As some of you may know I’m a huge basketball fan and I live in the UK. A few years ago this meant following the NBA could be difficult at times. It often resulted in struggling to stay awake at work or school after staying up until 4 a.m. the previous night to watch a game.
The explosion of social media has made it so much easier to keep up with what’s going on not just in the NBA but across the world of sports. It has also given fans unparalleled access to their favorite teams and athletes. Personally, I feel there has never been a better time to be a sports fan. Here are some of my best reasons why:
- Behind the scenes access: At no time in the past have fans had such insight into what goes on behind the scenes. This was really highlighted at the recent NBA All-Star weekend where many players were sharing behind the scenes videos and images on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The NBA also did a great job of sharing content and engaging fans in the All-Star weekend, an event that for many people has lost its shine. You can check out some of the video content shared by the NBA during All-Star weekend on the leagues TwitVid account.
- Interaction: Social media has opened up the opportunity to interact and engage with teams, athletes. A few years ago if you wanted to speak to your favorite athlete you could send fan mail and wait a long time for a response. Now you can speak directly to them and you might even get an instant reply.
Many athletes use social media to show us what they are like away from sports. It gives an insight into their personal lives, allowing us to feel closer to our favorite athletes when they show their true personalities.
- Everyone has a voice: In the past only a select few journalists, writers and reporters were able to share their views about the world of sports. Now social media has opened up the doors for all sports fans to write about their teams and share their views.
Whether they are writing a blog and sharing views or sparking discussion on Twitter and Facebook, there is space online for everyone. It has become a lot easier for fans to make themselves heard.
- Multimedia content: I’ll always have to stay up until 4 a.m. to catch an NBA game live in the UK, but the fact that I can now catch highlights online any time saves a few sleepless nights.
Multimedia content and video on demand services allow fans to keep up with their team at a time which is convenient for them. Fans love multimedia content and from an organization/team viewpoint, this content generates the most responses from fans. It can add great value to their social media profiles.
Sure there may have been times when your team was doing better and winning more games, and here in the UK at the moment many of our football clubs are in deep financial trouble (which could be a counter to this argument). However, I feel it’s an exciting time, and the best time EVER to be a sports fan. Thanks to new technology in the coming months and years it’s only going to get better.
What are your best experiences of sports and social media? Has social media changed the way you follow sports?
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About Ash Read
Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14
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The NFL seems to be teflon coated to be honest, the reasons why are many and veried but its partly due to the very rough,tough, volent nature of the sport that so appeals to a huge porportion of the American sports fan.
Baseball used to be king, and Collage Football too in the South (still is that way to be honest) With professional football just a minority sport upto the 50's and then its just gained in strength year upon year as Baseballs moved futher back (apart from the Yankees v Red Sox games as mentioned). College football games draw huge attendances around the country (5 or 6 teams avarage over 100,000 per game) but it doesnt draw the massive tv money that the NFL does which place it in a league of its own for such a short season (16 or so games a season)
The NBA just doesnt draw the national attention like the NFL , yes the big name players are well known, but the teams just arent followed (apart from afew select citys) the same way that the NFL teams are. Theres a few other reasons too which i wont go into but are often mentioned as for the lack of popularity of the NBA in corperate America or the suburbs, its deemed to be mainly an inner city sport. The NBA is known as the 3rd Sport of the big 4, and i cant see that changing any time soon really. It will never get anywhere close to the NFL, and baseball has the advantage of such a long season.
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