The Major League Baseball’s ‘Social Media Derby’

On Monday July 11, Major League Baseball held its first ever ‘Social Media Derby.’ State Farm hosted a Home Run Derby in which they decided to fully intergrade social media. Broadcasted live on ESPN, the MLB Association arranged for the players to interactively participate in the event by both playing and tweeting directly from the field. The players would use the hash tag #HRDerby to make it easier for fans to follow. From this event the 23-all stars that participated gained a combined 121,428 followers on Twitter, with an average increase in followers of 17 percent. The MLB and Club Twitter and Facebook accounts combined gained 53, 375 new followers and fans within 18 hours. Due to the Social Media Derby, ESPN registers a 4.7 household rating with an average viewing audience of 6,686,000. This was a 4% increase from the 2010 even which was held in Anaheim, CA.

Along with tweets and Facebook postings, the athletes also distributed videos and photos across various media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, and MLB websites.

ESPN hosted an online Home Run Derby Tracker that provided the players personal season stats as well as their derby stats such as hits, distances, and outs. The stats pages were broken up by both player and round. On each player’s individual stats page was a Twitter feed which included all the player’s personal tweets as well as fan’s and other professional’s tweets which discussed the player and/or event.

In “Understanding Professional Athletes’ Use of Twitter: A Content Analysis of Athlete Tweets,” the authors suggest that social media sports consumption helps to motivate interest in the sports, teams, and players, and in return, increases the likelihood of the fans to watch the games on television. Further, they found within their study of sports fans using social media, that many of them use Twitter and Facebook as means for interactivity between other fans and professionals. The idea of incorporating social media in this year’s Home Run Derby proved to be not only a good idea, but one that will most likely expand in the future.

Incase you were wondering, Robinson Cano won the derby, and increased his followings by 84 percent.

Media On Ice

Previously mentioned in the “Will YouTube Take Over Sports?” post, the NHL recently signed a contract with NBC through the 2020-2021 season. However, according to the Financial Post, it was recently announced that the contract included a five year media deal as well. It turns out, NBC will also have the rights to the digital media sales of the NHL. This includes any online streaming of the games, right to broadcast information on the Versus Network, as well as trafficking control and sales due to NHL.com and NHL mobile. Any traffic generated by the NHL media sites will be accredited to NBC Sports Digital. As part of this contract, the NHL media sales team will become intergraded into the NBC Sports group as well.

The NHL chief operating officer John Collins suggests that working with the NBC team on media and networking sites will strengthen their marketplace by engaging more efficiently with the younger demographics that are technology-savvy. By using social media, the team will be incorporating a new method of interacting with these demographics that other platforms were unable to reach.

To make this deal even more beneficial is the ability to create stronger partnerships with other sports marketers. By having a strong presence on social networking sites, and a powerful hold on sports media in general, more marketers will show interest in advertising on the NBC and NHL sites, generating both website traffic and revenue for the networks. Seth Winter, senior vice president of NBC Sports Group Sales and Marketing feels that sports television and sports media need to combine to create a single voice on a national level.

According to Brett Hutchins, of “The Acceleration of Media Sports Culture,” sports networks need the accessibility of media sites, specifically social networking sites, in order to create significant communication power with fans and viewers. The news-worthy information found on social media sites will eventually make it to the television screens, and by incorporating your own network with media, it allows for your broadcasts to be ahead and part of the growing online sports world.

The Twitter Resource

Since it was created five years ago, Twitter has become a popular source of information for reporters, writers, and editors. Complete with both professional and personal commentary from the fans and sports stars themselves, the micro-blogging forum turned itself into an encyclopedia of up-to-date information on the news breaking sports stories. Each sports franchise and professional sports association has an online social media presence, specifically on Twitter. Often intergraded into sports shows and broadcasts, such as Sports Center, Twitter enables writers and reporters to come up with and support new ideas and story lines.

In recognition of this wonderful, young resource and medium, CNN\’s Sports Illustrated polled their staffers on which Twitter feeds they found to be essential sources for finding news and information, outside of their own network. Eventually, the Sports Illustrated research team was able to create a top 100 list, by sport, of their favorite sports sources.

