundred people!
Cleveland Indians Social Media Suite
The NBA is probably one of the sturdiest social media positions within the sports industry mainly because of the Twitter and Facebook following of more than twenty plus million people. The National Basketball Association constantly uses social media strategies each and every day, which is mainly experienced through the players themselves. As mentioned in the article 20 Great uses of social media in sports no other property has as many of its highest profile superstars frequently tweeting and posting on Facebook as the NBA. The player that has used social media to the fullest would be Paul Pierce, no longer a Boston Celtic but not a Brookline Net. Last season, he sent out a tweet saying to meet him in twenty minutes at a location of his choice if someone wanted two free tickets to the basketball game that night! It was a local news headline and I thought it was great publicity for Twitter.
The NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was one of the first well-known superstar to really introduce this website by announcing his retirement through this start-up, real-time video messaging service.
Tout saw a great opportunity with the legend Shaquille O’Neal and used each other to boost awareness in the social media world of breaking news. Shaq’s fifteen second retirement video on Tout.com gained more than 500,000 views in the first three hours after it was posted. This is just a great example of a social media tool that is used in the sports industry. In combination with Tout, Twitter and Facebook; the sports industry should continue to use these platforms and additional tools to improve their standing within the social media environment.
Reference:
Fisher, E. (2011, August 1). 20 Great uses of social media in sports – SportsBusiness Daily. Retrieved from http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/08/01/In-Depth/Social-media.aspx
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