Many of these top 100 sources are sports analysts from various networks such as ESPN, Fox Sports, and NBC Sports. The sources also include sports writers from top newspapers such as the National Post, reporters and staff from the professional sports associations such as the NBA and NHL, and of course, the athletes themselves.

It is no surprise that sports networks are taking these Twitter feeds so seriously. The feeds provide real-time events as well as the comments and reactions of passionate fans- that are a target audience for both the teams and the television networks. Further, many fans are becoming conditioned to a “second screen” experience. This means that they will watch a television broadcast while simultaneously check their mobile or computer screen, often to find behind-the-scenes information about a recent play or comments from a Tweeting athlete or reporter. The fact is, the demographic of sports fans that are not on Twitter is greatly and rapidly diminishing, and in order to be able to report the news, sports television networks need to be aware of the Twitter sports world.

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! (Oi! Oi! Oi!)

Just like us Americans, the Australians are crazy about their sports. And, just like us, they love their social media. As mentioned in the previous post, the Australian Digital Sports Summit hosts an annual social media sports event, but that’s not their only form of sports media.

Down under, the two major sports television networks are Fox Sports Australia and Channel One. Fox Sports is the more popular of the two, on Pay TV (premium television, in Aussie terms). This channel covers all their major sports events both nationally and internationally, and most importantly, rugby. According to Alexander McCarthy, a True Blue Australian, Channel One differs from Fox Sports in that it is the biggest free to are channel, which makes the content lesser than Fox Sports. Regardless of their differences in broadcast, both stations provide websites which offer video clips of games and highlights, as well as areas to post comments in response to the major articles written by major reporters.

Fox Sports also provides links to watch games streaming live on one’s own computer, with a cost. If you’re an avid follower, there’s an option to sign up for videos and podcasts on iTunes. By subscribing on iTunes you’re offered a wide range of shows from station in both video and audio form. Although the idea is a good, many fans feel the purchase is unnecessary, since most of them can find cheaper or free videos and live streams elsewhere. It seems that, although they may lead in sports television broadcasting, they may be behind with the other Aussie media methods.

Channel One has a “get involved” tab on their home page, much easier to find than on the Fox Sports page, however, with not as much to offer. The “get involved” tab offers polls, picture ratings, video news, news releases, and “One Footy Tipping,” which is an online interactive game which you compete against other players for a chance to win a grand prize. However, this too is at a cost.

Although Australian social media and sports fanatics have come together in their own world to provide new ways to communicate and stay up-to-date in the land of “Oz,” their sports television networks are surprisingly unwilling to make the social media of sports easy access to their viewers.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Aussie chanting, here’s a quick description of the chosen title for this post:

Oi, Oi, Oy

#digisports- We’re Going Global!!

As mentioned in previous posts, Twitter has become a strong entity in both the sports world and the social media world. But how big is it? It’s international. The social media and sports world have combined not only here in theU.S., but globally. And, quite frankly, the other countries might be beating us at our own game. Most social media experts in theU.S.often search for sports media under the hash tag #SMSports, which will give them a great amount of information on our own professional leagues such as the NFL and NBA, but what should be taken into greater consideration is the international social media hash tag: #digisports.

Digisports (without the hash tag) is a term from the two key phrases “digital” and “sports.” It gained rapid popularity in Romaniawhen digisportsnetwork.com, and a few other similar sites, were created for the Romanian population to gain access to international sports broadcasting from their computers. The actual term “Digisports” is most well understood as utilizing digital media for sports broadcasting, discussion, highlights, and many of the other elements you would find on a sports television network’s website. However, digisports takes it a step further by often eluding to the international sharing of sports. Some great examples of digisports sites are; http://www.theuksportsnetwork.com/; http://www.digisportlive.net; and http://www.digitalsport.com.au.

 What you may or may not be aware of, is the large popularity and growth of digisports.  In theU.K., sports network websites are focused much more around the incorporation of media and new technology. For example, if you take a look at the UK Sports Network website (listed above) you’ll find that many of their articles and links discuss mobile and social media, and how a fan can become more involved through such medians. In Australia, the Digital Sports Summit hosts an annual sports and social media event at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, which includes international fans following through Twitter, Facebook, mobile devices, YouTube, and the sites own integrated technologies. The event hosts both Australian and international speakers from major sports leagues around the world, including our own Kyle Spencer and Nick Monroe of the U.S. NBA. 

 Digisports is starting to have an influence within the sports world of the United States, but mostly when discussing sports from other nations. However, it would be expected for the U.S. sports fans to catch on to this global trend sooner than later.

NextSportsStar.com

There is a new social networking site on the rise! It was created specifically for amateur athletes, amateur and professional coaches, and all their fans and teams. It’s NextSportsStar.com and it’s a social networking site which has been to combine the elements of all the current top sites such at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even some of the features from Craigslist and Kijiji.

It’s a place for both male and female athletes to create a profile with all their accomplishments, including pictures and highlight reels, as a means of sharing their success on a personal level as well as gain attention from recruiters and scholarship foundations. In some ways, it’s like the athletic version of LinkedIn.

For recruiters, it’s a site not only to find prospective athletes, but a method for the recruiters themselves to promote their own team, whether it’s at the college or the professional level.

On this site, members are referred to as “Stars” and can create profiles, also known as homepages, they can share information and interested with their other friends (or “Fans”) on the website. This also allows them to chat with other members one-on-one as well as participate in group discussions. If you’re wondering where the Craigslist aspect comes in, the website even has an advertising section, where members can post their own products or services within the sports community, and is directly linked to PayPal.

How does this site impact sports television networks? Each sports season brings about new athletes on both the college and professional level. Young and often new to the league, these athletes are of great interest to the die-hard sports fan and the impact the player will have on his or her team. That being said, most major sports stations like ESPN will cover the annual drafts for the professional teams, as well as spend time while broadcasting games on both the college and professional level to discuss new recruits.

A site like NextSportsStar.com has great potential, both good and bad. If the stations chose to ignore this site, fans may drift over to the online world as a more credible source of information and entertainment. However, if major stations like ESPN, or even the NFL Network, chose to participate in this new social media site, they could easily incorporate their findings and discussions within the site into their programs. ESPN has already done a good job at incorporating other social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, (as mentioned in a previous post aboutSportsCenterand Twitter). With the potential integration between social network sites and sports television stations, NextSportsStar.com could be the next social media star.

The Threat of Tweeting Athletes

As mentioned in my previous post, some aspects of social media have the chance of hindering sports television networks. Not only does YouTube pose a threat the networks, but so does Twitter. Twitter, the micro-blogging site for anyone who feels the need to speak their mind in 140 characters or less, is now becoming a concern for sports television networks. Why? Because people now have the ability to follow the games via Twitter, both from fans, other broadcasting agencies, and the athletes themselves. In fact, following athletes on Twitter is so popular, there are websites dedicated to finding the Twitter profiles of professional athletes, and posting them on the site for other fans to follow.

Athletes themselves have already found out the pros and cons of using Twitter on their own time, both professionally and personally. Twitter allows them to connect with fans and increase their popularity, which in turn can increase viewer ratings. However, it can also decrease them. Some athletes, like Tiger Woods, have said negative comments or inappropriate statements on Twitter, often causing scandal or negative feedback. Red Skins’ quarterback Donovan McNabb thinks it’s an all around poor idea for athletes to use Twitter, specifically to express their views on current games. McNabb feels it’s unprofessional and any negative feeling towards other player should be handled on the field, not the Twitter account.

In a study done by Clark Greer and Douglas Ferguson for the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic media, it was found that the majority of television stations don’t use Twitter to promote their stations. However, the stations do use Twitter to connect with their audiences, which has been found to add an increase. So, the real debate becomes who will win the attention of the tweeters? The athletes or sports stations? Unfortunately, only time will tell.

Will YouTube Take Over Sports?

YouTube, started in 2005 by three former PayPal employees and now owned by Google Inc., is slowly taking over the online world. By 2006 it was reported that more than 65,000 videos were being uploaded daily, and by May 2010 the site was hosting over two billion videos a day. So what makes YouTube so unique? As Bloom and Johnston put it, It’s a way for cross culture exchange, and to establish relationships with those who have similar interests to you. YouTube is a becoming a major part of the information revolution, and will soon be a key component in the sports information revolution.

Last year, Cricket’s Indian Premier League signed with YouTube to being live streaming of the games online. The popularity of this new contract generated over 55 million visits from 250 countries. This was a great increase in revenues for YouTube; the company was able to keep viewers on their site for an average of 40 minutes, in comparison to the usual 15 minutes.

Recently, YouTube began having talks with the NBA and NHL about streaming the games live from their site as well. This would create a significant change in the television network contracts for the two leagues. Currently, ESPN owns the broadcasting right of the NBA and NBC Sports owns the broadcasting rights of the NHL. So what will this mean for the television sports stations? If YouTube does get its rights to stream the games live from their website, it will no doubt impact the amount of viewers who watch it on television, and even listen to the games on the radio. Even more controversial, the NHL had just recently renewed their contract with the NBC through the 2020-21 season with 100 regular season games a year, after a long debate with switching to ESPN.

Will social media hurt the sports television world? As of now, all parties are refusing to speak on the topic.

Two Peas in a Podcast

CBS Sports is a division of the CBS Broadcasting Company, and airs all the major sports games as well as multiple commentary and featured shows (as do most major television stations). The station also includes many college sports and discussions and shows on “fantasy” teams like fantasy football and baseball. The company has realized however, the need for its viewers to keep up with discussions and programs away from the television, without uploading the entire show or programming onto their website. So, aside from short video clips of highlight reels, how has the station managed to keep their up to date? PodcastsPodcasts, and not just for one or two programs, but for the majority of the station programs. They also include video podcasts, targeted specifically for users with smart phones, to download and view on the go. The programs in their podcast selection include:  The Oddcast, Fantasy Football, Fantasy Baseball, CBS Football, Baseball, Basketball, and college football and basketball, to name a few. They have the option of uploading the podcast through RSS, iTunes, and Zune, sending you directly to a link with easy to follow instructions.

Steven McClung and Kristine Johnson, from the Journal of Radio and Audio Media, suggest that podcasts are a great way to reach your audience as well as keep them interested. Podcasts are a way to energize audiences when they’re not in front of their TV screens or don’t have much free time. Further, podcast users tend to be frequent social networkers, and interestingly enough, download both audio and video podcasts. Podcasts have been shown to increase the socialization of what people have seen or heard. By posting podcasts of entire shows, CBS Sports is allowing for viewers to interact with each other regardless of which screen they are getting the shows from.

Of course, there is always a negative side to a media strategy. For sports podcasts, people may find it easier to simply listen to the radio. Further, for those who are creating the sports podcasts, which are usually the audio part of a show, the producer and speaker must remember that any graphics or visuals cannot be seen when simply listening.

Sports Center: Tweet the People

Sports Center is popular show on ESPN that was started in 1979 and has created a wide fan base with its humorous commentary and reporting style in the life of sports. Sports Center is known for replaying the highlights for that day’s major sports events, as well as involving unique commentary and feature stories. The show has been proven not only stable, but also continuously increasing in rankings, and in 2009 celebrated its 35,000^th show. In recent years, the show has begun to incorporate social media. Sports center has a strong following on both Facebook and Twitter, as well as an active blog on the ESPN website. However, it’s been Sports Center’s ability to incorporate their highly active Twitter page that has gained greater awareness and relationships with their viewers.

Sport Center has a team to keep track of and respond to all of its followers on Twitter. Often, the station will post questions and challenges to its followers, encouraging conversation between both its viewers as well as the anchors on the show, who have their own active Twitter accounts. However, it’s the challenges they present to its followers that creates high traffic flow to the site and a great rating for the show. The Sports Center team will often create challenges and requests to its viewers to come up with questions or statements for popular professional athletes to respond to. Often, the questions are comments they choose are a variety from the obscure to what everyone’s been dying to know. Sometimes they create challenges for the athletes themselves through the response they have on the Twitter page. The video below is an example of a Sports Center reporter conducting the Sports Center SMACK TALK challenge famous wrestler Brock Lesnar.

According to Hollis Thomases, author of Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day, the idea to incorporate a company Twitter page is incorporating a premier communications vehicle. The main reasons for Twitter to be used from a marketing and PR perspective are in the basic function of Twitter itself; to listen and engage with others through short, easy to read messaging. Twitter is a great way for a company to monitor both brand and company reputation. This can be done by monitoring the tweets which your company is tagged in as well as reading the responses to the company’s own tweets. Thomases also points out that Twitter is a strong distribution channel, an advantage which Sports Center has clearly taken advantage of.